Death of Nun of Kenmare

TIME LINE

Margaret Anne Cusack was born into a Church of Ireland family in Dublin around 1830. When her parents’ marriage broke up, she was raised in Exeter. When her fiancée died she joined a community of Anglican nuns. She wanted to be sent to work in the Crimea and when she was refused permission, she left the convent and converted to Catholicism while still in her 20s.

This was something which happened again later in her life as she returned to the Anglican fold when she again fell out with authority. As a Catholic she joined the Poor Clares, took her vows at their convent in Newry and in 1861 was sent with a group of fellow nuns to Kenmare to set up a convent there.
In Kenmare, she was associated with the Ladies Land League and was a harsh critic of the local landlord, Lord Lansdowne and she set to writing. Her works included novels and historical works including a history of Kerry and the life of Daniel O’Connell and also pamphlets on the social conditions of the area. She wrote 35 books and over the space of 10 years sold 200,000 copies.
There were two secretaries dealing with her work, which also included letters about conditions in Ireland to the press, particularly in America and Canada.
There was another famine in Ireland in the 1870s and the profit from her writings was devoted to relief for the poor. She set up a famine relief fund and in 1871 alone raised and distributed more than £15,000.
She was popular with those she helped and with many of the leading lay Catholics but not always with the hierarchy. Her workload outside the convent in working for political and social improvements led her to leave Kenmare and she moved to Knock in 1881. The local bishop expected her to start a Convent of Poor Clare Sisters but instead she started a school for young women and evening classes for workers. These were mostly funded by income from her writings. Continued conflict with Church authorities caused her to move to England, where she decided to found her own community, The Sisters of St Joseph of Peace. With the support of Cardinal Manning and the Bishop of Nottingham her new order was founded in 1884 and got approval from Pope Leo XIII.
One of her books had been entitled Advice to Irish Girls in America and she travelled to the United States to work with Irish women immigrants. She was invited to Newark, New Jersey and set up her congregation there. This too was supported by income from her writings.
However, she fell foul of the archbishop of New York and felt that his opposition would hinder her congregation while she was still with them. She became disillusioned with the hierarchy and returned to England, where she rejoined the Church of England. However, she maintained contact with the convent in New Jersey.
Margaret Anne Cusack, Poor Clare Sister, foundress of the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace and a woman whose work for the poor and needy in south Kerry earned her the name the Nun of Kenmare, died at Lemington in England on June 5, 1899 – 111 years ago this week.