Honouring a national treasure

Well-known South Galway historian Sr Mary De Lourdes Fahy was described as a ‘champion’ and ‘a national treasure’ when she was honoured with a special award last week.

Ireland Reaching Out (Ireland XO), the national reverse genealogy programme, along with the members of the Gort community, surprised Sr De Lourdes in recognition of her tireless work for her local community and her continued promotion of Ireland Reaching Out.

More than 100 people from a variety of local organisations attended the celebrations in the Lady Gregory Hotel. Ireland Reaching Out founder and chairman Mike Feerick paid tribute to Sr De Lourdes describing her as a ‘national treasure’.
“Sister De Lourdes is an extraordinary Ireland XO volunteer. From the very beginning of the programme, Sister De Lourdes has been one of its most enthusiastic and productive supporters. She has unrivalled expertise and understanding of the history and genealogies of her local area. She is not only a local but a national treasure,” he said.

Ireland XO, being a people based, operated and focused organisation recognises and promotes Sr De Lourdes as “the epitome of what our programme run by volunteers can achieve”.

Sr De Lourdes was chosen for the honour because of “Her unwavering commitment to helping others through her knowledge, research and dedication to connecting people to places and history and heritage and her untiring resolve and energy in promoting all aspects of heritage within her community for the benefit of all – most significantly something she has been active and involved in before the inception of Ireland XO.”

Rory O’Shaughnessy was one of the people behind the ceremony. He described Sr De Lourdes as “inherently positive and filled with the same vibrancy and enthusiasm for her heritage work as she was when she wrote her first book 41 years ago”.
“Sr De Lourdes has done so much for local heritage and the South Galway community over the years and this was an opportunity to say thank you from all the groups in the area that she has been involved with,” he explained.

“Sr De Lourdes is a power house. She is involved in so many different organizations. The plan to honour her started off quite small but the more people John Joe Conwell and I spoke to the more groups and individuals that wanted to be involved and express their own gratitude to her,” he added.

“Sr De Lourdes has helped so many people abroad to find their roots in South Galway and is the reason why a lot of people have returned to visit the area. She has done that selflessly and on her own initiative and has done it quietly and efficiently over many years, long before Ireland XO was launched. She has also done a lot for people locally, tracing families back to the 19 century and before,” Mr O’Shaughnessy went on.

On the night tributes were paid to Sr De Lourdes for her commitment to the community, her willingness to help people, her humble approach, her positivity and her talent for imparting knowledge to others.
“Every community needs a Sr De Lourdes. She has been working in the area of heritage for some time and her energy has not waned. She is progressive and willing to learn and has embraced new technology. She is interested, for example, in the possibilities of social media in promoting tourism.

Sr De Lourdes gives so much of her time to other people and the community. She is positive and sees the good in everything. Her energy is infectious and her love of her local community, her local place, Ballyaneen, Kiltartan, Gort, South Galway is evident to everyone,” Mr O’Shaughnessy concluded.