Born Honora Nagle in 1718, Nano Nagle was raised in Ballygriffin, Ireland. Although the practice was illegal, Nano was sent to France for an education, later living in Paris with her relatives. Following an experience in which she witnessed poverty on the way home from a ball, Nano chose to devote her life to helping the poor. Finding the cloistered life of a convent insufficient for this purpose, Nano returned to Ireland and opened a Catholic School for girls in secret. Situated in a mud cabin on Cove Lane, now Douglas Street, Nano began an effort that escalated to a total of seven schools across Cork City. In 1775, Nano founded ‘The Institute of Charitable Instruction of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,’ an order that allowed her to take vows while continuing to teach and care for the impoverished.

Image:

Attributed to James Barry (1741–1806), as stated on the cover of the biographical book Nano Nagle: The Life and the Education Legacy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources:

Clear, Caitriona. “Nano Nagle (1718-1784): Educator.” Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review 98, no. 390 (2009): 135–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25660652.

“The Story of Nano Nagle.” Nano Nagle Place, April 22, 2025. https://nanonagleplace.ie/the-story-of-nano-nagle/.

You can read Nano Nagle's full pamphlet through JSTOR:

Nano Nagle: Foundress of the Sisters of The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary