L O R E T O C E N T R A L & IRISH PROVINCE ARCHIVES Archive News
I N S I D E Special Edition: Bicentenary of Teresa Ball entering TH I S I S S U E the Bar Convent, York—11 June 1814 J U N E 2 0 1 4
Introduction Mother Coyney’s A Most Significant Date ~ 11 June 1814 letter accepting Teresa Ball to Frances Ball, having decided that she had a call to Religious Life, waited patiently until her the Bar mother felt ready to let her go. When she reached her 20th birthday, Mrs. Ball reluctantly gave Convent her consent and Frances prepared to enter the Bar Convent in York, England. Ball Family Tree Mrs. Ball suggested that Frances should visit Cecilia who was an Letter to Ursuline Sister in Cork. Frances spent some very happy days with Teresa Ball from her Cecilia and made new friends while there. Among them were the sister Isabella McCarthy sisters, both of whom later entered in Loreto Abbey, ‘A Tireless Rathfarnham. Worker for the Kingdom’ - Anna Maria The little miniature portrait we have of Frances Ball was probably O’Brien painted during her visit to Cecilia. Frederick Buck, a famous Cecilia Ball— portrait painter living in Cork, was the subject of an article in Irish Mother Mary Art Review a few years ago and the portrait of Frances would sit Regis Miniature of perfectly beside the samples of his work reproduced in the article. Nicholas Ball Frances Ball and his family Extracts from Nicholas Ball escorted his sister to York. They set out the US from Dublin on a sailing ship and the journey took about a Province week. They arrived in York on the Feast of Corpus Christi, Archives 11 June, 1814. On the way to the Bar Convent, Frances Laura Mary Teresa Ball visited the old Minster, where as a young child she had been Extracts from overpowered by the realisation of the Majesty of God. the English Province The welcome she received in the Bar Convent warmed her Archives heart. Mary Aikenhead and her companions received her with open arms. There were six other Reflection on Matthew 6:33 Irish nuns in the York community, all from Dublin. Early Nineteenth Visitors are always most welcome in the Archives! Century Dublin The Archives are open Monday—Wednesday, 9.30am—4.30pm. Transcription Contact us by phone at 01 6620158 or email [email protected] in advance of your of Mother visit. Coyney letter References We look forward to welcoming you! Kathleen and Karen P A G E 2
30th May 1814 - Letter from Mother E.M.J. Coyney, Micklegate Bar, York to Dr. Murray, stating that she is willing to receive Frances Ball as a member of the Institute, with a view to training her for the founding of a house in Ireland, subject to the condition that she be allowed sufficientJohn Balltime to be formed ‘for that great undertaking’.Mable Clare SheBennett particularly requests that ‘it may(c.1728 not be-1803) known to one unnecessary person (c.1776that Miss-1865) B. is fixed on for the projected Establishment, such a report spread abroad would neither be pleasant to the young lady herself nor to us.’
A full transcription of the letter can be found on the final page of this newsletter. P A G E 3
Ball Family Tree
John Ball Mable Clare Bennett m.1776 (c.1728-1804) (-1831)
Thomas Mable Clare Cecilia Anna Maria Isabella Nicholas Frances
(1779-?) (1780-?) (1782-1854) (1786-1871) (1787-1867) (1791-1865) (1794-1861)
Ball Family In researching the Ball family, the births of two siblings of Teresa Ball who were heretofore unknown were discovered. John Ball and Mable Clare Bennett married in 1776 and although it was commonly believed that their first child was their daughter Cecilia, baptismal records for SS Michael & John in Dublin indicate that their first child was a son, Thomas, born in 1779. A daughter, Mable Clare, followed in 1780. As these children are never mentioned in any of the writings about the Ball family it seems likely that they died in infancy. Unfortunately, civil registration did not begin until 1864 and Catholic burial records for the period are scarce. As a result, we have so far been unable to uncover their stories. P A G E 4 Letter to Teresa Ball from her Sister Isabella
TB/COR/7/5
24 Via Deidue Macelle, Roma Italia
12th Feby 1850
My dear Sister,
I hasten to reply by this days post to your welcome letter which came to hand in the afternoon of yesterday. The pleasing intelligence of my family and relations being in the enjoyment of good health always affords me infinite satisfaction. With regard to dear Jane1, notwithstanding the great change always attending the care of a young person, still I am willing to do anything in the present circumstances to promote her good, provided I am not held responsible either for her making up a match for herself without any knowledge or becoming a nun, in either case I should consider myself bound to communicate her intentions to her parents without delay. I found her achievements amiable and can never forget her attention to me when afflicted. I hope to see her settled in the world to her advantage. She has qualities to fit her for a wife and for a mother if she have the good fortune to meet with a partner worthy of her.
We arrived at the last day of carnival without, as far as regards us, meeting with anything unpleasant. I send by this first the Roman paper of yesterday which gives a true account of the proceedings on the Corso last Saturday. I have directed it to His Grace. He will kindly let you know the contents as things are so exaggerated that the half in general is quite enough to believe.
The French Ambassador who is likewise the Commander in Chief has heretofore used such clemency with the revolutionary party that not one execution has taken place, is now determined to act with promptitude and severity. On next Thursday two or three are to be shot on the Piazza del Popolo for stabbing some French soldier.
Upwards of a hundred have been arrested within the last week. This state of things will keep His Holiness some time longer absent.2 It wouldn’t surprise
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me if Doctor Cullen goes to Naples for his consecration. There is no certainty of Cardinal Fransoni coming to Rome just now. He was expected to perform the ceremony.
Things might go on very comfortably here if the thousand soldiers with nothing in their pockets could be got rid of. The Triumvirate of Cardinals are labouring hard to bring things to bear, there has been a great turn out of those employed under the Republic which naturally causes ill will and discontent, a known force for some time and severe laws will be absolutely necessary.
