This article is from page 2 of the 2012-01-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
CLARE has produced three presidents in Eamon de Valera, Dr Paddy Hillery and Michael D Higgins, but the county can now lay claim to a fourth thanks to the links between Mary McAleese and the Poor Clares Convent in Ennis.
The former president’s association with the Poor Clares has been revealed this week, with abbess of the convent, Sr Gabriel, revealing that Mrs McAleese “came in and lived like one of us”.
Speaking publicly for the first time on the former president’s links with the Poor Clares during her 14 years in Áras an Uachtaráin, Sr Gabriel revealed that the association was fostered in her inaugural year in office when she was introduced to members of the Poor Clare order by local solicitor, Michael Houlihan.
“On her way out on that visit, she asked ‘Could I possibly come back here for a retreat?’,” said Sr Gabriel. “We thought, ‘oh gosh, what will this mean?’ We were exercised and giving her the time and space she wanted. And she asked ‘can I join your recreation at tea time?’.”
So began an association that saw President McAleese spend three or four days with the Poor Clares in Ennis every year.
“President McAleese has been great. She has been such an inspira- tion to us. She comes in, no mobile phone, no nothing, she relinquishes everything. President McAleese would be washing your dishes and you’re embarrassed, thinking ‘The President of Ireland is washing my dishes!’
“In a way, this was the only place she was Mary McAleese. She wasn’t the President, she could just be Mary and feed her own inner life to recharge herself for her duties. She is just so ordinary, so real— that is why the world took to her. And the stories from her — press a button and you would have story after story,” added Sr Gabriel.
“She is just one of us when she is here,” said Sr Regina. “She would arrive in a lovely designer trouser suit and she would go up to her room and she would be back down in her Dunnes Stores best for the time here. She does appreciate our life here and understands it,” she added.
“Her time here has been very enriching for us as well,” said Sr Bernadette. “She would be walking around the garden saying her rosary, be at Adoration reading her Bible. She is a wonderful woman.”
The Poor Clares monastery was established in Ennis in October 1958 and the enclosed order’s Golden Anniversary celebrations were launched by President McAleese in 2008, while a photograph of the former President now hangs in the monastery.