11 February 2018

Relations in religion

dedication
This is one of a series of posts about a range of relatives who entered Catholic religious life. These men and women only have relatives or their communities to recall and remember their lives as they have no direct descendants.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries it was not uncommon and indeed sometimes expected that at least one child in a Catholic family should pursue a religious life either as a priest, brother or nun. A wide variety of religious orders both male and female were dedicated to providing Catholic education and training for both children and adults. Some orders specialised in the care of the sick and elderly. When few records can found for a female relative I have found it useful to look for their presence in a religious community. The choice of religious order or community often came down to geographical circumstance, the influence of a bishop or a particular religious order in a region.

This post is a list that addresses only the known, deceased relatives who lived in Australia. Further detail will be provided in subsequent posts.

The SMYTH line

  • John Smyth 1824 –1870 priest, administrator and Vicar–General of Adelaide diocese: brother to Edward Smyth, my great-grandfather
  • Mary Smyth 1878 – 1960 Sister Mary Catherine: Sisters of Mercy in Perth,  daughter of James Smyth and Catherine Mulvaney elder sister of Francis below, first cousin twice removed
  • Francis Smyth 1884 –1955 – Parish priest:  first cousin of a grandmother,  my first cousin twice removed, son of James Smyth and Catherine Mulvaney
  • Ann Elizabeth Callery 1899 – 1981 Sister Mary Patricia: Sisters of Mercy, Perth, my father’s first cousin, my first cousin once removed, daughter of John Callery and Catherine Teresa Smyth
  • Edward John Smyth 1905-1978 – Parish priest: my father’s first cousin, my first cousin once removed, son of Francis John Smyth and Catherine Mary Fitzgerald
  • Margaret Byrne 1903 - 1980  Sister Mary Rose: Order of the Sisters of St Joseph: my father’s first cousin, my first cousin once removed daughter of James Leo Byrne and Margaret Smyth
  • Elizabeth Byrne 1911 – 2001 Sister Mary Raphael: Order of the Sisters of St Joseph, my father’s first cousin, my first cousin once removed daughter of James Leo Byrne and Margaret Smyth


The O’LEARY/HORGAN line

  • Ellen O’Leary 1845 –1908 Sister Aloysius, Order of the Sisters of St Joseph nun: great grandmother’s sister
  • Johanna Horgan 1883 –1979 Sister Stanislaus: Dominican nun, first cousin twice removed, daughter of Thomas Horgan and Mary Carroll
  • Peter Maurice Horgan 1890 – 1950 parish priest: first cousin twice removed, son of Daniel Horgan and Julia Evans
  • Joan Therese Horgan 1909 – 1994 Sister Joan:  Dominican nun, second cousin once removed, daughter of Thomas James Horgan and Margaret Anne Dempsey
  • Phoebe Horgan 1912 –2012 Sister Alphonsus: Dominican nun, second cousin once removed, daughter of Daniel Horgan and Lillie May McCarthy
  • James E Horgan 1914 – 1946  priest of the Redemptorist order: second cousin once removed, son of Denis Joseph Horgan and Laura Maria Worthington
  • Mary Elizabeth Hogan 1908  –1975 Member of the sisters of the Little Company of Mary: (Calvary Hospital, North Adelaide)second cousin once removed daughter of Timothy Thomas Hogan and Elizabeth Mary Kerin
  • Elizabeth Ann Hogan 1914 –1973 Sister Peter: Loreto nun, second cousin once removed daughter of Timothy Thomas Hogan and Elizabeth Mary Kerin
  • Thomas Erwin Horgan 1915 – 2002 priest: second cousin once removed son of Thomas James Horgan and Margaret Anne Dempsey
  • Lillian Veronica Horgan 1917 –2003 Sister Vianney, Dominican nun for early years of her life, second cousin once removed, daughter of Daniel Horgan and Lillie May McCarthy, my music teacher in the late 1960s at Cabra Dominican Convent
  • Mary Dominica Slattery 1917 -2018 Sr Mary Carmel, Dominican nun, second cousin once removed, daughter of William John Slattery and Katherine Gertrude Horgan
  • Thomas Barry Horgan 1925 – 2009 Member of the Marist order known as  Brother Godric, second cousin once removed, son of John Michael Horgan and Mary Ann Barry

9 comments:

  1. What an amazing number of religious you have in your family. I've not come across other Catholic families like this

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    Replies
    1. Yes I was quite surprised by the numbers when I started to view relatives from this perspective, and what was more surprising was that these are all from my father's side. There are a couple more, but they are still alive so not included here.

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  2. That is quite a lot for one family. Did they come from large families?

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    Replies
    1. Two family lines who came together at my paternal grandparents generation. One of these men was from a very large family of 10 but some were from quite small families too. The Hogan sisters were two of the three children in that family and the two sisters in the previous post were from a family of five which would not have been considered large in the 1920s.

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    2. I have included your blog in INTERESTING BLOGS in FRIDAY FOSSICKING at

      https://thatmomentintime-crissouli.blogspot.com/2018/02/friday-fossicking-16th-feb-2018.html
      Thank you, Chris
      An interesting story... though one side of our family were tsaunch Catholics, as far as I know, none joined an order. They were very much involved with the church, the nuns and the priests...it wasn't unusual to be hosting the local priest or a nun or two to morning or afternoon tea in our tiny house.

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  3. An interesting way to look at a family line. Your post reminded me that otherwise 'invisible' relatives (a maiden aunt in my case) might be found in the pages of church newsletters or journals. The aunt in question has a plaque in her honour on a pew in an Anglican cathedral so I am hoping her passing was noted in the church journal. And I might just now have a look to see how many family members entered religious life. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many of mine were found in the religious press of the time but some only through the archives of the religious orders.

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  4. Beaut idea for a post. Your mob had reprezentation in quite a few orxers!

    Carmel - you've set me a challenge. I must try to tally up my lot. It Won't be nearly as impressive as yours because only my paternal side were Catholics.

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  5. Yes, quite a few orders and the surprising thing is these were all on my paternal side even though my maternal side were also quite religious. May be that I just haven’t found so many rellies on the maternal side. Hmm, another statistic to look at. The problem now is I need to write something about the ones named above, mostly I just have obituaries, so lots of those coming up.

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