Sisters help Ireland’s poorest
Mary’s father, Dr Aikenhead was a member of the Protestant faith who converted to Catholicism on his deathbed.
Mary eventually moved to Dublin, where she was exposed to grinding poverty. She became determined to work for the poor, needy and weak by setting up a religious congregation whose work included establishing schools, hospitals and orphanages.
Increasing unemployment, outbreaks of cholera and the Famine were a daily reality, but Mary never wavered.
On hearing of her death in 1858, a poor farmer said: “That matchless woman! In her, Ireland’s poor have lost their best friend.”
Sr Stan joined the Sisters in 1958, and by 1985, she had founded Focus, believing that everyone should have access to safe, affordable and secure housing. Social justice is, she believes, an essential component of peace.
“I am looking forward to my visit to Kinsale and the Peace Project. I think what they are doing is marvellous. If every community did something similar, wouldn’t it be wonderful? I think the whole concept of peace doesn’t come from the top down. It has to start in our own hearts.
“If I am at peace in myself, I have a deeper understanding of the world. And while their will always be people who are in conflict, nevertheless, I believe we are all interconnected, all part of the one breath. And the fact that we have problems such as poverty and war is all the more reason why we must continue to work hard to eradicate these things.”
