Loreto Education and the Leadership of Mother Michael Corcoran (1888-1918) : Challenge and Change

This thesis provides an examination and analysis of the modernisation of Loreto education under the leadership of the Superior General, Mother Michael Corcoran from 1888 to 1918. As a member of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), her vision for Loreto education was inspired by contemporary ideas of open access to education for women and innovative curricular development. During her period in office, significant educational and financial resources were directed towards providing improved educational facilities for girls in Loreto schools, particularly at higher level. Mother Michael’s leadership responded to changes in the agency of women religious at the turn of the century, in moving away from a life of enclosure. New Irish education policies in the second half of the nineteenth century, could only be facilitated by relaxing some convent rules, including a greater acceptance of working lives beyond the cloister. Mother Michael understood the growing need for change in managing educational provision in convent schools. Through her introduction of new models of leadership and learning, she embraced collaboration with other educational partners. Findings illustrate how she exercised her leadership indirectly and sometimes covertly, to achieve her educational goals. These goals threatened the authority of the Catholic bishops in Ireland, who considered themselves the gate-keepers of Catholic education. Her struggle to unify global Loreto education under central governance from Ireland was further resisted within her own institution. This thesis identifies her as one of the most significant educators of Catholic women at the turn of the twentieth century.