I hope by this you have received a letter and your enclosure partly directed by Dr. Oliffe from Malta. It came to the Irish College I believe by hand. I forwarded it without delay, by post four or five days ago. What a wonderful constitution His Grace has, enjoying such health nothwithstanding the severity of the late weather. Will you present him our untied respects. Dr. Hines has been here some time expecting to have some business done at the Propaganda. He is Bishop of whatever place in the West Indies Mr Briten, father to Mrs. Cruise, resides.
I am delighted to hear of David’s making some way in his profession nothwithstanding the hard times. every letter, nearly, lavishes praises on his wife which is certainly very satisfactory.3 I had a letter last week from her. She expects to be confined this month. I think Providence is favouring you in a particular manner also, so very difficult others find it to get on both in and out of the world.
I heard from Tim Sherlock a few days ago nothwithstanding the intense cold of Florence, he is very stout and rides out nearly every day. He was at Jane Oliviere‘s wedding and thinks the General a good man.
Mary Ann and John3 join me in affectionate love to you and fond remembrance to all our friends, excuse this hasty scrawl and believe me your affectionate sister,
1 Jane was the daughter of their brother Nicholas. Isabella Sherlock 2 During the Italian Revolutions, Pope IX had Addressed to: Mrs. Ball, refused to go to war with Catholic Austria and as a Loreto House, result had to flee Rome in 1848. He would return Rathfarnham, two months after this letter in April 1850.
Dublin 3 David, Mary Ann and John were Isabella’s children P A G E 6
This is a scanned copy of Isabella Sherlock’s (née Ball) letter to her sister M. Teresa Ball found on the previous page. It was sent to Rathfarnham from Rome in 1850. The original is in a very delicate condition on superfine paper.
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1903 Australian Tableau - Anna Maria Ball and her little sister Frances in the garden.
This is a photograph of students in Loreto Convent, Ballarat, Australia performing a tableau vivant of the Life of Frances Ball in 1903 - M. Gonzaga Barry’s Jubilee Year.
( We thank Robin Scott, Australian Province Archivist for this photograph) P A G E 8 A Tireless Worker for the Kingdom
Anna Maria O’Brien née Ball, born 1785.
Completed her education in the Bar Convent, York in 1803. Together with her sister, Isabella, she returned to Dublin to take her place in the society open to them. Due to their parents’ concern for the poor, part of their time would, undoubtedly, have been given to the underprivileged.
On 12 November, 1805 Anna Maria married John O’Brien, the younger son of Mr. Denis O’Brien who resided at 33 Rutland Square, now Parnell Square, Dublin. Denis O’Brien was involved in the foreign import trade under the name of T. Meade & Co. Their premises were at 23 Merchant’s Quay and they also had extensive warehouses in Cook St. Anna Marie and John O’Brien lived at what is now 22 Mountjoy Square.
The Ball family made a contribution to the period 1760—1860 which is still in evidence today, not only in Ireland but far beyond our shores. In the later part of the 18th Century, Catholic Emancipation was still in the future. The Catholic community in Dublin was largely engaged in trade, since most, if not all, of the professions were closed to it. At the time a number of Catholic merchant families were very well-to-do, including the Balls, O’Briens and Sherlocks. Portrait of Anna Maria O’Brien Anna Maria and Isabella Ball went to school in the Bar Convent, York, England. In 1798 a (née Ball) Rebellion had taken place in Ireland, there was great unrest in the country. It was considered too dangerous to travel to Cork to the Ursuline Convent where
Cecilia, the oldest of the family, had been educated. Cecilia spent some time at home, taking part in the charitable works her mother was engaged in . She longed to enter the Ursuline Order but had to wait until she was considered old enough to make such a commitment. At last the day came and a tearful parting took place as her father accompanied her to Cork. In the autumn of 1809 Anna Maria and Frances travelled to Cork to her Profession in the Ursuline Convent.
In Cork, Anna Maria met a young lady with very similar interests to her own. Born in 1787, Mary Aikenhead, felt the strong call to devote her life to those less fortunate than herself. She wished to be vowed to God in an Order where she could be of active and practical use to them.
Anna Maria O’Brien invited her to Dublin and introduced her to Dr. Murray, Bishop in Dublin. Anna Maria was particularly anxious to save young girls “from ignorance and danger”. To this end she opened a house in Ash Street, near the Coombe and, supported by other women, carried on this work. Mary Aikenhead visited this house with her. Mary Aikenhead wanted to work with the needy and Anna P A G E 9
Maria suggested that she set up an Order herself as there was no Order to do this work at the time. Dr. Murray had long hoped to set up a Congregation of Sisters of Charity. He considered Mary Aikenhead a possible candidate for this purpose.
In 1812 Mary Aikenhead and Alicia Walsh set out for the Bar Convent, York to prepare to found a new congregation, the Sisters of Charity, in Dublin. From the early days of the new congregation Anna Maria was ever a devoted and powerful ally. She often put on the poked bonnet and hood and accompanied the Sisters on visits to the sick and poor. She took the Sisters, in her carriage, to distant places which they could not have reached unaided. Generous donations from the O’Brien family were of tremendous help to the struggling religious. Establishing a new foundation, with no other example to follow, was really hard. John O’Brien’s sister, Maria O’Brien insisted Mary Aikenhead should go to her house in Rahan for a rest. She travelled to Rahan by covered barge from Portobello Bridge.
