The Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles, Irish Province, invite you to visit their website.
We are an international group of Missionary Sisters who dedicate our lives to
the spread of the Good News of Jesus Christ, especially in Africa.
There are more than 750 OLA's working in nineteen countries across three continents.
We work in a variety of ministries: Health Care, Education,
Community Development, Empowerment of Women, Pastoral; Cathechesis.
Browse through this website to
discover more about the OLA Sisters, their life and their work.
Five OLA Sisters celebrate Diamond and Golden Jubilees
Saturday, March 6th, was a day of Celebration for OLA's, many of whom remembered the anniversary of their first profession. In Ardfoyle, Cork
Sisters Anne Cashman, Bernadette O'Connell and Mary Joe Ring celebrated the fiftieth anniversary (Golden) of their first profession.
Sisters Stella Marie O'Sullivan and Helena O'Connell (Sister to Sr Bernadette) celebrated the sixtieth anniversary. (Diamond) Pictured below are the O'Connell Sisters from Kerry, Sr Bernadette (Golden) and Sr Helena (Diamond) Sister Stella Marie O'Sullivan(below) from Cork who celebrated her Diamond Jubilee Sister Anne Cashman from Cork celebrating her Golden jubilee with Sr Eileen Wall (Cork)(left) and Sr Deanna Donohue (Laois) (right) Sister Mary Joe Ring, from Cork, cutting the Jubilee cake with
Sr Martha Ahern
Sr. Dominica Geary Celebrates 100th birthday
Sr Dominica with Sr Mary Martin Healy
March 3rd 2010 is a very special day for the OLA Sisters. We are celebrating a unique event in the history of our Irish Province.
We are celebrating the 100th Birthday of Sr. Dominica Geary.
Sr Dominica is from a large family of seven girls and six boys from Gortroe, Youghal in Co. Cork.
As a young girl of 18, she felt called to a missionary life. She explored some missionary congregations and decided that it was the OLA’s in Ardfoyle that she wanted to enter. She entered Ardfoyle in 1928.
Some years later her younger sister Frances Xavier followed her – Sr Frances Xavier passed away over a year ago. May her soul rest in peace.
After her first profession in 1932, Sr Dominica set sail for Nigeria where she taught in schools and visited families in the evenings, getting to know the people and bringing them an awareness of the Christian message.
Sr. Dominica spent over 35 years in Nigeria in different communities such as Asaba, Warri, Benin City and Sapele. She has also spent over forty years in our communities in Ireland and England.
Congratulations to Sr Dominica on celebrating her 100th birthday and almost 80 years as a Professed Religious as an OLA Sister.
BT Young Scientist Visits Ardfoyle
Richard's mother Helen, Srs Rosari O'Sullivan, Dolores Davis
Richard's brother Anthony, Richard, Srs Catherine O'Connor, Philomena Woulfe and Dad, Michael
The OLA Sisters in Ardfoyle were delighted to welcome and congratulate Richard O’Shea, the current BT Young Scientist of the year who recently took time out with his family to visit Ardfoyle .
Richard conducted an 18-month research project to design and build the highly efficient and near smoke-free cooking stove from waste materials, mainly tin cans. “I learned that half of the world’s population, three billion people, rely on biomass [wood, dung and plant material] to cook their food,” Richard said, describing the inspiration for his project.
“Open fires and simple tin can stoves are very inefficient and need a lot of wood and produce lots of smoke. The smoke is causing serious health effects.”
He used only tools and materials available to someone building a low-cost cooking stove – tin cans, a small knife, a screwdriver and a nail. His final design burns hot using no more than scraps of wood. “It produces a very small amount of smoke,” he added. “I was able to cook food inside a shed with the door closed.” Richard would like aid agencies to copy his design and make its use widespread.
The inspiration for Richard's project came from his parents, Mike from Blarney and Helen from Malaysia, who first met while working as volunteers in Nigeria.
His father explained that since returning to Ireland, they would often have African visitors
and missionaries visiting the house, which all undoubtedly influenced Richard and his brother Anthony.
Richard with his brother Anthony
"to
know and love Jesus Christ to make him known and loved".
Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles, faithful to the creative vision
of our founder, in this third millennium we live and work in a
pluricultural world, going beyond the boundaries of country and
religion to bring the Good News of the Reign of God to the poorest
persons.
We feel called to respond in a special way to those who have never
heard God’s word.
Our intercultural communities remain open to the Spirit and we
promote the inculturation of Gospel values wherever we are.
We engage in solidarity with non-violent actionfor the sake of
justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
The promotion of woman and the marginalized takes priority in
our apostolates while at the same time we are ready to be uprooted
whenever a more urgent need is presented and calls us to respond.
Our
presence and collaboration encourages the missionary dimension
of the local church.
Drawing strength and inspiration from our Cenacle spirituality
we are signs of HOPE for all peoples to whom we are sent.
Montana, 17 November, 1994
Jubilee celebrations in Ardfoyle
Saturday March 6th saw the Jubilee celebrations of five OLA Sisters in Ardfoyle.Read more
Sr. Dominica Geary celebrates 100
Ardfoyle was the venue for the birthday celebrations of Sr. Dominica. More
Volunteering Opportunities
Interested in either a short or long term experience in Tanzania? The OLA Sisters are currently looking for Nurse Midwives and/or Home Economics Teachers
to work in our mission in Tanzania. If you are interested in discovering more about OLA work in Tanzania,
click here or please contact us on volunteering@olaireland.ie
We are missionaries who stand side by side with women
in their struggle for dignity and a decent quality of life. Through our commitment to prayer in Religious Life, we are
empowered to fulfill our mission by working to improve the quality of life of people wherever we are. Read more
We are an international group of Religious Sisters numbering around 750.
Coming from more than 18 different countries and living in international communities, we strive to be examples of 'Women in Communion'. Read more
