Sr Agatha Allen, Callan & Craughwell - A highly respected member of the Mercy Convent community

A light went out when the people of Callan heard that Sr Agatha Allen, affectionately known as the ‘nun on the bike’ had navigated the road to Heaven successfully. It was a road she had prayed for, worked for and hoped would manifest itself at the end of her wonderfully rewarding life.

Sr Agatha was a highly respected, dedicated member of the Mercy Convent community in Callan, a vocation she embraced as a young girl in September 1957.

A kindred spirit of myself, being born in Craughwell, Galway - me from Tuam - often we had spoken about the county of our birth, and she would flippantly interject that Oliver Cromwell had done a great service to the country when he banished the Irish ‘to hell or to Connacht’. When I would question why she would retort, with a mischievous smirk on her face, ‘sure the best of us went west across the big river’ (Shannon), followed by a peal of laughter.
She loved that one!

Not too long after entering the convent, Sr Agatha Allen was invited to undertake missionary work in British Columbia, Canada, where the Sisters of Mercy had a mission since 1957. The young Galway nun was bubbling with excitement at the challenge facing her. On returning to her alma mater, Sr Agatha completed a course in catering at the renowned school of catering in the much acclaimed Cathal Brugha School of Catering College in Dublin. Her qualification was hugely valuable in the course of her management of the catering in the famed St Brigid’s boarding college.

Even though Sr Agatha has passed to a better place, she is still fondly remembered by the many students whom she cared for with great compassion, care, love and kindness. Many would refer to her catering expertise; others would salivate at the thought of her apple tart and custard. Even after the closing of the boarding establishment, parish priest Fr Willie Dalton would often refer to the culinary expertise - in particular the apple tarts - that Sr Agatha would present at meal time in the Convent whenever the Callan parish priest happened to be ‘in the area’.

But Sr Agatha’s interest was not exclusively about St Brigid’s College. She immersed herself in all forms of parish social work as she illuminated the lives of so many people in the parish. Her transport was a bicycle, a Raleigh with a wicker basket strapped to the handlebar. The basket was her shopping carrier bag. If someone was in trouble, Agatha was ‘on her bike’.
She lived by the dictat that “nothing was impossible to those that don’t have to do it themselves”. The girl from Craughwell never failed, but even if things went against her, she never stopped trying.

Delightful company, people loved to converse with her. The second Vatican Council deliberations suited her down to the ground. She had a lovely caring tone to her voice. She was a pragmatist who said what her heart dictated. On the streets of Callan or flying down Green Street, Sr Agatha had a great hello for all. She took a huge interest in all thing Callan. She was a great gardener, always looking after the grounds of her beloved St Brigid’s. She took a particular interest in the Sacred Heart Grotto on the perimeter of the Convent. She tended the flowers and shrubs with immaculate pride. She cut the grass and it gave her a great affinity with the Sacred Heart to keep the entire Grotto confines in pristine condition in spite of the climatic hardships.

My first meeting with the lady was in John McGuire’s bacon shop on Green Street. His nephew Eamon was learning his trade behind the counter. John had a beautiful inoffensive temperament that endeared him to all his customers and acquaintances. John had great respect for all elements of religion.

Eamon’s Dad, Tommy was John’s brother – God rest him- had another brother living in Salthill in Galway. Tommy always went to the Galway Races. Being from Galway, Sr Agatha was not averse to asking Tommy for a lift to her homeplace in Craughwell. Public transport services were rather difficult when direct local services were required. But knowing Tommy he would never refuse the good nun who never said ‘no’ to anyone looking for a bit of help or a favour.

But that was the kindly person Sr Agatha (Allen) was. Stories were numerous about the ‘nun on a bike’ and her life in Callan. She was the personification of all that is good in the world. She probably visited every senior citizen in the parish of Callan, many of them on numerous occasions. I was standing outside McGuire’s shop with John on another occasion, and she came down the Green Street hill, greeting people on either side of the street. John Mc roared at her ‘slow down, Sister or you’ll kill yourself or others’- to which she replied, ‘Don’t worry, John, sure God will mind us all’.

Sr Agatha was a ready-made Humanist created for involvement in the lives of people in any kind of need by her Creator. Her vocation she endorsed with the faith of her Creator unconditionally. No task was a burthen that she refused to carry on behalf of her fellow man or woman. To paraphrase a Callan colloquialism, ‘the people of Callan loved the very bones of a wonderful person’.

She passed away in the caring love of the staff in the Mooncoin Care Centre on November 12. She returned to her ‘home’ in Callan where she was buried in the Convent plot with her Mercy sisters in Kilbride after Requiem Mass in the Convent chapel.
Her passing will have caused much grief for her Convent community and a huge number of parishioners who loved her. It’s rather an under to say something like Sr Agatha will be missed by a huge number of friends, colleagues and acquaintances lucky enough to have crossed her path during a very long life in her ministry as a Sister in St Brigid’s. She was missed within seconds of her passing, and still is.
It is more than that.
Ni rachfaid a cuimhneas ar ceal
- BH