Clodagh Finn: Recalling a glorious nun who was scathing of church

Margaret Anna Cusack, the Nun of Kenmare, wrote about abuse of power.

She was opinionated, strong-willed, polarising and self-assured. She was a businesswoman with a gift for raising money. She was a fierce advocate for social justice and regularly criticised 19th-century landlords.

Margaret Anna Cusack was also scathing about the abuse of power in the Catholic church. She didn’t mince her words. In 1887, she wrote this: “Roman Catholic ecclesiastics have impressed the people with the very convenient idea that they are not to be blamed, no matter what wrong they may do; so the ‘devil’ is made the convenient scapegoat …