JANUARY NEWSLETTER

Sr.Teresa Landy

Sr.Teresa Landy lost her relatively short battle against cancer when she passed away Thursday, 5th March 2009, amongst the community whom she loved so much, her sisters at the Mercy Convent. Sr. Teresa was an amazing woman. As well as being a very spiritual person who was dedicated to the Mercy Order, she was also a friend and confident to so many people. She touched many hearts, from teaching colleagues, to the people of Callan and beyond. She related easily to young people and especially to the girls at St. Brigid’s, many of whom owe so much to the Windgap native.

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She was born in Butlerswood, Windgap in 1945 into a farming background. She was a boarder at St. Brigid’s College and joined the Mercy Order at sixteen years of age. Apart from four years in Edinburgh and one year in Swansea for studies, Sr. Teresa spent all her life in Callan. As a Home Economics and Career guidance teacher she had a great influence on the many thousands of girls who passed through the College.

Sr. Teresa did a vast amount of work in the community of Callan and over the past ten years she was a member of the board of Callan Community Network. She was always full of ideas for fund raising and did a great deal of work in the background helping to develop the Friary Complex. For many years she organised the Old Folks Party and never had a problem getting volunteers. She would call on every business in the town looking for spot prizes and donations and very rarely got a refusal. At those Old Folks parties she would join in the sing song and get the folks out on the floor for a dance which she loved.

Sr. Teresa loved nothing better than a social event and would always get the best deal from the Restaurant or hotel for the different events she was involved in. Those events were for the most part always for local charities or organisations. As mentioned already she travelled extensively and just at Christmas she spent a week in Egypt to recharge her batteries after her earlier treatment. She brought people who had never been out of the country to wonderful places and from those trips made a vast amount of friends

In 2007 Sr. Teresa received the award of “Kilkenny Person of the Year” for her services to community. She was very proud of that award and very disappointed also that she was unable to attend the awards’ night as she was away on one of her wonderful tours. In her absence she was well represented by the members of her community from the Mercy convent.

The large crowds that attended her funeral on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon were testament to a wonderful lady. The celebration of evening prayer at the parish church on Saturday evening was so inspiring and was for many of us the first time we would have attended the evening prayer that the Mercy nuns celebrate each evening in the little chapel beside the convent.

Sr. Teresa Landy will be a massive loss to all who knew her. Her family have lost a great sister and aunt and will miss her visits home to Windgap. Her fellow teachers have lost a wonderful colleague, the girls of St. Brigid’s both present and past have lost a great confident and guiding light and the people of Callan have been left with a huge gap in their lives. Gone but never forgotten because Sr. Teresa Landy will live on with us all forever.
(Adapted from original article in Callan Notes, Kilkenny People Fri.13th March 2009)

Rev. Sr. Marie Therese
1923 - 2008

When Maureen Saunders arrived at the Convent of mercy in Callan, she could not have foreseen the phenomenal impact her leadership, enthusiasm and educational management skills would have on girls’ secondary education over the next sixty years. As Catherine McAuley said, “Wherever the need is, there you will find a Sister of Mercy.”

Her talents for educational management were recognized and she was appointed principal of the ‘secondary top’, then in existence in Callan, which followed the approved secondary school syllabus. Within a few years Sr. Marie Theresa believed there was a nedd to set up a secondary school following a secondary school programme. This acceded to and the department of education recognized St. Brigid’s Secondary school in 1949 with Sr. Marie Therese as principal. The continuous development and success of the school over the next four decades is the history of Sr. Marie Therese.

From an initial roll of 60 pupils in 1949, to a grand total of six hundred in 1988, when she reluctantly ‘retired’ as principal, was a testimonial to her expertise and educational management skills. She was an example to all by her vision, initiative and leadership, allowing no obstacle to hinder the progress and expansion she had planned. As St. Brigid’s expanded the necessary facilities were provided; new subjects were introduced as they became available and new courses were initiated.
St. Brigid’s secondary school had a name second to none and this was a time of unprecedented growth and success. We may see Sr. Marie Therese’s philosophy as she wrote in the school magazine ‘The Torch’ in 1984:
“At this time we look at our goals as a Catholic School and our primary task of integrating gospel values, human development and requirements of life. We aim to provide a wide variety of activities for the student to pursue knowledge, develop understanding, critical awareness, independence of mind and respect for truth.”
Also in her vision of the future she wrote: “As we look to the future with confidence we are aware that it is our task to prepare our pupils for the new world of tomorrow. We are on the threshold of the leisur society and we are called to create a new future.”
Inspired by Sr. Marie Therese and the staff of St. Brigid’s, it was a core pinciple to ensure that each student is a committed Christian with strong moral values, a healthy self-image, a concern for others and an appreciation of beauty in all its forms. She had high expectations for her students and they never disappointed. Sr. Marie Therese ensured that by her leadership and vision they were prepared to rise to the challenges that face society and to bring an idealism, vitality and a response to all aspects of this evolving Irish society.

In 1975 St. Brigid’s Parents’ Council was established and Sr. Marie Therese worked constantly over the years with the Parents’ Council to get all the parents involved in the affairs of the schoolboy providing a forum for their views and a conduit whereby their individual expertise became available to the school for the good of all.
When Sr. Marie Therese retired as principal of St. Brigid’s in 1988 she took on the role of Chairperson of the Board of Management. She was instrumental in setting up the board of management, which was entrusted with the task of preserving the Catholic character of the school, as well as ensuring the continuation and development of its academic excellence. As Chairperson of the board for fifteen years, she had direct influence in St. Brigid’s for over sixty years.

The school community and the people of Callan owe Sr. Marie Therese a great debt of gratitude for her wisdom and vision at the service of Catholic education.
A past pupil writing to Sr. Marie Therese in 2003 said:
“I never really said ‘thank you’ … I felt I knew it all while you were way behind me!!! In hindsight I knew so little. I still remember what you so often told us of life. You led by example, you set standards so high, and we strove to get there. You were a visionary for your time and it was my privilege to know you. Many thanks. A grateful pupil "