After her return to Dublin she was persuaded to take over the Stanhope Street Convent care of the house that Anna Maria had opened for young women. by Sr. Eileen Carroll R.S.C. That ministry had been transferred from the Coombe to Stanhope St by this time. Because of the ground available there
M. Aikenhead decided to build a convent and novitiate there and the Sisters moved from North William St. to the new convent in 1819. Charitable works and living the Christian life in its fullest From Stanhope Street, Mrs. O’Brien and the Sisters visited sense were central to the Ball the hospital in Jervis Street and the Kilmainham Jail. The and O’Brien family traditions. care of the Parochial Schools in King’s Inns Street were given They also used their well over to the Sisters and Mrs. O’Brien appointed as Manager. earned money and gifts of This was most unusual in those times. Anna Maria took a keen education in their life-long interest in everything to do with the schools. She purchased two help and assistance to others. pianos and a harmonium for it. She took food to poor children there. She continued to visit the school twice a week until she was too feeble to do so.
Anna Maria had the sadness of seeing her siblings die before her. She continued her charitable work until two years before her death on 28 March, 1871. She died at her house in Mountjoy Square aged 86. Her death brought to an end the last of John Ball’s family, a family which made a magnificent contribution to education of the rich and poor alike, to the care and health of the under-privileged and to justice. “Seek First the Kingdom of God and his Justice and all else will be given to you”. P A G E 10 Cecilia Ball ~Mother Mary Regis Eldest child of John and Mabel Ball
Frances Ball was a pupil in the Bar Convent when her beloved father died in 1804 and on hearing of her sister Cecilia’s decision to enter the Ursuline Convent in York in 1805 Frances knew that home would never be the same again. Cecilia Ball had been educated in the Ursuline Convent, Cork and entered there on 11th August, 1805. In November 1809, Mrs. Ball, Isabella, Anna Maria and Frances travelled to Cork for Cecilia’s Profession. They travelled by stagecoach, lined with copper, and were assured it was completely bullet-proof. They were escorted by two dragoons of armed guards. Apart from the journey to York, Frances had never been outside of Dublin before. The records of the Ursuline Convent tell that shortly after her Profession Cecilia fell ill, and for the rest of her life had to endure great physical suffering which amounted to ‘a long, slow martyrdom, borne with patient submission and perfect abandonment to the divine will.’ In spite of her delicacy she filled many posts of importance in the convent, being Superior for twelve years, as well as Mistress General, Assistant Mistress of Novices, Zelatrice and Assistant to the Superior at different times. Frances always looked up to her dear sister and believed that Cecilia’s prayers helped her at all times. The below letter from Cecilia, sympathizing with M. Teresa Ball on the death of Dr. Murray, is kept in the Loreto Archives.
Blackrock March, 22nd, 1852
My very dear Teresa,
I should have ere now expressed my feeling and sympathy for the trial sent you by an all wise Providence in translating your saintly prelate and sincere friend to the realms of celestial bliss where he will be much more powerful by his intercession than when on earth. Happily for himself his days were full and his crown completed but he has left a void which can scarcely be filled up. The election for his successor appears to me a subject for much prayer in these awful times. Oh, how unsearchable are the ways of God. Anna Maria mentioned your illness but not the complaint. I trust you are now able to give me a line, with an account of yourself. I feel much also for Mother Aikenhead. As to dear Anna Maria, she is indeed the strong woman of the Gospel and proves by her example the power of religion and its influence on all occasions, when required. May we all be prepared for our summons to our happy country. I have great need of prayers to obtain patience and resignation to the Divine will, my health is not improving. At the age of 70 it would be folly to expect or wish it. I rely on your spiritual children to ask for me a happy death and final perseverance in God’s union. I am sure of your own petitions – excuse my writing in Lent, but this was on a particular occasion – mention how M. Aloysia McCarthy is, as our dear Rev. Mother will be anxious to know. Sr. Ignatius and Xavaria wish affectionate love and to assure you of their mutual sympathy and feeling on the late melancholy event, likewise your friends in our community. Believe me dearest Teresa, Your fondly attached Sister, M.F. Regis P A G E 11
Obituary Notice for M. Mary Regis
October 3rd, 1854
The sad and to some extent unexpected intelligence of this morning was that our dear and revered Mother M. Regis had terminated her saintly life during the night, exchanging the darkness of earth for the bright day that knows no decline, and all the ills of the present time for the joy that never ends and the peach that is never exhausted.
Startling and afflicting as the news of her departure was to us, to her the summons came not unexpectedly; for her whole existence had been one continued preparation for it, and all the consolations appointed by the Church for the Christian’s last hour were secured to her at her own earnest request even before their immediate necessity had become apparent to others.
Combining with great natural prudence and soundness of judgement, the wisdom and moderation derived from lengthened experience, this truly perfect religious was a most valuable and valued resource as an adviser, not only in ordinary details, but also in particular emergencies, and while her holy exemplary life inspired universal respect, her great kindness of heart, gentleness, consideration and amiability attracted the esteem and love of all who had the The Grave of Cecilia Ball (Mother Mary Regis) in the happiness to know her intimately. Ursuline Cemetery in Cork.
She filled the post of 2nd Mistress of Novices for some time; that of Assistant for three years; of Zelatrice for 6 years; of Superioress for twelve years, and of Mistress General for twelve years also; and that, notwithstanding severe and almost uninterrupted corporal sufferings which, commencing shortly after her Profession and generally increasing with the years, made of her religious life a long abandonment to the Divine Will, which, while it sanctified her own soul and edified all around her, has no doubt ensured her in Heaven the crown of glory promised to all who wear the crown of tribulation resignedly on earth. P A G E 12 Nicholas Ball and his family
In researching the family of Teresa Ball, it became clear that relatively little was known of the family of her brother Nicholas. Letters in the Loreto Archives between Teresa Ball, Nicholas and his children indicate their closeness but while Nicholas was an eminent judge, the lives of his children were a mystery. After consulting the book Ball Family Records of 1908, it was necessary to rely on primary sources for information— newspapers, journals, church records, probate records etc. This was a painstaking process but has resulted in the lives of Teresa Ball’s nieces and nephews being brought to life.
