As we mark the bicentenary of the birth of Anna Gaynor (1826–1902), later known as Mother Mary John, we take this opportunity to reflect on her remarkable life of faith, service, and compassion. Born on St. Patrick’s Day in Athlone, Anna would go on to play a significant role in the mission of our Congregation, most notably as the founder of Our Lady’s Hospice in Harold’s Cross.
This anniversary offers a timely moment to rediscover her legacy, one rooted in care for the sick. The following article by Gearóid O’Brien, published in the Westmeath Independent, written to coincide with this important anniversary, forms part of a series exploring the life and legacy of this remarkable woman whose contribution to healthcare and religious life in Ireland remains significant.
Anna Gaynor: The Early Years- Gearóid O’ Brien
I wrote a series of four articles recently about Sarah Atkinson (nee Gaynor) a native of Athlone who distinguished herself as both a social worker and a writer. However, she was just one of Gaynor sisters who made their mark on Irish society. Two of her other sisters, who joined the congregation of the Religious Sisters of Charity, were both distinguished figures in their own right. My articles on Sarah Atkinson were prompted by being asked to speak briefly about her on The History Show or RTE radio. One of my fellow contributors on that show was Sr. Catherine Maguire, Archivist with the Irish Sisters of Charity in Dublin. We made contact with one another following that broadcast and I have had a very fruitful correspondence with her over the past few months and I am most grateful for her assistance with bringing the true story of Anna Gaynor to an Athlone audience. St. Patrick’s Day this year marks the bi-centenary of the birth of Anna Gaynor (later Mother Mary John). She was born on March 17, 1826, and baptised in St. Peter’s Church, Athlone but, sadly, few in Athlone know anything about her life and works.
When she was about twelve years old the family moved to live in Dublin where she was educated before being sent to a finishing school in Germany. Like her sister, Sarah, she was deeply influenced by her parents who were generous benefactors of the poor. The family lived in Belvedere Place, Dublin, and by the mid-1840s her father bought a country seat at Roxboro, just outside Roscommon town. Despite having a feeling during her teenage years that she had a calling to the religious life, Anna was about 28 years-old before she entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Charity in Harold’s Cross receiving the name Sr Mary John. Her mother,Anne Gaynor (nee Murray), had died in October 1852, aged 56, and Anna entered the convent in November 1854, she was professed, in May 1857.
Anna Gaynor is celebrated as the founder of Our Lady’s Hospice in Harold’s Cross and one of the most useful modern sources of information about Anna and her life and times is a booklet by Sr. Katherine Butler ‘We Help Them Home: The story of Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross, Dublin 1879-1979’ which was based on a paper which she read to the Old Dublin Society in 1980 and for which she was awarded the Old Dublin Society Medal for 1980/81. St. Vincent’s Hospital. Initially, following her profession Anna, now Sr Mary John, was sent to work in St Vincent’s Hospital, which had been founded in 1834 by Mother Mary Aikenhead, the founder of her order. The hospital was then located at 56 St. Stephen’s Green.
For almost 20 years Sr Mary John remained in St Vincent’s where she worked as secretary to the Superior, while also acting as the ‘guest mistress’ for the house. This involved her looking after
the many visitors to the hospital, the families who came to visit their sick relatives, those who came to seek admission for their loved ones and general visitors who were simply intrigued by the concept of a hospital run by a religious congregation. In 1845 Mother Mary Aikenhead bought a house named ‘Greenmount’ in Harold’s Cross to serve as a novitiate for the Sisters of Charity, and as their mother house Greenmount’ was owned by a Quaker family named Webb, and before the sale went through the Mount Jerome Cemetery Committee made a higher offer as they wished to expand their cemetery on to the adjoining land. However, Mr Webb declined the offer in favour of the Sisters of Charity. Before the death of Mother Mary Aikenhead in 1858 the foundations for a small Gothic chapel in Harold’s Cross were laid and she expressed a wish that it was to have a representation of Christ washing the feet of St Peter, to remind the sisters of the humble service required of them as members of the Sisters of Charity. The house in Harold’s Cross was re-named ‘Our Lady’s Mount’ and became the mother house of the Congregation.
Sr Anna threw herself, heart and soul into her work, but gradually her health broke down and she was sent to Donnybrook to recuperate, as it was felt that the country air would do her good.
For a while she suffered badly from depression but with the coming of Spring and the appearance of the first snowdrops she soon put that sad episode of her life behind her. When Sr Mary John’s superior in St Vincent’s, Mother Scholastica was elected as Superior General of the Congregation in 1876 she transferred to Harold’s Cross, and Sr Mary John, as her secretary, went with her. By 1878 her sister, Sarah Atkinson, was busy researching the life of Mother Mary Aikenhead and Sr Mary John was appointed as her research assistant and sent to Cork to interview older members of the Congregation who had personal memories of the her. The biography was published in 1879. In the Spring of 1879, Dublin experienced an outbreak of smallpox, a highly contagious disease. A novice, working in St Vincent’s Hospital contracted the disease and returned to the mother house before it was even diagnosed.
The contagion spread rapidly to other sisters in the close-knit community. In all, no fewer than sixteen members of the community became infected but fortunately no one died. The Mother General, was already convinced that the house in Harold’s Cross was too small for the growing novitiate. In consultation with the Dublin hierarchy, including Cardinal Paul Cullen, it was decided that a more spacious accommodation was needed. In September that year the novitiate moved out to Milltown and the Superior General and her staff moved there too leaving the Harold’s Cross premises ripe for development.
