Sr. Assumpta Power passed away on Monday 1st April, 2019. A tribute to her life and her work within the community of Rathangan, Co Kildare was published in the Leinster Leader newspaper of 15th April, 2019.
“Sr. Assumpa was a force of nature, brimming with enthusiasm for every challenge and few could match her energy or passion. She loved that school (Ardscoil Rath Iomgháin). She never had a bad word to say about any of the students and if you pointed out something about one of them, she would always have an excuse, a reason why they acted the way they did”, said Fr. Gerard O’Byrne, as he spoke at Sr. Assumpta’s funeral.
A former teacher at the school for many years, Fr. O’Byrne described her as a woman of “extraordinary faith with a great love of nature.” A large crowd gathered at the Church of the Assumption in Rathangan to pay their respects to the 91 year old nun, who had been a resident at Catherine McAuley Nursing Home for the last number of years of her life.
Originally from Mullingar, she came to Rathangan when she was just 23 years old and spent 68 years there prior to her illness.
Sr. Thomasina from the Sisters of Mercy Order told the Congregation that there wasn’t a dry eye at the nursing home as everyone said farewell to her as she was brought back to Kildare following her death.
She said the late nun was hugely popular and well liked. A large number of Sr. Assumpta’s family members attended the funeral mass. She is survived by her sisters, Sr. Rosanne and Nano Murphy, her brothers, John, Frank, Michael, nieces, nephews and their families.
She will also be hugely missed by her fellow Rathangan Sisters of Mercy, Sr. Rosari, Sr. Bernadette, Sr. Carmel and Sr. Brigid.
Fr. O’Byrne talked about Sr. Assumpta’s work for the Tidy Towns and how she gave elocution lessons. He recounted how one past pupil told him at this time of year she would always have taught the William Wordsworth poem – Daffodils, complete with actions. Fr. O’Byrne said he wouldn’t do a demonstration as it wouldn’t have done her justice.
In fact, half of Rathangan probably could name the three different rocks in Ireland without blinking because of her unique teaching methods using song “Rocks, rocks, rocks, igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic” could be heard from the classroom window – the louder the better.
Over the past few days another past pupil recalled how Sr. Assumpta started off basketball in the secondary school and when she took charge of the team, she was only learning how to dribble the ball herself. That didn’t daunt her. She had a plan – the fast break strategy and it worked. The girls won the league in their first year and became a well-known entity on the circuit – known as the team with the nun for a coach. Sr. Assumpta also volunteered at Rathangan Credit Union. She could often be seen behind a desk at the old Credit Union building totting up the figures.
Local Councillor, Mark Stafford posted a heartfelt message on Facebook – “As we say goodbye today to Sr. Assumpta for the last time we remember how in her gentle way she inspired and encouraged so many young people and deeply enriched our community in Rathangan.”
Ardscoil Rath Iomháin students and teachers provided a guard of honour for Sr. Assumpta as she made her way to her final resting place at the nuns cemetery.”
This article was written by Niamh O’Donoghue