Nicholas Ball (1791-1865)
Nicholas Ball was born in 1791, the sole surviving son of John Ball and Mable Clare Bennett. He was only 13 when his father died. Educated at the Jesuit Stonyhurst College in England, he left in 1808 and travelled to York to bring his sister Frances home to Ireland. She was leaving the Bar Convent early on account of her Mother being left alone after the marriages of her sisters Anna Maria and Isabella. Nicholas is said to have directed Frances’ studies after her return to Dublin. He had entered Trinity College Dublin in 1808 aged 17 as a Socius Comitatus. Known as Gentleman Commoners and generally the children of the wealthy, a Socius Comitatus paid double fees and in return received several privileges, including finishing the degree in three years instead of four. Nicholas received his BA in 1812 and was soon after called to the Irish Bar.
On October 31st 1817, the Freeman’s Journal announced his marriage– “Yesterday, Nicholas Ball Esq of Eccles St, Bust of Judge Barrister at Law, to Jane, second daughter of the late Nicholas Ball Thomas Sherlock Esq of Butlerstown, Co. Waterford.” Nicholas and Jane had eight children, all of whom were baptised at the newly opened Pro-Cathedral on Marlborough Street. He is frequently mentioned in the newspapers of the time as a donor to various charitable institutions and projects. He appears to have been close to his sister Frances—there are a number of letters in the archive addressed to ‘Fanny’, giving her advice on various matters, mostly legal.
He achieved enormous success in his legal career. He became a bencher of Kings Inns in 1835 and was nominated King’s Serjeant in 1836 before being appointed Attorney-General in 1838. In the same year he was elected MP for Clonmel, a post in which he only served a year, supposedly owing to his distaste for politics. In 1839 he became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, a senior court of law at the time. He remained in this position until his death in 1865.
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The book Joyful Mother of Children gives an indication of the character of Nicholas—“Nicholas Ball’s social gifts, his geniality, pleasant wit and brilliance as a conversationalist made him very popular. As Judge his witty sallies enlivened the hearing of many a tedious case.” An article which appeared in The Irish Times not long after his death agrees with this assessment of Nicholas – “Everything with him had its use, even nothings! His desire was to please and be pleased. He was like an indiarubber ball, and found amusement and topics of conversation at every turn.”
He died in 1865. His funeral was widely reported in the Irish newspapers – his three remaining sons, Alexander, John and the Rev. Anthony all attended, as did his nephew David Sherlock and brother-in- law Mr. John O’Brien, husband of his sister Anna Maria. He was described as an “amiable and accomplished gentleman, an upright judge and a worthy citizen”. It was noted that “men of the highest rank and of all shades of political and religious belief came to do honour to the departed, who, during a long, active, and useful life, won the deep and sincere respect of all who knew him.”
Nicholas Ball Family Tree
John Ball m.1776 Mable Clare Bennett (c.1728-1804) (?-1831)
Nicholas Ball Jane Sherlock m.1817 (1791-1865) (?-c.1867)
John Mary Anna Alexander Thomas Isabella Maria (1818- (1820- (1822- (1826- 1889) 1867) ?) 1911)
Jane Thomas Nicholas Anthony Isabella George Alexander (1819- (1821- (1824- (1830- 1905) 1864) 1856) 1879) P A G E 14 Children of Nicholas Ball & Jane Sherlock
John Thomas Ball (1818-1889)
John Thomas Ball was baptised in the Pro Cathedral on 1st September 1818. Encouraged by his parents Nicholas and Jane, he developed a passion for science, in particular botany and geology, at a young age. His first trip to Switzerland with his father at the age of seven was to have a huge impact on him. He wrote of his wonderment at first seeing a sunset in the Alps – “For long years that scene recurred constantly to my mind, whether asleep or awake, and perhaps nothing has had so great an influence on my entire life.” Nicholas presented his son with a mountain barometer the following year and John spent much of his time measuring the height of hills and collecting minerals, shells and fossils.
Having had no formal education up till then, at the age of 13 John was sent to Oscott College where he vigorously pursed Chemistry “under every discouragement”. Following his time in Oscott, he attended Christ College, Cambridge where he studied Mathematics. Unable to graduate on account of his being Catholic, he entered Trinity College Dublin in 1840 and was called to the Irish Bar in 1845, though he was never to practice. John Ball
On a trip to the West of Ireland as a young man with the British [Scientific] Association, he was described by fellow members as being “very much of a wild Irishman”, doing all sorts of odd things, much to the amusement of those members “who had seen nothing of Ireland or Irishmen” though they noted he was “as nice a companion then as he ever was”. The Ball
Range, At the onset of the Famine he was travelling in Europe and, wanting to assist, including returned to Ireland and was appointed an Assistant Poor Law Commissioner in Mount Ball, in 1846. He found this work extremely difficult and after one year he resigned in ill the Canadian health and went abroad. He returned to the Department as Second Commissioner Rocky Mountains. two years later, only leaving in 1852 when he was elected as MP for Co. Carlow.
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In his capacity as MP, Ball helped to secure funding for the Palliser Expedition in 1857. Led by Dublin born geographer John Palliser, the expedition explored the Rocky Mountains in Western Canada, surveying possible routes for the Canadian Pacific Railway and cataloguing new species of plants. In recognition of his involvement, a mountain range on the Continental Divide is named the Ball Range, the highest peak of which is Mount Ball.
In 1858, John sought election as MP for Limerick and was defeated. It was suggested that this was due to the opposition of the Irish clergy to his candidacy as Ball had refused to side with the Papacy in the Second Italian War of Independence. Pope Pius IX had issued a call to Catholics throughout Europe to raise an army in defence of the Papal States. Indeed, a fellow MP for Longford, Myles O’Reilly, had led a 900 strong Irish Brigade named the Battalion of St. Patrick in the defence of the Papal States. A report suggests that Ball “barely escaped with his life from the excited city”. It was to be the end of his political career.
