Limerick was in the direst poverty when Catherine McAuley and a group of Sisters arrived there in 1838. Other religious had come to help in the city but had to retire for lack of resources to meet the overwhelming need. Two Poor Clare Sisters who had stayed welcomed Catherine’s party when they arrived. They had fervently prayed that the Sisters of Mercy would come and stay. Their prayers were answered and the Sisters, as in other places, immediately set to work to alleviate the worst suffering occasioned by poverty. Very quickly schools were started in whatever circumstances presented themselves so that the education of women and children was soon in hand.

Over the years the schools became established and the fortunes of the people improved so that sixty years later in 1898 the Sisters, together with the Bishop of Limerick, founded Mary Immaculate Training College for the professional education of Catholic teachers.

Mary Immaculate College

The foundation building stands as testament to the vision, the courage, the faith and determination of the Sisters. It is a proud, imposing building lit up at night as a beacon in Limerick City. It came only fifteen years after the Training College founded in Baggot Street (later transferred to Carysfort in 1903) and since then has contributed enormously to education in Limerick and throughout the country.

In the intervening years eight Presidents have led the College from strength to strength. The first was Sr. Paul Quinlan from 1902 – 1923, followed by six Sister-Presidents – the last being Sr. Angela Bugler 1988 – 1999. Angela was followed by Prof. Peadar Cremin 1999 – 2011. We salute and honour the sterling contribution they have made to building the fine tradition of teaching for which Ireland became famous worldwide.

Sr. Angela Bugler

On 2nd February, 2012 Prof. Michael Hayes was inaugurated as the ninth President of the College. Prof. Hayes is a native of Limerick although his academic career until now was spent in England. In his inaugural speech he outlined his vision for the College. It will be a Catholic College where the highest levels of excellence will obtain, it will be a welcoming place in the heart of the city, it will be a place of culture where the arts will be celebrated, developed and enjoyed. It will send out graduates who will make huge positive contributions to society.

Prof. Hayes expounded on what it meant to be Catholic:

It seems to me that we are now in a situation where we need to reclaim the word Catholic. To be Catholic … is to see the world as a place of meaning and of hope; a place created by God, it is to know that each individual is called to flourish in that world and to make a positive contribution to the common good, it is to be content in the knowledge that we have the real possibility of divine destiny. To be Catholic is to be a person of hope and of vision, a person who sees meaning in life in this world and promise beyond.
As the poet Seamus Heaney puts it:

History says, don’t hope
On this side of the grave.
But then once
In a lifetime
The longed for tidal wave
Of Justice can rise up, and
Hope and History rhyme!
Believe that a further shore,
Is reachable from here.

And he went on to talk about what it is to be a Catholic College:

We must now re-imagine what it means for Mary Immaculate College to be a Catholic College. Our re-imagining will involve that on-going search for meaning, the questioning of perceived wisdom in the pursuit for truth. But it will do so not in a context of a world view that is bracketed between nothing and nothing. To honour the Catholic tradition we must assert that humanity has a destiny which lies gently in God’s hands. Or in the words of the late Pope John Paul II:

‘What is at stake is the dignity of the human person, whose defence and promotion have been entrusted to us by the Creator, and to whom men and women at every moment of history are strictly and responsibly in debt.’ (Sollicitudo Rei Socicalis, 47).

Prof. Hayes’s complete speech can be read on www.mic.ul.ie by clicking more news on the home page.

We wish Prof. Hayes every blessing, happiness and success in his term of office in Mary Immaculate College.

Thomasina Finn rsm
South Central Province