Religious order records

JDERIC2017

I am sorry I don't know where to post this question.

I have an ancestor who was a nune in the early 1900's.

Can anyone tell me where I can find out which order she was in and where she could be buried.

Thanks

spurious

A first guess would be the order of nuns she went to school with.

Vetch

If it's the right period, you could try the censuses and look for a death cert. She could be listed under either her own given name or religious name. A lot of religious would have been buried in graveyards which belong to their congregations. If the congregation had overseas foundations, you might like to bear this in mind as well if you don't find her in Irish records.

pinkypinky

Do you know her nun name? Lots of nuns' deaths were registered this way and not under their real names.

Some orders have archives but there's nothing centralised.

JDERIC2017

No I only know her birth name and can't find her on census so she would have been 19 in 1901 and was in convent by then... will continue looking. Thanks.

Peregrinus

JDERIC2017 wrote: »

I am sorry I don't know where to post this question.

I have an ancestor who was a nun in the early 1900's.

Well, not an ancestor, I hope. A relative.

Each religious order keeps their own records. The records are typically in very good order, but no order knows anything about the records of different orders; there is central source you can go to to find out which order your relative was in.

If you know anywhere where she entered, studied, worked or served as a nun, that will give you a handle on what order she might have been in.

How much do you know about her, and her career in religion? How do you know she was a nun?

JDERIC2017

I have a picture on an old family tree my uncle did and she is a nun in the picture and I couldn't find any marriage record or death record in her birth name. I have asked my uncle does he know anything else about her, waiting to hear back from him.

pinkypinky

Loreto have an archivist who is very helpful.

Hermy

Occasionally a nuns entry into a convent would be reported in a newspaper and often with a mention of the name she took in religion.

montgo

heritage@mercyinternational.ie might be able to confirm if she joined their order.

You need to send name, date of birth, address, parents' names and the photo. Best of luck.

JDERIC2017

Thank you all for the help.

srmf5

In my own family, my grandfather's twin was a nun. Her reception took place in London when she was 21 as reported in a newspaper and that's where she stayed. Her death certificate recorded her birth name with no mention of the name she had taken as a nun. She was only 26 when she died and only 5 years a nun so maybe that's why her 'nun name' wasn't recorded. However, the informant also gave her regular name by the looks of it with no mention of Sr. and her residence was the convent so I assume that she was a nun also. I found it interesting that on her death certificate, her rank or profession recorded her as of her address in Ireland, spinster and daughter of her father and recording his occupation instead. There was no mention of her actually being a nun with the only indication being that she died in the convent. Luckily, I had her memorial card with her date of death and she didn't have a very common surname so it was easy to order the certificate once I found her in the index in the right district.

I know that I also wasn't sure whether or not to be looking for her birth name or the name she picked so I suppose it's best to keep an open mind. It might depend on the convent whether or not birth names were recorded. Do you know where she was living or if she stayed in Ireland?

pedroeibar1

The 1901 census has for e.g. the 1901 Census return of Cashel, Co. Tipp.'s Presentation convent HERE and it give religious name (instead of baptismal name) along with the family surname. Once you get the birth it is best to use the religious name with and without the surname when doing a newspaper search. I recall that some nuns were postulants for quite a while before entering and they usually had a dowry that was given to the convent.

Vetch

srmf5 wrote: »

In my own family, my grandfather's twin was a nun. Her reception took place in London when she was 21 as reported in a newspaper and that's where she stayed. Her death certificate recorded her birth name with no mention of the name she had taken as a nun. She was only 26 when she died and only 5 years a nun so maybe that's why her 'nun name' wasn't recorded. However, the informant also gave her regular name by the looks of it with no mention of Sr. and her residence was the convent so I assume that she was a nun also. I found it interesting that on her death certificate, her rank or profession recorded her as of her address in Ireland, spinster and daughter of her father and recording his occupation instead. There was no mention of her actually being a nun with the only indication being that she died in the convent. Luckily, I had her memorial card with her date of death and she didn't have a very common surname so it was easy to order the certificate once I found her in the index in the right district.

I know that I also wasn't sure whether or not to be looking for her birth name or the name she picked so I suppose it's best to keep an open mind. It might depend on the convent whether or not birth names were recorded. Do you know where she was living or if she stayed in Ireland?

As the death is a civil rather than religious record, birth name may be used. There's a lot of variety in the way deaths of religious are recorded on the Irish Genealogy eg some female religious are listed as either Mother Surname or Sister Surname with neither religious nor birth name listed in the index.