John Ball The remainder of his days were solely devoted to scientific pursuits and travel. pictured in Tunisian dress. While wintering in the Alps he met the famous Italian naturalist Alberto Parolini He had the of Bassano, Italy and went on to marry his daughter Elisa Parolini, herself a photograph botanist, in 1856. They had two sons, Albert and Nicholas, before her untimely taken in a death at the age of 37 in 1867. Following her death he married again, in 1869, studio in to Julia O’Beirne of Co. Leitrim. Paris in 1882. He was the first president of the Alpine Club in London and published his Alpine Guides to great acclaim. He went on to travel extensively in South America, publishing his observations on the geography of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and the Straits of Magellan. It was said that as a collector of plants he was unrivalled, his innate skills of observation matched by his extensive knowledge and capacity to remember exactly when and where he had collected each species. An honorary degree from Christ College, Cambridge in his later years was particularly welcomed as he had been unable to graduate from the university as a young man.
Having fallen ill in his beloved Alps, he was transported to England where he died at his home in South Kensington on October 21st 1889. A fellow of the Royal Society, his papers are held at the archive of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. His sons, Albert and Nicholas, both of whom were Civil Servants, never married and lived with John’s widow Julia until her death c.1905.
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Jane Isabella Ball (1819-1905)
Jane Isabella Ball was born in August 1819. With her two sisters nuns, it seems likely that she lived at home with her father. The year following his death and by then in her late forties, she married Henry Edward Doyle, an artist and curator whose Dublin-born father, John Doyle, was a well known political cartoonist. The couple were married at St. James’ Church, Spanish-place, London in February 1866 by Jane’s brother, the Rev. Anthony Ball. A newspaper report at the time noted that the ceremony “was of a perfectly intimate character, none but the immediate relatives on either side being present”.
In 1869, Henry Edward Doyle became the second director of the National Gallery of Ireland and it is said that his flair, judgement and eye for a bargain played a major role in building the gallery’s collection, with him buying paintings by Bellini, van Ruisdael, Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough before their reputation caused the price of their work to soar. He was also responsible for the establishment of the National Portrait Collection. Doyle was a close friend of Cardinal Wiseman and a devoted Roman Catholic. He died suddenly of heart disease at his home in London in 1892. Jane lived to Henry be 85, dying in London in 1905. The executor of her will was her nephew Albert Ball, Edward son of explorer John. Doyle
Interestingly, Henry Edward Doyle’s nephew was the creator of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle. Conan Doyle had initially attended the Newington Academy in Edinburgh for his education but went on to attend Stonyhurst College, the alma mater of Jane’s father Nicholas. It seems Conan Doyle’s mother had consulted with her husband’s siblings
regarding where to send her son for his education. Biographers of Conan Doyle have suggested that it may well have been Jane Ball who suggested Stonyhurst on account of her father having attended there. It is also interesting to note that Jane’s mother’s maiden name was Sherlock. Could she perhaps have also suggested the name of Conan Doyle’s most famous fictional protagonist?
National Gallery of Ireland, early 20th century
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Mary Isabella Ball (1820—1867)
Mary Isabella Ball was born in Dublin in 1820. She attended the Bar Convent in York for her education, following in the footsteps of her aunts.
Mary was very delicate and was lame following an injury to her knee. Having completed her education in York, she returned to Dublin. However, the city’s climate disagreed with her so much that her father asked the Bar Convent nuns to keep her until he could bring her to Paris to an eminent surgeon. At the Bar Convent, in 1844, on the Feast of the Holy Name, a relic of the Jesuit martyr Fr. Arrowsmith was applied to the injured leg, which was The Bar immediately cured. Convent, York. Mary Ball, having long desired to enter the Bar Convent, was admitted to the novitiate in York and was known in religion as Sister Mary Alphonsa. She served as Consultress and Mistress of Novices. Mother Angela Browne described her as ‘the perfect religious’. She was the first member and later Superior of a foundation in Scarborough before she contracted tuberculosis and died on 6 March 1867 at the age of 47. She is buried in the Bar Convent cemetery in York. Thomas George Ball (1821—1864)
Thomas George Ball was born in 1821. He attended Oscott College from 1831-1838. In November 1838 he entered Trinity College Dublin as a Socius Comitatus, although there is no record of him having completed a degree. He married Baroness Nathalie Catherine van der Noot de Moorsel in April 1857 in St. Andrews, Dublin. The Baroness was from a noble Belgian family, though her mother, Catherine Heyland, was the daughter of Colonel Langford Heyland of Glendaragh, Co. Antrim.
The Ball family lived in Mondellihy House, Adare, Co. Limerick. Thomas seems to have been a gentleman farmer with his name appearing in numerous articles regarding the shows of the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland. He bred cattle and won many gold medals for one in particular – ‘The Pride of Adare’. He is noted to have been a Captain in the Dublin Militia and a Justice of the Peace in Limerick.
The couple’s first son, The Chateau de Moorsel, Belgium. Home of Thomas’ wife, Anthony Joseph Thomas Baroness Nathalie van der Noot de Moorsel
P A G E 18 Mary Ball, was born on 23 March 1858 and christened two days later in St. Andrews in Dublin. Thomas’ sister Jane stood as a sponsor for the child. Unfortunately, a death notice in the Limerick Chronicle in January 1859 notes that Anthony Joseph Ball “only son of Thomas Ball Esq” has died of croup aged only ten months. By November of that year Nathalie had given birth to another son, Francis John Joseph Ball, who was baptised in St. Nicholas of Myra, Dublin. The couple’s address was given as 92 Harcourt Street. Anna Maria O’Brien, Thomas’s aunt and sister of Teresa Ball who would then have been in her seventies, was sponsor. Thomas seems to have been very close to his family, with a newspaper reporting in 1863 that John Ball had arrived to Ireland to visit his brother Thomas in Adare.
