The Role of La Sainte Union des Sacrés-Coeurs Teaching Congregation in Education Provision to Catholic Children in Ireland from 1863 to c.1930

This thesis provides an examination and analysis of the introduction of a congregation of women religious, La Sainte Union des Sacré-Cœurs (hereafter LSU), into Ireland during the nineteenth century. This research uses archival documents of LSU congregation in London, Rome, and the United States to investigate the expansion of LSU’s mission to Ireland from France during the mid-nineteenth century. Additionally, official government publications and various diocesan archives, as well as several archives of other congregations, are interrogated. This thesis provides new insight into how LSU consolidated their presence in Ireland, starting with their first foundation in Banagher. It uncovers new evidence of how the sisters managed their convents, finances, and eventual expansion in Ireland. The sisters of LSU were members of a teaching congregation which originated in Douai, France, in 1826. Their primary apostolate was the provision of education to all classes of youth, in ways that responded to the needs of the time. The thesis places LSU and their work in the provision of education for Catholic children in the context of existing studies of other religious orders in Ireland in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The recruitment of significant numbers of Irish women into the congregation is explored, at a time when there was increased competition from similar French congregations in Ireland. The teacher training provided to LSU sisters is examined; this training was initially delivered to young novices within the novitiate, and later it was provided via teacher-training colleges and universities. Research into the work of female religious orders in nineteenth century Ireland has, until recently, tended to concentrate on larger and better-known congregations, such as the Presentation, Mercy, and Ursuline orders. This study attempts to fill a gap in existing research by examining one of the smaller and lesser-known groups of women religious, LSU congregation. Little is known about this group of women religious, despite having provided education to children in Ireland for over 140 years. This investigation examines their mission of education in Ireland where they established three convents: LSU Banagher, King’s County (1863), Our Lady’s Bower, Athlone, Co. Westmeath (1884|), and LSU Killashee, Co. Kildare (1927). The study has revealed new evidence about LSU's role in educating Catholic girls from various classes of Irish society, and uncovers the unique position of LSU sisters in Ireland in the nineteenth century as they provided private, fee-paying education to young boys in their boarding schools. Consequently, this research contributes to the expanding body of historical scholarship on women religious and their contribution to education, Catholic Church history, and the history of education in Ireland.