Sr. Visitation Clancy
Foundress of The Sisters of St. John of God
Bridget Teresa Clancy was born on 12th September 1842 in Ballyouskill, Co. Laois, Ireland. Very little is known about her early life.
She was born in the decade of the Great Famine in Ireland. She witnessed the suffering of her own people during those difficult years; half the population of her native parish lost their lives during the famine. This experience may have influenced her decision to devote her own life to the care of poor and underprivileged people who were still suffering from the after effects of the famine in workhouses, hospitals and jails.
Bridget Clancy joined the Sisters of Bon Secours of Paris in Mount Street, Dublin on 20th July 1863 where she became known as Sr. Marie de Visitation.
Tradition has it that while Sr. Marie de Visitation was nursing the sick in Wexford she met Bishop Thomas Furlong of Ferns. He was impressed by the work of the Sisters of Bon Secours who cared for the sick in their own homes. He wanted such a nursing Congregation in his Diocese and spoke to Visitation of his intention.
The outcome of the chance meeting with Bishop Furlong eventually led to a decision by five Sisters of Bon Secours - Sisters Kevin Byrne, Philip Barron, Aloysius Gray, Stanislaus Gray and Joseph Costello – to leave their Congregation and go to Wexford in 1871 in response to the invitation by the Bishop.
Although Sister Visitation did not join the group for another year she is traditionally regarded as the Foundress of the new Congregation in Wexford which was called Sisters of St. John of God. In caring for people in their illness both in their homes and in Wexford Union Workhouse she showed great compassion and a selfless love for them.
Sr. Visitation was also committed to nurturing the life of the new Congregation. She showed great interest in the young Sisters, developing in them the skills and compassion that she believed were essential for the care of the sick and dying.
She was described as 'a leader of hearts and souls through hidden paths of toil and sacrifice'; and was considered well qualified for her role of training the young Sisters. 'Whatever a sister does should be well done and this should be our motto' she often said as she urged the young Sisters to acquire an efficient and compassionate manner in attending the sick.
She was a woman of prayer and vision, of great courage, kindness and dedication to her role. Her death on the 29th of October 1889 at the early age of forty-seven years was a great blow to the still struggling community. She was buried in the Convent Cemetery in Newtown Road, Wexford.