Athlone civic address planned for religious orders

The Athlone Moate Municipal District is to award an address of recognition to the Marist Brothers, the La Sainte Union Sisters, the Mercy Sisters and other religious orders who contributed to education locally over the years.

The awarding of the address of recognition was proposed by Cllr Frankie Keena at the March meeting of the district yesterday (Monday).

Cllr Keena said there had been "a sea change" in the Athlone area with the recent departure of the last remaining Franciscans and Marist Brothers, though he noted that some Sisters from the La Sainte Union and Mercy Sisters orders continued to live locally.

"It's important that we would thank them for the contribution they have made to education in this area," he said, adding that this had helped the town develop over the course of some 130 years.

The Marist and La Sainte Union orders founded the Marist College and Our Lady's Bower secondary schools, while the Mercy Sisters were associated with the former St Joseph's College, Summerhill, which merged with St Aloysious College to form Coláiste Chiaráin.

Cllr Keena's motion was unanimously supported at the meeting and, at the request of Cllr Liam McDaniel, its scope was expanded to include all of the orders that provided education in the district, including the Sisters of Mercy in Kilbeggan and the Carmelite order in Moate.