Sr. Ignatius Killeen

June, 9, 1918 – November 13, 2014

Sr. Ignatius Killeen, who has died aged 96, spent the greatest portion of her religious life as a Sister of Mercy attached to the Convent of Mercy, Altamount Street, Westport. Coming from the village of Annfield, Hollymount, Claremorris where her mother was postmistress and her father was the local postman, she was third eldest in a large family of eight children, including five boys and three girls.  She was baptised Nora and entered the Mercy Order aged eighteen at Westport in 1936.  Upon her final profession in 1941 she was given the religious name Ignatius by which she would become known for the rest of her long life as a Mercy nun. On the same day as she entered religious life she met for the first time another young entrant, Nuala Mooney from Dunmore, Co. Galway who became known as Sr Francis. Sr Ignatius and Sr Francis Mooney remained lifelong close friends until the latter’s death in 2003 .

Sr. Ignatius qualified as a Primary School teacher in Carysfort College in 1938 while simultaneously preparing to make her temporary religious vows. Having spent her early teaching years in Westport she moved to Ballyhaunis in 1946 where she remained until the early 1960’s before returning to Westport as Principal of the Sacred Heart Secondary School.  A few years later she became Manager of the secondary school at a time when her brother Jimmy, known in Westport as Brother Killeen, was principal of the CBS. Sr Ignatius managed to combine the onerous duties of Principal and school Manager with a very busy teaching workload.

She was a passionate and committed teacher and countless students can testify to her enthusiasm in imparting her knowledge in a wide range of subjects which included botany, art, Irish, religion, history, geography and mathematics. Her lunchtimes in the school were given up to providing extracurricular music lessons to interested students and she was noted for her competence in teaching piano and recorder. Her teaching was characterised by a burning desire for all her students to succeed. As a teacher she was gentle, encouraging, caring, ambitious for her students and always mindful of being “in loco parentis”. She recognised the importance of parents as the primary educators of their children and saw her role as building on their teaching in the classroom setting.

As school Manager Sr Ignatius was forward thinking, courageous and highly proactive in developing the most modern facilities at the Sacred Heart School to cater for the rapidly expanding student intake which resulted from the provision of free second level education and school transport in 1968. At that time she led and oversaw the expansion of the school’s physical infrastructure including library facilities, new classrooms and the school’s first  Science laboratory. There followed in 1978 the opening of a huge new assembly hall/gymnasium built without any financial assistance from the Dept of Education. Without her drive, courage and prudent financial management such developments would not have happened.

1984 saw the provision of another huge extension which included more general classrooms, assembly area and specialist rooms including music room, home economics room, sewing room, art room, demonstration room and two more science laboratories. Sr Ignatius thus leaves a lasting legacy to Westport in the form of the built environment of much of the Sacred Heart School as it exists today.

Concurrent with building developments her tenure as manager also saw major advances in curricular provision. Each year innovations were introduced and she ensured the provision of the widest possible range of subject choices for students. She was cognisant of the wide range of abilities of the student intake and curriculum provision was carefully developed with this in mind. She had a particular love for the arts and she ensured the input of much time and resources in this area with grand operettas being a feature of school life during her time there.

As an administrator her skills were well recognised. She was particularly expert in the annual task of producing the school staff timetable, a laborious and complex task which she performed manually and without the aid of a computer during each Summer holiday period in preparation for the new academic year. In the Mercy Convent itself Sr. Ignatiu’s administrative and financial management skills also found an outlet in her role as Bursar, a function she fulfilled over many years. In a large Convent building with many Sisters this was no small task. Here she had responsibility for stocking the in-house store, commissioning and overseeing maintenance work and dealing with accounts. She also had responsibility for the disbursement of a modest monthly stipend to the nuns, a function in which she was famously generous. Children visiting the Convent were always taken to the store where bags of sweets and sundry treats were dispensed and parents would rarely leave after a visit without bags of sweets and goodies for their children.  She was remarkable for her thoughtfulness, kindness and generosity.

Sr Ignatius formally retired as school Manager in 1986 and was replaced by the school’s first Board of Management. Her involvement with the school did not end there however and she continued to attend daily for some years in a voluntary capacity to run the school bookshop. This was a role she had always undertaken as school manager. A student’s inability to pay for schoolbooks was always dealt with discreetly by Sr Ignatius. No charge was demanded for books supplied to the disadvantaged child except that the books be thoroughly used and returned when finished with. This typified her compassionate nature.

Upon the closure of the Mercy Convent Westport in 2008, Sr Ignatius left with a heavy heart to take up residence in Ard Bhride, Castlebar prior to spending her final two years in the adjacent nursing home, Cuan Chaitriona.  Poignantly on her final return to her beloved Westport she was laid to rest in the nun’s burial plot beside the Mercy Convent where she first entered religious life 78 years previously.

Sr Ignatius Killeen was a motherly figure and will be remembered with great affection by all who had the privilege to have encountered her during her long life. The large crowds that attended her removal and her Funeral Mass at St Mary’s Church, Westport were testament to the esteem in which she was held. Her dark shining eyes, the warmth of her smile and the sincerity of her words gave assurance of the genuineness of her welcome. She was wise, erudite and a lady of outstanding integrity. She was a prayerful woman, deeply committed to her faith and she led her life in accordance with Gospel values. She shared her many gifts with energy and generosity. She was a faithful friend to many. She will be greatly missed.

Sr Ignatius is mourned by her only remaining sibling Bridie (Dublin), her sister-in-law Breda (England), nephews, nieces, the Sisters of Mercy Community, former teaching colleagues, countless students and a wide circle of friends.  Ni bheidh a leitheid ann aris. Go ndeana Dia trocaire ar a h-anam dilis.