Nano Nagle's remarkable journey towards sainthood

FROM the window of her bedroom in the South Presentation Convent, Sr Patricia O’Shea can see the wall of the original convent, which was built in 1777 by Nano Nagle, the founder of the order.

That view is very important to the woman, now in her 70s, who has lived here in Cork’s historic Douglas Street, for 50 years.

Nagle, who was recently declared venerable by the Pope, has, says O’Shea, been a life-long inspiration. “Nano said ‘love one another as you have hitherto done’ and also ‘love the poor.’ In my community life, I’ve been inspired by the first and, in my various ministries, I’ve been inspired by the second,” says the nun, and retired primary-school teacher.