DIVINE ILLUMINATION

At last, a book that does justice to the Dominican Oratory in Dún Laoghaire and available in the shops (I think). It was launched at The Lexicon yesterday to a packed audience and it sold out on the spot. I gather further supplies will be available from next Wednesday.

The book is beautifully produced and it not only covers the Oratory as it exists currently, with a good selection of Sister Concepta's art, it also fills in a whack of fascinating background to the project itself and the wider Dominican order.

There is a very fine exhibition on the premises covering the Oratory and the wider background, essentially the same material as in the book.

The launch event was kicked off by Catherine Gallagher, the new County Librarian, who takes over from Máiréad Owens who has moved on to be Dublin City Librarian.

Catherine reminded us of the whole series of events structured around the centenary of the Oratory - the exhibition, the book, tours of the Oratory itself and a series of talks.

Shay Brennan is Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown County Council, and he is proud to have the Oratory on his beat and the centenary occurring during his term of office.

Then Mariel Deegan from the publishers, New Island Books, took to the stage, inter alia, to express her wonder and joy at the sell out and to reassure those who were not quick enough off the mark that more copies would be available next week.

Josepha Madigan

Josepha is Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. She assured us she was not planning to say mass today, and went on to laud the work of Sr. Concepta.

Josepha's department has contributed to the current series of events through the Decade of Commemorations fund.

Sister Frances Lally OP

The Oratory would likely have been demolished with the Dominican convent in the early 1990s were it not for the great efforts to save it by Sr. Frances, Veronica Heywood and a supporting cast of concerned individuals.

Mary O'Sullivan (née O'Callaghan), Margaret Swan (née Kavanagh), Rita Larkin

These Three Little Girls from School were boarders in the convent many moons ago. Rita and Margaret are cousins and so have been in touch over the years, but for Mary, it was her first time meeting up since she left the convent (sometime in the last century).

They were known as The Railway Girls having come to Dublin from Cork and Tipperary on the train, direct to Dún Laoghaire, as it was the Mail Train.

One of the traits the Dominicans cultivate in their young ladies is an independence of spirit and you'll see above that Rita has followed through on this by chosing to retain her maiden (can I still say that?) name.

Rita has supplied a whack of photos which are included in both the exhibition and the book.

Father Myles Healy

Fr. Myles's mother was a pupil and subsequently a friend of Sr. Concepta's. He was smuggled in to be presented to Sr. Concepta when he was one day old. Sr. Concepta died some days later.

Felix Larkin, Síghle Bhreathnach-Lynch, Brendan Cardiff

Felix got an invite out of the blue and dropped by. Which reminds me that Sr. Ben has written the introduction to the book under her real name, Margaret McCurtain. She recently had a great do for her nintieth birthday. I had been told she was at the launch and was sorry to have missed her, but I gather she was not well enough to attend. Wishing this wonderful lady well.

I knew Síghle way back through her sister Niamh who married my friend Tom. Síghle is an art historian and former curator of Irish Art at the National Gallery of Ireland. She has a chapter in the book on the Oratory and its art.

It was Brendan who first introduced me to the Oratory and he has got himself an entry in the book's bibliography for the excellent piece he wrote on it, a version of which you can read here.

Nostalgia Corner
There were two life size placards in the exhibition. One of a nun in habit but without a face, the other of a schoolgirl where you put your head through where the face should be. So, I thought I'd have a bit of fun.

Sr. Frances

Rita