Woman who has made a huge difference in Kilkenny celebrated in Dáil Éireann

The incredible life and work of a nun who gave so much to the people of Kilkenny over the years has been celebrated in Dáil Éireann as part of the recognition of International Women's Day and the lives of inspiring women.

Sister Stanislaus 'Stan' Kennedy was born Treasa Kennedy in 1939 or 1940 near Lispole on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry.

In 1958, she joined the Religious Sisters of Charity and was initially based in Kilkenny. It was in Kilkenny that she helped those less fortunate, and is fondly remembered for organising trips for young people to places like Ballybunion.

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Newly appointed Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, stated that throughout her career, it has always been 'incredibly important' to her to 'ensure that women and girls of all ages have the same opportunities as their male counterparts in all aspects of their professional and personal lives'.

She quoted Sr Stan at the end of her contribution, "Progress will be our mainstay and we will continue to strive for a society of opportunity, respect and equality. In the words of a celebrated Kerry woman, Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, "Every day brings a new possibility." I look forward to working with my Cabinet colleagues, Department officials, stakeholders and everyone in this House and across this country to make this happen."

Leas-Cheann Comhairle and TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, John McGuinness, also used his time to praise the contributions of Sr Stan to Kilkenny and further afield.

"The Minister referred to Sr Stan, a renowned Kerrywoman," McGuinness stated.

"Sr Stan spent most of her life in Kilkenny, working hard on reform. She helped with reform of the church with Dr Peter Birch and had a huge impact on the views I now hold."

Working alongside Birch, Sr Stan helped to set up Kilkenny Social Services. For nineteen years, Peter Birch was both guide and mentor to Sr Stan as the Kilkenny Social Services developed into an innovative, comprehensive model of community care becoming a blue-print for the rest of Ireland.

In 1974, the Irish Government appointed Sr Stan as the first chair of The National Committee on Pilot Schemes to Combat Poverty in Ireland and in 1985 the European Commission appointed her as Trans-National Co-ordinator in the European Rural Anti Poverty Programme working right across Europe.

From the small townland of Lispole Sr Stan’s desire to create a more equal society was moving further afield. Moving to Dublin in the early 1980s, Sr Stan tackled one of Ireland’s most neglected social inequalities – homelessness.

In 1985, Sr Stan established Focus Point which is now Focus Ireland, the biggest national, voluntary organisation helping people to find, create and maintain a home.

In 1998, Sr Stan founded The Sanctuary, a meditation/spirituality centre in the heart of Dublin City, a place where people can find a quiet space and time for themselves to explore and develop their inner world and wisdom and find stillness.

In 2001, Sr Stan established two other initiatives, the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI), an independent national organisation working to promote the rights of immigrants through information, advocacy and legal aid and the Young Social Innovators (YSI), a national showcase providing an opportunity for students to become involved in social issues.

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Sr Stan has also written thousands of articles that have been published in Ireland and elsewhere. She lectures on social issues and policies, is a frequent keynote speaker at many events and regularly gives talks to many diverse groups in Ireland, Europe and outside of Europe.

Sr Stan's own words describe her upbringing, "I was born Treasa Kennedy during the Second World War on the Dingle Peninsula, between Holy Mount Brandon and the Atlantic Ocean. I was one of five children and my childhood was a traditional one, lived among fishermen and farmers, the caretakers of a peasant tradition.

"In my early childhood, there was story-telling and card-playing in place of radio, cinema and television. It was a life of mystery, beauty and simplicity.

"The pattern of the day, the night, the year, and even life itself was lived unselfconsciously in the presence of God. The life of the people was deeply incarnational, whether saving the hay, telling the time from the sun and the tide, catching trout and salmon, going to stations, wakes, funerals, marriages, walking under hedges dripping with fuchsia, cutting and footing the turf or bringing tea to the fields or the bog.

"But it was not all joy. We also knew hardship through the Depression and the War, with its food rationing. Hard times drove many from their land. But we were a close and neighbourly community. As the local writer Peig Sayers (whom I knew) put it: 'Ar scath a cheile a mhaireann na daoine'."

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