Mission Matters Issue 3 Summer 2026 - Flipbook - Page 34
Legacy in White: The 8Madge Harrold9 nurses of the Mater, c.19209s
Inside The Mater, 1926
As the 1926 census has recently been released, Archivist
Helen Madden examines who was in the hospital on that
night one hundred years ago
T
he Mater Hospitals9 forms
from the recently released
1926 census give us an
interesting snapshot of who was here
on that night.
The Mater9s census lists everyone in
the hospital on that April night,
running to 528 people. This included
the Sister Superior Sr M Carmel
Grennell, all the Sisters of Mercy, the
resident staff and pupils, the Assistant
Matron, the general nursing staff, the
domestic staff, porters, and gardeners.
8Rosary House9 had finished building
yet another extension to accommodate
the nursing staff and by 1926 housed
the School of Nursing as well as all
resident students and staff nurses for
the next 28 years. There were 800
rooms occupied between the hospital
and nursing home buildings.
All the 177 patients were also listed
and – the youngest patient listed was
a one year-old, the eldest was 83. The
illness or injury of each person was
not listed as in previous census, but
their occupation and employer was
noted instead along with the number
of children in each married man or
women9s families.
The Sisters of Mercy recorded are
from nearly every county in Ireland
with some from as far afield as
Stanley, Tasmania, Australia. Twentyfive are active nursing staff, nine nuns
dedicated to domestic duties, with one
nun in charge of the laundry. The
oldest was 79, a retired general nurse
from Youghal, Co Cork who was a
widow; the youngest was 22, from
Rear Cross, Co Tipperary working as a
general nurse.
The Matron of the hospital is listed as
8Lena McCormack9 aged 34 from
Gleniden, Co Westmeath, known
widely as Sr Madeline Sophie
McCormack who later went on to
become Superior in charge of the
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