MORE than 1,000 people are expected in the Green Glens Arena, Millstreet, Co Cork, next month to mark the centenary of the Infant Jesus Sisters in Ireland.Founded by Pere Nicolas Barre in Paris, in 1662, the sisters came here to recruit English-speaking nuns to teach in Malaya and Japan.
Drishane Convent, near Millstreet, was opened in 1909 and Scoil Íosa was opened in Malahide, Co Dublin, 50 years later.
The Drishane novitiate also started in 1909 and the convent was soon sending sisters to Malaya and Japan.
In later years, they went to the US, Australia, Thailand, South America and Africa, as well as getting involved in diverse ministries in Ireland.
A knitting school was also set up in Drishane, which became a boarding school in 1911. The convent also provided employment for many local men on the farm and in other activities, including a brush factory.
The century will be marked by the launch of a book and a DVD on May 16.
The book, The Voyage Out: The Infant Jesus Sisters in Ireland 1909-2009, is by Catherine Kilbride, a past-pupil of Drishane and Deirdre Raftery, a past-pupil of Malahide.
The DVD, Buíochas, is the work of Killarney photographer Michelle Cooper Galvin, a past-pupil of Drishane, and Sr Peter Fahy, formerly of Drishane.
Friends of the Infant Jesus Sisters, past pupils, relations of sisters past and present, those who have worked with the sisters in their schools and in other projects at parish and community level and neighbours are welcome to the centenary celebrations.
* Further information and booking form available on www.ijs.ie
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(Source: IE)