1938-2025
Born: 30th November 1938
Entered Religious Life: 17th October 1966
Died: 6th January 2025
Maria was born in Dublin on 30th November 1938, the fourth child of her parents, John and Kathleen Kenny. They were a large and very united, loving family. Maria had many gifts. She set up her own hairdressing business at a young age. Along with her other sisters she was a gifted Irish Dancer for which she won many different competitions and qualified as an Irish Dancing teacher. Her family and friends remember also her special gift for needlework, knitting and crochet.
Maria entered the Religious Sisters of Charity in October 1966. She was the first of three sisters from the family to enter the Congregation. Following her first profession in 1969 she was missioned to Birkenhead in England where she began her ministry as a Pastoral Worker. She was missioned again in 1970 to Hackney to begin Pastoral Work in St. Monica’s Augustinian Parish, Hoxton. After 18 years ministering in the Parish the Augustinians wished to honour her and show their appreciation of her by affiliating her to the Augustinian Order. A quotation from their archives states: ‘For nearly 20 years now the work of the Sisters of Charity in Hoxton has been carried on by Sr. Maria Kenny. Quietly, without fuss, she has carried out the visits to the sick and the poor. She has the unstinted respect and love of every man, woman and child in the area. The best tribute to her is in their hearts. She has also maintained a deep friendship for each of the Fathers who have served here in her time. We thought any token of our appreciation and gratitude should have an Augustinian flavour. The Order has reserved one honour for its closest associates, for those who have served it well over a long period. It is not given lightly and money cannot buy it. It is given by the Prior General in Rome, at the request of the local Community and the Fr. Provincial. From today, we consider Sr. Maria a member of our Religious Family just as if she made her Profession of vows in it as we did. Sr. Maria, welcome into the Augustinian Family!’
Maria remained in St. Monica’s for another three years and then the call came in July 1991 to ministry in Birmingham. When she was leaving St. Monica’s Parish the Parish Newsletter stated “Words in print cannot express this devastating news. After 21 years Sister has been transferred to Birmingham. Sr. Maria has been the anchor of the Parish she had a hand in almost everything that is good that happens in the Parish. We thank God for the generous gift of Sr. Maria a tiny wee nun with a gigantic size heart; always with a smile, a real feel for people in all kind of difficulties, an inspiration, a real Christian.”
After nine years in ministry in Birmingham Sr. Maria was appointed Local Leader in Hackney Community on 14th September 2000. When her term of office ended in September 2006 she enjoyed a well-earned Sabbatical while she was based in Shepherd’s Bush. Her choices of Renewal Courses for the Sabbatical were the All Hallows ‘Renewal for Ministry’ and ‘Autumn Venture’ in the Oblate Retreat Centre.
Maria spent 40 years in England and was then missioned to Ireland in October 2009. In January 2010, after a short break, she went to live in 26 Park Avenue, Sandymount, and began pastoral work once again in St. Patrick’s Parish, Ringsend. She felt immediately at home on her first day, when, as she was walking around the Parish and looked up to see the name of the road, she saw ‘Aikenhead Terrace’, after our Foundress, Mary Aikenhead. (This was one of the first Parishes where Mary Aikenhead carried out her mission to the sick when she purchased a store in Townsend Street after receiving a donation for £50. The store was suitable for a small hospital where Cholera stricken patients were nursed.) Inspired always by the charism of Mary Aikenhead, Sr. Maria followed faithfully in her footsteps once again and we are told she regularly visited families, especially those who were bereaved or in any kind of need, parents of children in Parish Primary Schools where children were preparing for the Sacraments, hospitals and Nursing Homes. She also visited the Spellman Centre which provides rehabilitation schemes, counselling sessions and care plans for people who are endeavouring to come off drugs. At the invitation of the priests of the Parish, she began Eucharistic Services in the Church when the priests were not available for Mass and trained a number of parishioners to do the same. She was the first ‘nun’ to lead graveside prayers at funerals, according to Fr. Ivan Tonge, the Parish Priest. ‘She was the forefront of change and made a difference in her own quiet way’, he said. Maria’s loving service knew no boundaries.
Due to failing health Maria spent a few months in Lakelands and was then obliged to retire from her beloved Parish in Ringsend in January 2022 when she was admitted to Beechlawn Nursing Home. But Maria could never really retire. The residents in the Nursing Home soon began to benefit from her big heart and her warm, loving presence. Her kindness and gentleness even extended to visitors who immediately felt at home when she met them on the corridors with her warm smile and her offer of a cup of tea! Maria’s health deteriorated further in 2024. She was admitted to the Mater Hospital at the end of December. For three weeks the staff in the Mater Hospital lovingly cared for her but God was calling her to himself and she peacefully breathed her last, surrounded by her sisters and nieces, in the early morning of Monday, 6th January 2025. May she rest in peace.
There was an outpouring of love from the people of Ringsend following the news of her death. One after the other, as the parishioners came to sympathise, they said: ‘We loved her. We really loved her’. To express their love and to honour her, the men in the Parish carried her coffin from the bridge in Ringsend to the Church for her funeral, with a large number of people following. The children from the school formed a guard of honour as the coffin was brought into the Church for her Requiem Mass. As retired Bishop Michael Campbell, (an Augustinian who had travelled from England for the funeral), said at the end of the Mass ‘Will we ever see the like of her again?’. Surrounded by her nieces her coffin left a packed Church, as the people sang out the local song for those they wish to honour – ‘Ringsend Rose’.
Sr. Maria is buried in Donnybrook Cemetery. May she rest in peace.
