‘A truly great soul’: Sister Stan’s life celebrated at her funeral

Mourners at Sister Stan’s funeral have heard how a “truly great soul has passed from this world”.

In his homily Father Richard Hendrick told the congregation the charity and social justice organisations she founded will remain as a “testimony to the legacy of this powerhouse of good who swept into so many lives”.

The Capuchin Franciscan friar and author, known as Brother Richard, led the service at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Dublin on Friday.

He described how the funeral mass was filled with “real loss and grief” but also “filled with the hope that burned in the heart of Sister Stan her whole life”.

He also said Ireland has been “blessed by women who have heard the gospel as the Good News to the poor that it truly is” adding “Sister Stan followed in their footsteps”.

In her welcoming remarks Sister Una of the Religious Sisters of Charity said Sister Stan had planned much of her funeral, adding she had “very definite ideas about how we should celebrate her passing”.

She said the Focus Ireland founder’s purpose “was to provide the best way possible for those who are needy, sick, destitute, and heart sore”.

She said: “We know how much of that she achieved in her life, it is well documented.

“But none of us will ever know the countless individuals whom she quietly helped, supported, encouraged, advised and championed.”

Sister Una described her as “a formidable woman in many ways, with high standards and expectations, and she could be as stubborn and as determined as any of us and maybe more so than most of us”.

There was a quiet laugh from the congregation when she added: “She was not happy when she heard the word no.”

In a tribute from her family, her niece Deirdre said: “After all those years looking out for others, this old heart has finally learned to look after itself, each act of kindness a stitch in the warm blanket that now covers you.”

President Michael D Higgins, Tanaiste Simon Harris, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and former president Mary McAleese all attended the mass in Donnybrook as did the auxiliary bishop of Dublin Father Donal Roche and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin, who is at the Cop30 climate conference in Brazil, was represented by an aide de camp.

The funeral missal featured a quote from the founder of the Religious Sisters of Charity, of which Sister Stan was a member, which reads: “Do pray that justice may be accomplished in peace and that truth may prevail.”

The offertory gifts were presented by representatives of the different organisations Sr Stan founded and including a key symbolising the Focus Housing Association and a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights representing the Immigrant Council of Ireland.

Stanislaus Kennedy died following a short illness at the St Francis Hospice in Blanchardstown on Monday morning.

Since then, tributes have poured in for the 86-year-old social justice campaigner.

Outgoing President Higgins said on Monday she was “a deeply committed campaigner for the vulnerable and marginalised in our society, and a fearless advocate for human rights and equality.

“Telling the truth of inequality required a woman of immense courage and vision. She was that.”

And said she had made a “profound” contribution to Irish society.

He also said her “many books and writings provided a further source of policy, inspiration, solace and support for so many”.

Sister Stan, who was born as Treasa Kennedy, grew up on a farm on the Dingle Peninsula in Co Kerry.

She joined the Religious Sisters of Charity in 1958 after being inspired by the work of its founder, Mary Aikenhead, at the age of 18.

She was sent on a mission to Kilkenny where she spent 19 years developing the county’s social services.

In 1974, the government appointed her the first chairwoman of the National Committee on Pilot Schemes to Combat Poverty.

She moved to Dublin where, in 1985, she founded Focus Point, now called Focus Ireland, following her research into the needs of women in homelessness in Dublin in the 1980s.

The same year, she was appointed by the European Commission to co-ordinate a rural anti-poverty programme right across Europe.

She also founded other entities: a meditation centre called The Sanctuary in 1998; the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) in 2001; and the Young Social Innovators (YSI) in 2021, an initiative to encourage students to be more socially engaged.