THREE Irish nuns have proven that a life's habit of devout worship can stand you well in the longevity stakes.All three have reached the grand age of 100 with one of the venerable sisters celebrating her 100th birthday today.
Finance Minister Brian Cowen has paid special tribute to this long-standing holy trinity who all hail originally from his Co Offaly stomping ground.
Sr Brigid Hickey, Sr Anne Brennan and Sr Catherine Conroy each received a cheque for €2,540 recently from the President of Ireland to mark their 100th year.
The sister act, who are all currently resident in Australia, join an exclusive club of just 231 Irish people who have reached 100 and live outside the country.
All three have received special tributes from government officials and from family members back home as they celebrate three centuries between them.
Brian Cowen TD expressed the country's pride at their achievement and congratulated the trio on hitting the tonne.
"I am delighted to join with others in wishing Sr Catherine, Sr Brigid and Sr Anne my warmest wishes on reaching the great age of 100," said Mr Cowen.
"These three women have dedicated long lives to the service of others. We are enormously proud of them," he said.
"They left Ireland at a time when many of their friends and neighbours also left, some feeling that that they had no choice but to leave."
Not only do all three sisters share the honour of becoming Ireland's latest centenarians, but their 100th birthdays all fall within a few weeks of each other.
Two of these great ladies, Sr Hickey and Sr Conroy, left Ireland together for Australia in 1924, to return only occasionally down the years.
Sr Hickey, who turns 100 today, and Sr Conroy joined the Brisbane congregation of the Sisters of Mercy to work abroad 83 years ago. They are two of three surviving members of a group of 49 young Irish women who travelled to Australia with the congregation.
Opportunity
Sr Conroy, who was born March 4, 1907, still lives with Sr Hickey at the Sisters of Mercy Congregation's Aged Home in Brisbane. They share their space there with 102-year-old Sr Mary Browne, originally from Kerry who set out from Ireland with them so long ago.
"Our emigrant community pursued opportunities abroad at a time when there were scant opportunities at home, and they did so in a way that brings credit to them and to Ireland today," said Mr Cowen speaking of their achievement.
Sr Anne Brennan, who lives today in Sydney, celebrated her 100th birthday on March 9.
"Anne has always been very proud of her Irish tradition and of the impact that Ireland has had on Australia in the last century of so," said Brendan Brennan, a nephew of Sr Anne.
Sr Anne, who is originally from Birr, Co Offaly, travelled to Australia with the Sisters of St Joseph.
The three sisters were all eligible for the president's Centenarian Bounty Scheme, which was extended in 2006 to include Irish-born people living abroad.
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