Who was Marianne Creedon? We know very little about her. Not one word of hers was handed down to the generations that succeeded her. But we know everything that is important for us to understand, for we know what she did, and we recognize who she is for us, the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland — a woman who was available always for whatever God wanted, a woman who did not give up!
Marianne Creedon, the younger daughter of John and Ellen Creedon of Coolowen, County Cork, was baptized on December 5, 1811 . Nothing is known of her early childhood except that her father died in the summer of 1817 when she was not yet six years of age. Five years later, on May 12, 1822, her older sister, Ellen, married John Valentine Nugent of Waterford. A number of references have been found to support the theory that after Ellen Creedon married John Valentine Nugent she brought her ten-year old sister, Marianne, to live with her in Waterford. It is true that – to date – no record of the death of Marianne’s mother, Ellen Creedon, has been found. However, it is unlikely that a widow residing in Cork would have been able to provide her daughter with the superior educational opportunities that we know Marianne enjoyed. The Nugents, on the other hand, were all highly educated and John Valentine Nugent was an educator by profession. Growing up in such a family would account for Marianne’s well-rounded educational development.
Marianne Creedon, the younger daughter of John and Ellen Creedon of Coolowen, County Cork, was baptized on December 5, 1811 . Nothing is known of her early childhood except that her father died in the summer of 1817 when she was not yet six years of age. Five years later, on May 12, 1822, her older sister, Ellen, married John Valentine Nugent of Waterford. A number of references have been found to support the theory that after Ellen Creedon married John Valentine Nugent she brought her ten-year old sister, Marianne, to live with her in Waterford. It is true that – to date – no record of the death of Marianne’s mother, Ellen Creedon, has been found. However, it is unlikely that a widow residing in Cork would have been able to provide her daughter with the superior educational opportunities that we know Marianne enjoyed. The Nugents, on the other hand, were all highly educated and John Valentine Nugent was an educator by profession. Growing up in such a family would account for Marianne’s well-rounded educational development.
And so the years passed. It is not unreasonable to presume that young Marianne Creedon was available to look after her sister’s children and to do her share of household chores. Church records in Waterford show that she was godmother to three of the Nugent children, an interesting sidelight on the close relationship that existed between the two sisters.
The Nugent household was not, by any means, a haven of peace and quiet. John Nugent, a devout Catholic, an ardent Irish patriot and not the most patient of men, was frequently in trouble with the English authorities. Eventually, in 1833, Nugent received an invitation from Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming of Newfoundland to move to St. John’s and establish a school for “young gentlemen”. At the time, John Nugent’s invalid mother and his sister, Maria, were living with the family. Maria Nugent had been accepted as a novice by the Ursulines but after a year’s novitiate her health broke down and she was forced to return to her brother’s home. We can only imagine Ellen Nugent’s reaction at the prospect of a lengthy ocean voyage with the responsibility of caring for two invalids and four small children. Her sister, Marianne, was now a young lady of twenty-one. No doubt she had her own friends and her own plans that may not have included a long voyage across the ocean to some unknown land.
But Ellen need not have worried – young Marianne Creedon – even at twenty-one, was available to help wherever there was need of her services. She agreed to go with her sister to this New-Found-Land.
The Nugents arrived in St. John’s towards the end of May 1833. Two weeks later, John Nugent’s mother died. John, of course, had to find immediate employment to support his family. An advertisement in one of the local papers informed the public that he was opening an academy for young gentlemen and that his wife, Ellen, and his sister, Maria, were ready to receive young ladies at their school on Water Street. Miss Creedon was available to provide instruction in music. It is clear, therefore, that Marianne Creedon continued to do her share to support the family. A few months later Maria Nugent decided to join the Presentation Sisters in St. John’s, leaving Marianne as her sister’s only helper. Incidentally, Maria’s attempt to become a Presentation Sister met with the same fate as her trial with the Ursulines. At the end of her novitiate year she became ill. The Presentation Sisters, reluctant to see her leave, allowed her to make a second novitiate, at the conclusion of which she became ill once more. This time, the Sisters agreed that she should return to her brother’s home. Obviously, God had other plans for Maria Nugent.
Meanwhile, the friendship that had existed between Bishop Fleming and John Nugent since 1827 became even closer. During frequent visits to the Nugent home, the Bishop spoke of his desire to extend the benefits of Catholic education to the more affluent members of his flock and provide care for the sick poor. He had heard about a new and daringly innovative group of women who, under the leadership of Catherine McAuley, were going out from their convents to bring the message of God’s mercy into the homes of the poor and the sick. At the same time, Catherine McAuley and her followers recognized the need to educate girls at every level of society – just what was needed in St. John’s! These women were the Sisters of Mercy. Bishop Fleming knew of a group of women in Bermondsey, England, who had volunteered to go to Ireland to be trained as Sisters of Mercy, so that they would return and establish the community in England. If only he had somebody to go from Newfoundland – somebody who would make her novitiate under the direction of this Catherine McAuley, and return to establish a convent in St. John’s!
And Marianne Creedon said, “Here I am. Send me.”
Download the complete article (PDF)
The lesson of Sister M. Francis Creedon’s life might be summed up as follows:
To be at peace in the midst of tension, to be faithful to a commitment when everyone is urging you to give up, to wait in joyful hope and to believe that God’s plan will be fulfilled in God’s time and in the way that God chooses.
Francis’ message to us might be found in the words of an unknown author:
We need to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord our God until God lets us rest. And then we will know, as we have always known that the effort was worth the gift of our lives, the best of our years, the length of our days.
A biography written by Kathrine E. Bellamy rsm
