My ancestors - Flanagan - Contents

Sister Padua Flanagan

References:
- Sister Padua Flanagan (anonymously), The Life and Work of Mary Aikenhead, Foundress of the Congregation of Irish Sisters of Charity, 1787-1858, Longmans, 1924. Her obituary confirms her as the author.
Sources yet to be consulted:
- [NAI], Department of the Taoiseach. Cabinet: s 7645. File: Mr. Peter Shortall, Grant from Dail Special Fund. Letters from "Sister M. Padua, Sisters of Charity, Mount Saint Anne's, Milltown", 1925, requesting financial assistance for Mr. Peter Shortall and his family.
- There is some book that mentions Sister Padua. It is probably a later biography of Mary Aikenhead.

Sister Padua Flanagan.
See larger and full size.

Sister Padua Flanagan,
born 26 Nov 1875, Mary Frances Flanagan, Mary, "Polly".
She wit her sister Elizabeth's mar Nov 1892.

Sisters of Charity nun:
She became nun 1894. Joined Sisters of Charity.
She took name "Sister Padua", or "Sister Mary Padua", poss. also "Pauline".
Grave has her as "Sister Joseph Padua".
[Frank Flanagan's memoirs] said: "she was a beautiful girl, and gave up a luxurious home to serve God". He said she was "the cleverest and liveliest member of the family". "She was the happiest person I ever met and the day before she joined the Charity nuns, she went to a big dance and discarded her worldly garments afterwards."
Can't find her in 1901 census.
She entered Sisters of Charity, Mt. St. Anne's Convent, Milltown, Co.Dublin, c.1902.
She is listed in 1911 census at Mt. St. Anne's. She is "Mary Flanagan".

Biography of Mary Aikenhead:
She was the anonymous author of a biography [Flanagan, 1924] of the founder of her order, Mary Aikenhead.

Death, 1936:
She died Mt. St. Anne's, 20 July 1936, age 60 yrs [mass card], [GROI].
See obituary and funeral report in newspaper, July 1936.
She was bur Kilbarrack Cemetery, Howth road.
See cover page of religious notes prepared by her shortly before death.

Mt. St. Anne's, Milltown, on 1887 to 1913 map.
See modern street view.

Grave of Sister Padua Flanagan

Grave of Sister Padua Flanagan.
Sisters of Charity grave plot, Kilbarrack cemetery, on the coast road to Howth, Co.Dublin. At the back on the LHS.
See street view.
See findagrave.com.

Gravestone of Sister Padua Flanagan.
All the gravestones are new.
Photo 2017. See larger and full size.
See wider shot.

Sisters of Charity grave plot.
Photo 2017. See full size.
See other shot. See main cross.

From Sister Padua's biography [Flanagan, 1924] of Mary Aikenhead:
- A passage describing how Aikenhead decided to become a nun is probably drawn from Sister Padua's own experience: ".. but when she was about 17 God made it clear that she should give her service as a religious. She could hardly tell when or how she first heard that mysterious and elusive call, so like the gentle whisper of the soft summer breeze. Above the noise and the din of the world around her she caught the sound of the mystic words, "Follow me"".
- Less comprehensible to the modern mind is the story of Mary Gibbons in the Donnybrook chapter. She is a girl who, tortured by her sexuality and religious guilt, tears out her own eyes so as not to be attractive to men any more, and lives out the rest of her days with the nuns at Donnybrook. (Her grave, dated 1848, is mid-way up on LHS in the cemetery there.)