Thomas Ball took ill in 1864 and died at 85 St. Stephen’s Green, his father’s house, aged only 43. The newspapers reported that his funeral was attended by his father, his brother Rev. Anthony Ball, Alexander Ball and David Sherlock, his cousin, as well as his uncle by marriage, John O’Brien.
It would seem that Thomas’ widow and child went to live at Nathalie’s family home, the Chateau de Moorsel in Belgium, following his death. This was an imposing residence—a castle surrounded by an impressive moat. It might be imagined that Nathalie and Francis would have little contact with the Ball family after returning to Belgium but it does not seem to be the case. Thomas’ youngest brother Alexander Ball died at the Chateau de Moorsel in 1911. Nathalie also acted as executrix to the will of the Rev. Anthony Ball in 1879 who had died in Brussels, seemingly living with his sister-in-law and nephew. Later again, John Ball’s son Albert Ball named Francis’ son Antoine Ball as the executor of his will in 1930. These families appear to have kept their connection over many years. Nathalie remarried in 1881 to a Mr. Emile Letter from Cumont who would unfortunately die only four years later. She lived to the ripe age Thomas Ball of 91, dying in Moorsel in 1929. to his aunt Teresa Ball Their only child, Francis, seems to have taken after his uncle John and had a great after the fall interest in Natural History. He was a President of the Royal Zoological Society of in 1860 in Belgium and appears to have worked as a lepidopterologist at the Royal Museum of which she Natural History in Brussels. He was also a correspondent of Walter Rothschild— suffered a scion of the Rothschild family, zoologist and collector. Francis married Kathleen broken hip. Mary MacMahon of Co. Clare and had two sons. Kathleen died in Moorsel in 1938 with Francis passing just two years later in 1940.
St Anne’s, Blarney October 22, 1860
My Dear Aunt, I upset very much to hear, by a letter received this morning from my mother that you have met with a very serious accident, which I sincerely trust may not have the effect of confining you to the house for any considerable time. She mentions that it resembles in its nature the one from which Aunt O’Brien is still suffering. I sincerely hope it may not have the same lengthened effect. I was just starting this [morning] for Killarney at an early hour, when the doctor came to see me not as the day was too wet and stormy but I shall certainly go tomorrow and you shall hear from me by tomorrow’s post. Nathalie sends her kindest love and regards, with her condolences on your misfortune.
Ever my dear Aunt, Your affectionate nephew, Thomas Ball P A G E 19
Anna Maria Ball (1822—)
Anna Maria Ball was born in 1822. It seems probable that she was educated at the Bar Convent like her sisters. Following in the footsteps of her aunt Cecilia, she became an Ursuline nun in Cork. Unfortunately, little is known of her life in Cork.
Nicholas Alexander Ball (1824—1856)
Nicholas Alexander Ball was born in Dublin in 1824. Educated at Oscott College, he was admitted to Trinity College Dublin in October 1841 and completed his BA degree in the summer of 1845. In April 1849, he applied to be admitted to the Irish Bar.
Letters in the Loreto Archives from his sister Mary suggest that he was frequently ill and appears to have been suffering from TB. Though he seems to have regularly travelled to warmer climates in an effort to relive himself of his symptoms he was to die in Montpellier, France aged only 32. It seems that he had been living temporarily in the Hotel Nevet in L’Hotel Nevet, Montpellier where Thomas and Montpellier with his brother Thomas. He is Nicholas were staying. buried in the cemetery there.
Alexander Francis Ball (c.1826-1911)
Alexander Francis Ball was born c. 1826. By 1851 he had joined the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot as a notice in the Freeman’s Journal in that year states that he has been made Lieutenant. He received a medal for fighting in the Crimean War from 1854-1855.
Upon his retirement from the Army he acted as a Registrar for his father in the court room. A month following his father’s death, in February 1865, the then Lord Lieutenant, Lord Wodehouse, appointed him a Resident Magistrate. It was noted in the Lord Lieutenant’s announcement that Alexander “has for some years acted as registrar to his father and from his previous habits and position, he will make an excellent public officer.” The appointment was to serve as a “graceful recognition of the great claims and eminent public services of the late Judge Ball” and that it would be accepted by the public as “a compliment to the country and a tribute to the memory and worth of a good man”. A Resident Magistrate (abbreviated RM) was a Badge of the 31st stipendiary magistrate appointed to a county to sit among the Justices Regiment of Foot in of the Peace at Petty Sessions in that county. They did not usually have which Alexander Ball was a Lieutenant. legal training and many, like Alexander, were ex-British Army personnel.
P A G E 20
In 1911, The Irish Times reported his death at the age of 85, the last of Nicholas’ children. His probate record refers to him as “Alexander Francis Ball of the Chateau John Ball Mable Clare Bennett de Moorsel, Belgium”. The Chateau was the home of his brother Thomas’ widow (c.1728-1803) (c.1776-1865) and it seems that he had been living with her prior to his death. The executor of his will was to be his nephew Nicholas Ball, son of botanist John.
Anthony Ball (1830-1879)
Anthony Ball was born in August 1830. He attended Oscott College and records suggest that he matriculated at London University in 1850. He joined the novitiate of the Brompton Oratory in September 1853 and was ordained 25 November 1855. He left the Brompton Oratory in February 1862 but continued to work in the Diocese of Westminster. By late 1862, he was located in the Church of St. George in Walthamstow.
In 1866 he performed the marriage of his sister Jane to Henry Edward Doyle at St. James’ Church, Spanish Point. The Church Directory of 1869 lists him as ministering in St. John of Jerusalem Church which had been built in 1864 for the Sisters of Brompton Mercy on the Grounds of their Hospital—St. John of Jerusalem and St. Elizabeth— Oratory, located on what is now the site of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. By London Papal Order, he was made a Knight of the Order of Malta . He died in 1879 at the age of 49 in Brussels with his will proved by his sister-in-law Nathalie Ball de Moorsel.
