Sister Patrick Nolan

Patrick Nolan, another Irish woman, was born Mary Nolan on January 1, 1832, a native of Kerry Ireland. The daughter of Denis Nolan, a shopkeeper and Kate Leonard, Patrick sailed for Australia aboard the Gainsborough to join the Sisters of St Joseph at Perthville on December 15, 1875. Mary, aged 42 when she arrived at The Vale, though educated, was considered by the Sisters to be “too old” for rigorous religious life and it was only through Bishop Quinn’s insistence that she was given a trial (Letter, J. Dwyer to M. MacKillop, December 18 1875).¹  Receiving the habit on April 7, 1876, she was professed April 7, 1877 and renewed her vows in 1878. Three years before her arrival in Tasmania, she made her perpetual vows in December 1884 (“Perthville Register 1914”, 15).²

Little is recorded of Sister Patrick Nolan, who died in the early years of the Congregation in Tasmania in 1909.  In correspondence from Fr Woods to the Westbury community he recalls his pleasure at meeting with a group of Sisters some time prior to their departure for Tasmania and mentions Patrick specifically (J. E. T. Woods, August 1889).³  In her obituary, the author notes that in her various missions she was loved by the children and parents. Her “beautiful gift of true Irish sympathy” endeared her to those suffering and coping with sorrow. She was a powerful influence in the district, particularly in areas of privation, which Patrick had to share in common with the people. Her optimism and faith in the future ensured that those to whom she ministered were not depressed by their lot but were inspired to anticipate a more prosperous future (The Catholic Monitor, September 10 1909). ⁴