The Huron Expositor, 1978-06-29, Page 52•,.
Dublin continuation or high school, which
closed in 190, was one of only two public
secondary schools taught by• nuns. in
Canada.
In- the first 30 years that the sisters
taught in Dublin, IS of their students
entered the priesthood and 30 women
joined the Ursuline Order but in later
years, the number Of students entering the
religious vocations dwindled,
• 1.9115_ the vilfttge held at s.kcial
celebration to mark thj...,50111. year since the
sisters had come to the vitage.
•
A solemn mass was etklitrallql by Father
Harry Feeney. 'CR .'„dssist61: by Father
.Arthur Cooly, CS13 aS 'deacon and 'Father
Blwyn, Morris. parlor-.of Holdy Rosary'.
rorish in. London. as subdeztebli. The Three
priests were all graduates of the contin-'.
nation school.
•
mass. gifts W!,:'1*c• 141\vp to
Mother Evangeline, •who taught the
'longest tiihe in Dublin 'of any of the sisters
(25 years) and to Agnes -Curtin and Mother
Liguori, theoldestgraduatus present at the
reunion. * • - •
In 1975, with the decision to close St.
Urstila'S.Convent. the parishes of .Dnblin
and' St. Columban „ held • a simpler cele-
bration to say thank you to the sisters ftw
their years of service in the comthunities.
More than • 46, sisters ',and many former.
pup its, 'including a• number of priests,.
came to the convent for the last time.
Rev. Gordon Dill, parish prieSt at St.
Patrick's and Rev. Joseph O'Rourke, of
Stratford, conducted a special mass for the
returning sisters.
At the time of the convent's closing.
Sister Florence, Kelly, said the .convent was.
lx)th a means of achieving *education in
the past . and was . 'also identified is
daughters of area families who had joihed
the sisterhood. _
. "We came: we did what yyc planned to
do, we were successful, and now we think
we can go somewhere where there is a
greater need," she said.
•
Although there won't be an Ursuline '
sister leaching in Dublin next year, or
perhaps for many years again, the order
has left its mark both on the values and
education of the community, imprints
which will remain for generations to 'come.
,2•;'•
Local students
ad religious vocation
One of the outstanding
accomplishments' of the Dublin Contin-
uation School• is the nuMber of
religious vocations which have developed
under the direction of the Ursuline Sisters.
During the past 50 years..15 graduates of
the continuation school have become nuns.
15 entered the priesthood' and three
become brothers.
•
Priest Graduates arc: Father Thomas
McQuaid, SFM; Father William Michelle,
CP; Father Donald Bellinger; Father John
Campbell; Father Gordon Dill; Father
Vincent Eckert,. CSB; Msgr. Joseph
Feeney; Father Harry Feeney, CR: Father
Arthur Looby, CSB; Father John •
McConnell, MM; Father John "McIver,
SFM; Father Ellwyn Morris; Father
William Morris; Father Frank Moylan,
,SFM; Father Joseph O'Rourke.
Sister Graduates are: Sister Marie
Breboeuf (Beninger), SS.1; 'Sister St. Basil
(Coyne), SS.); Mother Mary Alice (Coyne),
OSU:. Mother St. Louis (Cinme), OSU;
Mother Remigius • (Dill), OSU; Sister
Cajetan (Diwrenstein), SS.l; Sister Aloysia
(Dorrenstein); Mother Theodore (Doyle),
OSU; ,,Mother .losepha (E0tert). OSU:.
Mother' Margaret Rose (Eckert), OSU:
SiSter • Paul William; (Evans), H,N,IM;
Mother Viola (Feeney), OSU; SiSter Rose
Angela (Givlin). SSJ; Mother Stephanie
(Holland), OSU; Sister M. Augustine
(Helland); Mother 'St. George (Howard).
OSU; Mother Evelyn (Jordan), OSU;
Mother Agatha (Jordan), OSU; Mothet M.
,Caroline (Kratiskopf), OSU; Mother Jam.'
Francis (McConnell). OSU; Rev. Mother
St. David (McConnell), MM; Mother
Anaelela (M.4S); Sister Donald Marie
(Moylan), MM; Mother Liguori (Nagle);
OSU; Sister Concessa (O'Connor), SSJ;
Sister nary Daniel (O'Connor), SSJ: Sister
Benedicta SSJ; Sister Mary
Magdelen (Sharback), ,SSJ; Sister Paul
Margaret (Tabor), IHM; Sister Mary
Kieran (Woods), SS.I; Sister Claudia
(Woods), SSJ; Mother Dorothy (Weber),
OSU; Sister. Mary Immaculate (Krauskopf)
\ Brother -Graduates !-
arc: Brothet:de Sales; Brother Martin and
Brother Cronin.
