A warm feeling of gratitude and wonder filled me as I walked into the Whitty building on Mercy Day 2013. I thought of the great woman, Sr. Vincent Whitty, who had taken responsibility for the building of the Mater Misericordiae Hospital and after whom this new building was named one hundred and fifty years later. When I emerged after a few hours my sense of awe had heightened and deepened at all that had taken place in and through the Mater In the intervening years. The occasion was the launch of Sr. Eugene Nolan’s book entitled Caring for the Nation. The gathering in the new building signified change – a new era, a new day – in previous times such a prestigious gathering would have taken place in the famed Pillar Room.
Everyone seemed to be there – the Board Members, staff from various disciplines, administrative staff, our Provincial Leader Peggy Collins, the community from the Mater Convent and their friends and the Sisters from the Dublin houses who for so long had cherished the ‘Mater’. There was a buzz of excitement in the gathering. It was clear that the hospital was beloved of many generations of Dubliners as people exchanged stories.
The opening address of the evening was given by Mr. John Morgan, Chairman of the Hospital Board. In his customary gracious way John introduced Sr. Eugene’s book – it had been long in gestation, the painstaking research was slow because the Mater’s history was intertwined with all the major historical events of Dublin and Ireland from the years of poverty through cholera epidemics, the lockout, the 1916 Rising, the Civil War, the foundation of the New State and the subsequent years of development throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. John praised the work and commitment of the Sisters and their co-workers throughout 152 years.
Mr. Morgan then introduced the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Diarmuid Martin, whose predecessor Archbishop Daniel Murray had formally opened the hospital on Mercy Day 1861. The Archbishop spoke of Catherine McAuley and her belief that the poor deserved no less than those who could provide from their own means. He went on to outline how the Sisters who followed in that spirit provided a hospital in Dublin which cared for the poor and for outpatients and which was the first to leave its doors open throughout the twenty four hours of every day.
The Archbishop expressed the hope that the hospital would continue to work in today’s highly technical and developed medical world with the same spirit as its founders thus combining professional excellence with compassionate care for each individual.
Sr. Eugene then spoke in appreciation of the acknowledgement of Mr. Morgan and the Archbishop and went on to recount some of the more amusing or dramatic happenings in the hospital during the troubled early years of the last century. Eugene had spent her life nursing and as a nurse educator in the Mater and it was obvious that she loved the hospital and the values for which it stood. Her own enthusiasm reflected the expectant excitement of the audience to which we have already alluded. It was clear that she could have spoken for hours and we could have listened – for the story of the Mater is an amazing story, it is a story of what women could do in an age before women enjoyed the societal place they can claim today, it is a story of warmth, of humour, of daring, but most of all a story of deep human compassion and selflessness.
We thank Eugene for writing it. We congratulate her on the achievement – this book is not only the history of medicine since 1861 but a social history told in a most engaging and readable way. It is a handsomely produced book of text and photographs which together speak of care, commitment and love. It is a book worthy of Dublin’s iconic Mater Misericordiae Hospital.
‘Caring for the Nation’ can be ordered online here
Thomasina Finn rsm
South Central Province
