A lifetime of dedicated service by Portlaoise nun to be honoured in her memory

LAOIS Co Council is set to formally honour the contribution of former school principal Mother Columba O’Flaherty by planting an oak tree and installing a small monument beside in the public area of the newly redeveloped nuns’ convent.

The motion was brought forward to the latest meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District by Cllr Paddy Buggy (FG), who was speaking on behalf of several of Mother Columba's former students who advocated for her memory to be honoured in the grounds of the newly-redeveloped convent in the Old Fort Quarter of Portlaoise, ideally with an oak tree and/or plaque laid down.

Sr Columba died in December 2011.

In making the case to his fellow councillors, Cllr Buggy explained who the late Presentation Sister, Mother Columba was. He said, at the old presentation convent and secondary school, Mother Columba was one of the leading nuns and teachers in the convent and was a huge advocate and champion for the young women under her tutelage ‒ at 13, the boy would have been transferred up the road to study under a local chapter of monks.

Cllr Buggy identified that Mother Columba was ahead of her time in that, prior to many of her students' graduations and at a time when fewer people in Ireland sought third-level education, she was a networking machine, making connections left, right and centre across Portlaoise and the wider area in order to shepherd ‘her girls’ into plum jobs post-graduation ‒ banks, the ESB, Aer Lingus and various private enterprises.

The councillor said: "I was approached by some of her past pupils to see if something could be done to honour her memory, particularly after the very successful development they have just opened in Portlaoise. An oak tree was suggested by the pupils and a little plaque."

The motion was resoundingly endorsed by the rest of the councillors.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.