Extracts from the US Province Archives With thanks to Elizabeth Crotty IBVM, US Province Archivist
In response to the death of Mother Ignatius Hutchinson, the first Superior in Toronto, who died less than four years after arriving in Canada, Teresa Ball wrote to Teresa Dease...
Letter from Teresa Ball to Teresa Dease
April 25 1851
“Like St. Peter who was required to feed the flock, you are obliged to be head, when chosen to govern your community...What have we to fear when God appoints us to govern? Is He not powerful enough to assist us? Sufficiently wise to guide us? Has He not a principle of goodness ever urging Him to benefit us?” P A G E 21
Laura Mary Teresa Ball (1849-1912)
Laura Mary Teresa Ball, a Loreto Sister, was the great-niece of Teresa Ball. They shared a common ancestor in John Ball Senior by his first marriage in 1776 to a Miss Byrne of Saggard. Laura’s paternal grandmother, Laura Frances Noel, was the daughter of an English solicitor. She exhibited landscapes and portraits in Dublin and taught painting and drawing to ladies at 28 Dame Street. Upon the death of her husband John Ball Junior in 1812, she returned to London to her mother and left her children, John, Mary and Cecilia, to the care of the Ball family. The childless Anna Maria and John O’Brien gladly adopted the three children and raised them as their own.
Laura Ball entered the novitiate in Rathfarnham in October 1865 and was perpetually professed in April 1868. A member of the General Council, she was first elected in August 1888 in the time of M. Michael Corcoran. She was to be re-elected General Consultor twice more, in 1894 and 1900. A serious opponent of the proposed union of the global institute, relations between her and M. Michael Corcoran were sometimes strained. She died in December 1911 in Rathfarnham at the age of 62.
John Ball m. 1776 Miss Byrne (Teresa Ball’s father) of Saggard (c.1728-1804)
John Ball Jnr m.1806 Laura Frances Noel (1767-1812) (1786-1863)
Mary Ball Cecilia Ball (1803-1862) (1809-1895)
John Ball m. 1838 Marianne Barry (1808-1849) (1818-1901)
John Ball Nicholas Ball James Barry Ball Laura Mary (1844-1870) (1846-1884) (1848-1926) Teresa Ball (1849-1912)
P A G E 22 Extracts from the English Province Archives With thanks to Clare Walsh, English Province Archivist
Teresa Ball to Canon Toole G/SG/1/1ii
14 September 1851
Dear Revd Sir, We prefer the house near the school to commence. Five Sisters will go over when you appoint the time to attend the Poor School St Teresa’s and the infant school. One of our Sisters will give besides, private lessons on the Piano Forte and in painting. Singing will be taught to all who have voices.
From the Manchester Annals MN/CC/AN/1
29 June 1858
The Feast of St Peter and Paul. A public Bazaar of articles of considerable value was opened in the large room of the Royal Exchange. The proceeds of the sale were to be devoted to the payment of a portion of the mortgage still due on our Convent. These articles were mainly contributed by friends of our House and Institute but the greater portion was contributed by our Revd Mother M. Teresa Ball of Loretto Rathfarnham and by our other friends in Ireland.
From Teresa Ball to M. Alphonsa Ellis, Manchester G/SG/1/3i
Rathfarnham, 8 October 1858
Very dear Mother Alphonsa
We had a ceremony of six yesterday. I could not sooner write to congratulate with you, on your Convent being so nice and all things going so well.
I only regret you are so thin: do take nourishment or you will not be equal for the work God places before you to accomplish.
From the Manchester Annals MN/CC/AN/1
15 February 1861
Having received news of the serious indisposition of our Venerated Revd Mother M. Teresa Ball of Rathfarnham Revd Mother Alphonsa Ellis our Superioress accompanied by Rev. Canon Toole and, with the authority of the Bishop went to Dublin to pay a visit of charity and respect to one whom we all so much venerate, and whose name will be ever held in benediction in our Institute for the virtues with which she has adorned it, and for the zeal and ability and unremitting solicitude and toil with which she has promoted its interests and extended its establishments in Europe, Asia and America. P A G E 23
“Seek First the Kingdom of God and God’s Righteousness and all other things will be added unto you.”
Reflection on Matthew 6:33 and its consequences for Teresa Ball
That which touches or stays with us of what we hear and see is something which already finds an echo in our own hearts.
When the young Frances Ball, just about to be left alone in school, heard the words ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness and all other things will be added unto you’ she possibly did not pay much heed. At 18 they came to her a second time and, this time, they made an impression which set the course of all her future life.
What was the echo in the heart of this woman who later showed such courage to risk foundation of 39 Loreto houses in 5 different continents? What gave her the freedom to allow very young sisters to go to seemingly impossible outreaches? What filled her heart as she sent them to ‘Go set the world on fire with the love of God’?
At a time when theology and religious practice put more emphasis on prohibition, on a God of laws and rules who demanded obedience she is inspired by a God of abundance, a God who wants to gift us with all God’s being and God’s way. This God called her simply to trust and to seek, a very active trust- ing and a seeking which did not allow her to say ‘enough, let me settle’. She would have concurred with Pope Francis in much of what he says in ‘The Joy of the Gospel’. She would possibly go beyond, encouraging women to play a greater role in Church and Society, in rekindling fires of faith in what are termed Post-Christian societies.
