Two Duggan ladies from Kilkenny in Belgium

We have just found some information about two Duggan ladies from Kilkenny who went to live in Belgium.  One of these ladies was born in 1824 and the other one born in 1856; they might be related but we are unsure about this.  We found the information about these ladies on memorial cards produced in Belgium; one card is in Flemish and the other in French.  The Belgians produced these memorial cards after the death of a loved one, much as was done in Ireland.   They are of a size to fit into a prayer book and they usually ask you to remember the person being commemorated in your prayers.    They are also quite informative about the deceased person.  The first card we will look at commemorates Mary Duggan born in Kilkenny on 21st November 1856 and who became a nun in Belgium.  We are lucky that this card has a photograph of Mary Duggan.

Mary Duggan, born in Kilkenny 21st November 1856.  This is the front of the memorial card.

The back of the memorial card has a lot of information about Mary Duggan.  It says she entered the convent of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary at Ghent, Belgium, on 29th September 1900 and made her profession there on 10th December 1901.  She was known as Soeur Marie de l'Annonciation. She was nominated as Superior at Holly Mount convent in Tottington, Bury, Lancashire 20th August 1902.  She died at Courtrai, Belgium on 22nd July 1931.  The card has a number of prayers both in Latin and in French.

It was very easy to check in the Parish Registers for St Patrick's Kilkenny.  Mary was baptised on the 22nd November 1856 as Mary Anne; her father was Matthew Duggan and her mother was Margaret Brennan.of Walk(in) Street.  Her sponsors were Thomas Kennedy and Joanna Brennan.  Mary was 44 years old when she entered the convent in Ghent which seems unusually old.  There must have been a reason for this delay which we do not know.  But having taken her vows she made rapid progress to a position of authority in the order.  She was a remarkable woman as she was awarded both an OBE and the Belgian Queen Elizabeth Medal for her war work during World War 1.  Her memorial card says she became the Superior of the convent in Tottington in England in 1902. This building had started out in 1860 as a College for Young Gentlemen but closed in 1885,  In 1888 it was re-opened by the Belgian Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary as a Convent and Poor School; it was officially known as the Catholic Home of Rest for Orphans..  This Belgian order had been founded in Ghent in 1803 with the aim of devoting itself to nursing care and education.  In 1897 the convent at Tottington cared for 216 girls aged between 4-13 years; the local Board of Guardians paid 5/- a week for each child. In 1905, when Mary Duggan was the Superior or Reverend Mother, the convent was caring for 258 children. The girls were taught sewing, lace making, knitting, dressmaking, embroidery, crochet work, baking and jam making.  By 1930 the number of children cared for had risen to 300 girls aged between 3-16 years.
During the war the convent became a military hospital, one of the many across Lancashire.  In total the convent, under the care of Reverend Mother Duggan, cared for 1,300 wounded, including British, Canadian, New Zealanders, Australian and Belgian soldiers and taking in refugees from Belgium.  After the War she was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire); this award was listed in The London Gazette 30th March 1920.  Reverend Mother Duggan was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth Medal.  This is a Belgian decoration created in 1916 by Leopold, King of the Belgians.  The purpose of the Medal was to recognise exceptional services to Belgium in the relief of  the suffering of its citizens during the First World War.  This medal was awarded to Belgian and foreign doctors and to nurses.
See www.lancashireatwar.co.uk/hollymount/4590342626 for a picture of Reverend Mother Duggan surrounded by the wounded Belgian soldiers she had been caring for; the Belgian soldiers are all named. The title of the photograph is Hollymount Wounded Soldiers 1914.


The second memorial or prayer card is for Anna Maria Duggan who was born in Kilkenny 24th July 1824.  She died in Mechelen (Malines in French) on 20th March 1900.  This card is in Flemish and has no photograph of the deceased.   It says "Pray for the Soul of the late Miss Anna Maria Duggan, a member of the Third Order of St Francis, born in Kilkenny (Ireland) 24th July 1824, piously fell asleep in the Lord at Mechelen, the 20th March 1900, fortified by the Last Sacraments".  This is followed by a quotation from the Bible, a prayer for the deceased and indulgences for 100 days and 300 days.   Sadly we do not know exactly who this Anna Maria is; if she fits into your family tree we would love to know.

Memorial card in Flemish for Miss Anna Maria Duggan who died in 1900.