Historic role of Presentation Sisters in Kildare to feature in new exhibition

The story of the Presentation Sisters in Kildare is to feature in a planned exhibition in Cork.

The congregation, which was founded in 1775 by Nano Nagle, saw the last of the Sisters leave Kildare Town in 2018 after the order first arrived back in 1830.
They quickly settled into life locally and became the main educators in the town for the next one hundred and eighty years or so.
They provided education and support to the families of a large hinterland around Kildare through all the intervening years.
Their leaving left a chasm in the life of the town, the parish and the numerous families and individuals who had a deep fondness for, and sense of gratitude to the Presentation Sisters.
The bronze sculpture was created by Annette McCormack who is also responsible for statues of St Brigid at St Brigid’s Well and Lord Edward Fitzgerald in the Market Square.
The Nano Nagle Place venue in Cork City houses a museum, heritage rooms, gardens, gift shop and book shop dedicated to the education pioneer.
It celebrates the woman’s vision of empowerment through education, community inclusion and spiritual engagement for a contemporary world.
Nano Nagle Place said it is at the planning stages of a future exhibition on the growth of the order including in Kildare.
A spokesperson said: “We are hoping to have an exhibition in 2023 that looks at the spread of the Presentation Congregation across Ireland.”
A former past pupil, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl attended the unveiling of the Nano Nagle statue in 2019 when members of the congregation were also invited.
The TD said: “I find myself thinking of one wonderful Sister, Sr. Annunciata, a Kildare woman who’s goodness and kindness was experienced by many.”
Nano Nagle was born into a wealthy Catholic family and so had the advantage of a Catholic education in her own home and in France.
The order she founded - the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (PBVM), commonly known as the Presentation Sisters, went on to become a worldwide Catholic order of women religious.
Nano was declared venerable by Pope Francis in 2013.