Sr de Lourdes, Ballyragget, will be remembered with great affection and gratitude

Sister de Lourdes (Mary Walshe) died peacefully surrounded by her family at Brookhaven Nursing Home, Ballyragget, on August 31.
A native of Ballyragget, she was the daughter of Michael and Mary Walshe and the eldest of five children.

Mary attended the Mercy Convent School, Ballyragget and later St Brigid’s College, Callan.
On August 22, 1958 Mary entered St Mary’s Convent, Callan. At her reception ceremony in 1959 she received the religious name of Sr M de Lourdes. Her First Profession was in 1961 and Final Profession in 1964.

After her Final Profession Sr de Lourdes spent the next two years in Carysfort Teacher Training College, Dublin. Having qualified as a primary teacher in 1966 she was appointed to Thomastown Mercy Convent Primary School where she taught generations of pupils until her retirement in 2001.
During her years in education deLourdes provided the pupils with a rounded education and all her colleagues and former pupils remember her with great affection and gratitude. She was also involved in the planning of the new primary school in Thomastown which paved the way for the amalgamation of the primary schools in the town.

Sr deLourdes devoted time to parish ministries, especially as choir mistress, organist and sacristan in the local parish church. She also volunteered as a tutor in the Rainbows Programme and joined the Kilkenny Bereavement Support Group. In her retirement years she organised Art and Craft groups in the local nursing homes, being gifted with great expertise in this area. Her caring and friendly manner endeared her to the many people she met during these activities and they benefited from her listening skills and encouragement, especially in times of loneliness and illness.

Besides her busy life deLourdes found time to devote to prayer which helped her through life’s difficulties. She lived out her vocation with faithfulness and had a deep devotion to the Eucharist and the Rosary.

As Sr deLourdes had ministered in Thomastown for most of her life it was her wish to have her funeral obsequies in the Parish Church there. Her Requiem Mass was celebrated by Fr Martin Tobin PP assisted by Fr Dan Bollard PP and other clergy.

Many members of deLourdes family, Mercy Sisters, past colleagues, parishioners and friends bade a final farewell to a Sister who had reached out and touched their lives in so many ways during her long life. A touching tribute was the guard of honour of children from the local Primary School. Sr de Lourdes was interred in her family plot in Ballyouskill Cemetery, Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny. She will always be remembered with affection and gratitude.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis.