Irish Province Celebration – 1876–2026
On 1 May, we gathered at Ardfoyle to celebrate the congregation’s 150th Jubilee with Mass and lunch shared among our Sisters, SMA brothers, families, friends, and supporters.
One hundred and fifty years since Fr Augustine Planque founded the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles. The day was an honouring of that long history and everyone who has been part of it and around 160 people came together for what was a joyful occasion. To everyone who was there: thank you.
Below is the full text of the address given by our Congregational Leader, Sr Mary T. Barron, on the day.
Dear Sisters, friends, and all who join us for this joyful celebration,
Today we gather in deep gratitude to mark 150 years of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles — 150 years of mission, courage, and faith lived generously, often quietly, always wholeheartedly. One hundred and fifty years of women who allowed their lives to be shaped by God’s call and poured out in service of the Gospel.
Since 1876, 2,935 women from 41 countries have made their religious profession as OLA Sisters — a Congregation born in France, shaped by Africa, strengthened by Europe, and enriched by the world.
Here in Ireland, we celebrate with particular joy the 427 Irish women who joined the OLA missionary adventure. Only 427 in the whole history of Ireland — and yet their impact has been immeasurable.
It is a special honour for me to speak today as the 14th Congregational Leader, and the 4th Irish woman to serve in this role. I am delighted that two of my predecessors, Sr Patricia and Sr Eileen, are with us. And we remember with affection Sr Marciana O’Keeffe, the first Irish woman to lead the Congregation — fittingly, a Cork woman, given Cork’s central place in our Irish OLA story.
A few years ago, I was in a restaurant in Rome with some of my family. A group of African priests, from Ivory Coast, recognised my OLA cross. They immediately began praising the Sisters as their mothers in the faith — the first female missionaries in Côte d’Ivoire, women who brought the Gospel, education, and healthcare with extraordinary courage.
Afterwards, my nephew said, with great seriousness: “How cool is that. You people are like the St Patrick of Africa.”
I have carried that comment in my heart ever since.
Today, especially here in Ireland, we remember every Irish OLA Sister — those who went to Africa and gave everything, including their lives, and those who served faithfully on the home front. Mission has always needed both.
Even our Founder, Fr Augustine Planque, SMA, never set foot in sub-Saharan Africa, yet his missionary zeal shaped everything we are. He repeatedly said ‘the Mission is our sole aim’.
We cannot celebrate 150 years without remembering our profound bond with the SMA Fathers. Born of the same missionary dream, shaped by the same charism, sent to the same peoples — our histories and futures remain deeply intertwined.
Today, two thirds of our Sisters are African. This is not just a statistic — it is the fruit of generations of OLA mission. What began as mission to Africa has become mission from Africa.
We are now over 600 Sisters in 21 countries, mostly in Africa of course, including some of the world’s most challenging contexts. In the past five years, we have opened new missions in Liberia and the Central African Republic — countries emerging from war, hungry for hope.
Two weeks ago, in the Central African Republic, I met a young girl from our secondary school who begged me: “Tell the Sisters not to lose patience with us. Stay. Help us build this school.” Before the Sisters arrived, she said, the school was in chaos. Now it is a place of learning, that gives each student a sense of dignity, and hope for the future.
An older man told me that the presence of Sisters from different countries has lifted the morale of the whole village, still traumatised by years of conflict.
These little encounters remind us why we are missionaries: to bring the Good News to those who thirst for love, peace, justice, and the assurance that they matter to God.
To be “St Patrick” for such people is a profound privilege.
In a beautiful reversal of missionary direction, Ireland now welcomes OLA missionaries from different African countries, Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Lebanon, serving alongside Irish Sisters. The whole world has become “mission territory” — the universal Catholic Church is more aware today of the complementary gifts from every continent, of the need for reciprocal, intercultural, Spirit-led mission.
A special mention for those who have always supported Irish missionaries. I remember years ago when I was on home leave from Tanzania, I was talking with one of my neighbours – it was in the graveyard after mass where all the great conversations take place! She was asking me about my missionary life and I was thanking her for the unending support – both in prayer and financially – and she told me: “Not everyone can go. So you go on our behalf. You are an ambassador for your parish.” She was right. When we go as missionaries, we are sent by our people, our Church. And we carry our people with us wherever we go.
A heartfelt thanks therefore for the many staff, collaborators, volunteers, benefactors, and friends who support our mission in Ireland and beyond. Their partnership is part of the living fabric of OLA mission today.
Today we give thanks:
- To God, whose mysterious and beautiful plan called our Congregation into being.
- For our Founder, whose vision shaped our missionary identity.
- For our name — Our Lady of Apostles — which tells us who we are and what we are called to be.
- For our families and parishes, where faith first took root.
As we celebrate 150 years, we entrust our present and future to God. The world has changed. Mission has changed. But the Gospel has not changed — and the call to witness, to serve, to cross boundaries, to bring hope remains as urgent as ever.
May Our Lady of Apostles guide us. May the Spirit continue to surprise us. And may we, like the generations before us, keep saying yes — with generosity, joy, and trust.
Happy 150th anniversary to all of us.