Other religious from the Dublin Parish
who did not go to the continuation school'
arc: M. Agnes Clare (RoWland); Sister
Isidore (Coyne), SSJ; Mother Jerome
(Jordan), OSU; Mother Bonaventure
(Klinkhammer),- OSU; Mother Marion
(McConnell), OSU; Mother Moira (Nagle),
OSU; Mother Afra (Rowland), OSU; Sister
Lidwina Marie (Landsbergen), OSU.
•
FIRST URSULINE SISTERS •--• The first
Ursuline sisters, Who came to teach in Dublin
in 1915, were Mother Isabel, Mother Cecilia,
Mother Baptist, Mother Delores and Mother
Monica.
PARISH PRIEST —
Thomas Noon-
an, parish
priest for the
Dublin com-
munity. from
1903-;1923.
Best Wishes
to the Village
of
. DUBLIN
on yout
100th Birthd9y
Harold Jordan
Electric Ltd.
Mitchell
•
Best Wishes and we hope you all
have a really . good time , during
DUBLIN'S 100th Birthday
QUEEN'S HOTEL
Seaforth • 527-0820
•)
Best WiAes
DUBLIN
On You-r
100th Anniversary
PERTH MILK. TRANSPORT
Brodhagen
•
- • 9,(1
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JUNE 29, 1978. 29
Ursuline sisters
In Dublin since 1915
4. —Fewpover half a century there have been
Ursuline sisters teaching school in the
village of Dublin.
This year, with the retirement of Sister
' FlOrence ,Kelly, principal of St. Patrick's
leftdol. this tradition is coming to an end.
Itr t 915. Father Thomas Norman. the
Dublin parish.. priest. engaged four
members of the Urshline sistersto come to
the village to teach-two were to teach in t he
%Pillage's new Continuation School and two
in the elementary
,
Years later. Mother Cecilia recalled the
wintery night when the four sisteps first in
the village-"at ,this time our most distant
mission...situated in the coldest and most
Neakvart of southern- Ontario..."
"We left .Londori in the wildest hitizard
that had Nkited the localitY in many years.
All ddy long and far into, the night the
storm continued to rage with ever
increasing intensity, WC were scheduled to
. reach our destination at 6 poll,. but the
train, forced to struggle• with the snow
piled in drifts along its path, was delayed
two whole , hours. Darkness gathered
round. The wind and the snow, beating
against the windows. ''intensified the
taliousness of the journey and the anxious
feelings of the four travellers."
"Ah! At last here was, Dublin. Surely we
. had heard the word called-out loud and
clear. Picking up our scant belongings, we
'made our Way toward the exit. What a
cause for further bewilderment met our
gaze as we stepped out into the- open!
Darkness of the P blackest Egyptian night
encompassed us. This was relieved by a
solitary dim light flickering through the.
storm, radiating from a lantern held aloft
by a huge, buckskinncd hand. Then
somewhere from out of that darkness rang
the sonorous greetings of "Welcome to
Dublin, Sister." Betere time was given for
either response or inquiry, each of. us,
trembling and curious, was unceremon-
iously lifted by what seemed Herculean
•
strength and placed in a large bob7 slcigh
.lying.-in-wait a .few feet away."
""Off we started, literally, Covered with
buffalo robes. in charge of, as nearly as We
could conjecture. a half a dozen or more
rollicking soils of Erin, who, we afterwards
learned, were the 'most prominent -and
respected fathers of the village."
The first four sisters whi) taught in
Dublin were ,Mother Baptiste and Mother
Dolores who. taught in the high school, and
. Mother Cecilia and Mothe,r Isabel who
taught in St. Patrick's elemehtary school.
Two more Ursulines arrived a few-weeks
later: • Mother Monica and Mother
Benedict. AbO,ut 'a week after her arrival,
Wither Benedict ' • •
Besides teaching at the two Dublih
schools, the Ursulities also took over the
school in the neighbouring parish of St.
Columban in t925. Mother Angeline and
Mother Dorothy were the first teachers.
When the sisters arrived in Dublin, in
1915, the .plaster hadn't even dried on the
' stately St. Ursula Convent' and' the
•adjoining continuation school.
During 'its peak period, the St. Ursula
Convent housed as many as 12 sisters. The .