BIG READ: Famous Tipperary woman remembered at local national school

In 2020 I published a book titled Tipperary People of Great Note. One of the people featured in the book was Aleen Isobel Cust, born in 1868 in Cordangan Manor, Tipperary.

The reason that Ms Cust merited inclusion was that she was the first woman veterinary surgeon in Britain and Ireland.

Since then she has received a lot of exposure on RTE Nationwide, a two-day conference in her honour and a book to celebrate her life.

I was delighted to be asked to attend St Michael’s Girls’ NS recently for the presentation of workbooks on Aleen Cust to pupils by the Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council, Cllr Roger Kennedy and by Heritage Officer, Roisín O’Grady.

Principal of the school, Ms Íde Mooney, informed the pupils that a lady like Aleen Cust was very inspirational for them because they could relate to her.

“She was once a little girl like you, she learned, she did lots of homework and lots of school work and she became the first veterinary surgeon in Ireland and Britain and she lived in Tipperary. She is very important to us because she is an inspiration to us and we like following and looking and speaking about ladies that inspire us,” said Ms. Mooney.

Cllr Roger Kennedy, welcomed John Harold Barry and his wife Dinkie, telling the pupils that the Harold Barrys live in Cordangan Manor where Aleen Cust was born.

Cllr Kennedy said that the story of Aleen Cust was fantastic. “By any measure she was a remarkable person in that as a woman in veterinary practice, because of her sex she was prevented, by barriers of prejudice and tradition, from obtaining her full recognition as a member of the RCVS. Cust had studied at William’s New Veterinary College in Edinburgh and was an outstanding student, winning a gold medal in her first year.

“Aleen Cust had a difficult young life but she proved one thing, that being a girl doesn’t stop you from achieving what you want to achieve. She always wanted to be a veterinary surgeon and all of you have your own idea of what you want to be. If you keep working and doing your studies and homework you can achieve anything,” said Cllr Kennedy.

A workbook in English and Irish on Aleen Cust is going to be distributed to all the schools in Tipperary and Heritage Officer for Tipperary, Roisín O’Grady, told the pupils that research into the the history and stories of people and place was very important so that they are not lost and she encouraged the pupils to keep doing research.

“I suppose in a way she is what you would call a trailblazing woman. A trailblazing woman is somebody who does something and achieves greatness despite all the obstacles that are put against her. By virtue of the fact that the time she was born in was a very different Ireland from the one that we have now, there were many different obstacles put in her way. This is the story of a woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer. She had a passion in life to become a vet, that is what she wanted to do and she went for it. Interestingly enough about 70% of vets at the moment are women, so when you think of what happened in 100 years there has been a really great turnaround and Aleen Cust was the woman that led that change. We hope that her story will not only inspire you but that you will remember it,” said Roisín.

John Harold Barry also spoke to the pupils about the fact that both Aleen and himself were vets and both lived in Cordangan and he encouraged them to do their studies so that they could become whatever they wanted in life,” he said.