A recently commissioned sculpture by Shane Gilmore was unveiled at the entrance to St. Anne’s School in Lifford.
In January 1829 four Ursuline Sisters, a novice, and two postulants together with six boarding school pupils took up residence in Lifford House, Corrovorrin, with the intention of providing education for the girls of Ennis.
Within 8 years there were over two hundred girls in education, taught by 14 Sisters. The Sisters left Ennis for Thurles in 1839 due to financial difficulties. In the same year that the Ursulines left Ennis, the Presentation Sisters from Galway responded to an appeal from Bishop Kennedy for another religious congregation to come to Ennis to continue the work of education begun by the Ursulines. Once again, financial difficulties forced the Sisters to return to Galway in 1841, just two years after first coming to Ennis.
Within 8 years there were over two hundred girls in education, taught by 14 Sisters. The Sisters left Ennis for Thurles in 1839 due to financial difficulties. In the same year that the Ursulines left Ennis, the Presentation Sisters from Galway responded to an appeal from Bishop Kennedy for another religious congregation to come to Ennis to continue the work of education begun by the Ursulines. Once again, financial difficulties forced the Sisters to return to Galway in 1841, just two years after first coming to Ennis.
The Sculptor now in place of an Acorn recalls the memory of Sr Baptist who died in 1831, Sr Augustine in 1834, and their chaplain Fr Walsh in 1835, all of whom died in Ennis and are buried in the grounds.
May they Rest In Peace.
