Deelarchief KLY/2 - Killarney Convent Papers

The Presentation Sisters were founded in Cork, in 1775, by Nano Nagle for the education of poor girls.
Presentation Convent Killarney was the second foundation of the congregation and the first in Kerry diocese.
In 1775 Reverend Francis Moylan was appointed Bishop of Kerry and he took up residence in Killarney. He became a great friend of the then Lord Kenmare - Thomas Browne who was a staunch Catholic. He was anxious to promote the education of the poor in the town therefore the bishop got every encouragement from Lord Kenmare to start a Catholic school. Having known Nano Nagle he aspired to found a Presentation Convent in Killarney.
In 1785, Francis Moylan, Bishop of Kerry, took note of an educated young girl residing in Killarney, who had a religious vocation. He sent her, Lucy Curtayne, to the South Presentation Convent, Cork, to be trained in the religious life, with a view to establishing a Presentation Convent in Killarney. On 2 October 1793, Lucy Curtayne, now, Mother Joseph Magdalen, accompanied by Sr M Teresa Lane of the South Presentation arrived in Killarney and opened school on the following Monday.
They took possession of three tenement houses in New Street and lived there until 1801 when due to some legal reason they were forced to leave. Then they rented a house for two years until 1803, while a convent and school were being built. They remained there for seventy-five years – while both numbers of Sisters and pupils grew. The fourth and final building occupied by the Presentation Sisters in Killarney was built on land given by the late Earl of Kenmare. The work on the building began in 1875. The Sisters took up residence in the new convent in 1878.
In 1809, Mother Joseph Curtayne left Killarney to start the Presentation Convent Tralee. In 1838, Mother Teresa Kelly founded Presentation Convent, Miltown and went from there to found Presentation Convent, Listowel in 1844. Sr. M. Clare Barry, who was professed in Killarney, went from Miltown to found Presentation Convent, Millstreet.
In 1833 the schools conducted by the Presentation Sisters in Killarney came under the Board of National Education. In 1887, the Primary schools were built. A Secondary School was established in 1948 and in 1951 a spacious modern building was built. In 1961, a second extension was built. Free Education and Free Transport were introduced by the government in 1967. In 1984, a third extension including a modern Gymnasium was completed.
In 1973 it was decided that the pupils and staff of Presentation Primary School would transfer to the Mercy Primary School until the new school opened in Ballycasheen in 1977 when some staff and one Presentation Sister started teaching there.
Presentation Convent Killarney joined the diocesan amalgamation in Kerry in 1927. In 1976 the Union of the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary was established, and the Presentation Sisters in Killarney became members of the South West Province Ireland. From 1980 onwards there were less vocations to the Religious Life. Gradually the number of Sisters became less.
The convent closed on 17 November 2021. The five remaining Sisters were assigned to other convents in Kerry.
The collection consists of records relating to the Presentation Convent in Killarney from the foundation of the convent in 1793 to the closure of the convent in 2021. The subfonds includes material relating to the history of the Killarney community, the Primary School and the Secondary School, photographs, publications and correspondence. It also includes financial material which covers building works income and expenditure accounts, religious life and legal material.