She invites us today to trust and seek this God who is our all, who is giver of gifts, who invites us to live in right relationship with all of Creation, to be ‘righteous’. Deeply rooted in this trust, we will have the ‘ inner freedom’ of Mary Ward and be bold enough to follow God’s call wherever it may beckon. That same trust which enabled Delphine Hart at the age of 23, accompanied by eleven others with an average age of 18, to set out for India, to sail up rivers with groups of orphans in their care, later to set sail for Kenya and establish a new province of the Institute, will enable us today to take up the challenges that face us. Challenges of social media, of secularization, restlessness, breakdown of family life, injustices towards the vulnerable call us to be messengers of the abundance of our God who alone satisfies our hungers.
Stephanie O’ Brien Archivist for Eastern Africa. P A G E 24
Early Nineteenth Century Dublin
When Teresa Ball sailed from Dublin in 1814 to enter the Bar Convent in York, the city she left behind was one of contrasts.
In 1814, Dublin was home to almost 200,000 people and as the city barely stretched beyond the two Circular Roads, it was a busy, crowded place. The many poor of Dublin could be found in the narrow laneways and alleys which, maze-like, covered the city. They lived in cramped, un-sanitary accommodation which allowed disease to thrive. There were no solely residential areas. Instead, traders and merchants lived above their shops or warehouses and many craftsmen worked in their homes. On the other hand, the fine city mansions and recently erected public buildings proclaimed Dublin’s status as the second city of the British Empire. There were many amusements available for the wealthy of the city—dances, balls and concerts took place and indeed, as we know, the Ball family frequented these pleasant events.
While mail and passenger boats left for Britain via Howth, the city’s trams and railways had yet to be built. As such, the only transport available was stage coach or hackney car. Travel by such means could be a dangerous undertaking as roads leading to the city were often frequented by thieves and bandits. Guidebooks of the period recommended to visitors not to travel Dublin’s outskirts by night.
As a result of the Penal Laws, The Pre-Emancipation chapel of St., James’ which education for Catholics in the late was located at Watling Street from 1740-1854. It eighteenth and early nineteenth had been added to over time, leading to its odd centuries was largely the preserve of shape. It would be replaced in 1854 with the the hedge schools which were the present day church of the same name on James’ object of much British derision. Street. Various travellers to Ireland noted the ‘craze for popular education’ amongst the Irish people. In the late eighteenth century, some free schools had been established by the Jesuit Fr. Thomas Betagh in Dublin but these catered exclusively for boys. Indeed, among Fr. Betagh’s pupils of was the future Archbishop of Dublin and confidant of Teresa Ball, Daniel Murray.
As a result of this situation, the children of Dublin’s wealthy Catholics generally went abroad for the education, usually to Britain. Nicholas Ball attended the Jesuit run Stonyhurst while Frances, Anna Maria and Isabella were at the Bar Convent in York. While Cecilia, the eldest, had attended the Ursulines in Cork for her education, by the late eighteenth century it was too dangerous for her sisters to travel there. This was partly as a result of the 1798 Rebellion. “Travel...was unthinkable. Mail coaches had been stopped and burned on all the main routes. Martial law was in force and ordinary law suspended for a long period.” Indeed, even in 1809, when the Ball family travelled to Cork for Cecilia's profession with the Ursulines, they went by bullet-proof, guarded stage coach.
While Catholic Emancipation was not realised until 1829, the early decades of the nineteenth century were ones of profound changes for the Catholics of the city. One of the areas in which this is most obvious is that of church building. P A G E 25
The penal chapels of eighteenth century Dublin bear little resemblance to our modern-day churches. Sometimes known as ‘Mass Houses’, they were generally situated in out of the way locations - down laneways and at the rear of houses. Often they were temporary or makeshift structures and were built in irregular shapes to fit their small sites.Mable Their Clare exteriors Bennett were unadorned so as not to bring attention to the building’s use. While some (c.1776 chapels- 1865) would have contained confessionals and pews, most people would have stood during Mass. There was little or no religious instruction or pastoral care to be found in these chapels for the Catholics of Dublin.
The penal chapels had been ignored and tolerated by the government for many years. However, due to the makeshift nature of these buildings, they were often dangerous. In one notable incident in 1745, a floor had collapsed during mass in a chapel on Cook Street and several people, including the priest, were killed. Despite a number of similar incidents throughout the eighteenth century which lead to calls for suitable churches to be built, it was not until the easing of the Penal Laws that new structures were erected.
Dr. Rev. William Meagher described Dublin’s Catholic churches as ‘…crouching timidly in the darkest and most loathsome alleys and lanes of the city.’ In the early decades of the nineteenth century, Roman Catholic churches began to leave the laneways and emerge into the city proper. The new churches were often classical in style, on a par with the public buildings of the city and reflecting the changing status of the Church in Ireland.
Frances Ball and her siblings had been baptised in the penal chapel of SS Michael and John, which at that time was located on Rosemary Lane but which later moved in 1815 to the site of the old Smock Alley Theatre on Essex Quay. It is interesting to contrast this with her brother Nicholas’ children, who were all baptised in the newly built Metropolitan Chapel or ‘Pro-Cathedral’ on Marlborough Street. Archbishop Murray would lay the foundation stone for this chapel in the same year that Teresa Ball was professed—1816. Located just off Sackville Street, it was a bold statement for the Catholics of the city.
Over the coming decades, Dublin would be inundated with new buildings which catered for its Catholic poor. Schools, asylums, hospitals, orphanages, refuges and other charitable institutions would be found in every part of the city. The Ball family, in particular Anna Maria, would be pivotal in the development of this Catholic charitable infrastructure, acting as benefactors to many projects. As early as the 1850s, only 21 years after Catholic Emancipation, all of Dublin’s penal chapels had been replaced by grander, bigger, more centrally located churches.
The Metropolitan Chapel or ‘Pro-Cathedral’ on Marlborough Street which was begun in 1816. P A G E 26
Transcript of Mother Coyney’s letter to The Most Revd. Doctor Murray, Cumberland Street, Dublin
30th May 1814
My Lord,
I have consulted our Bishop on the subject of your Lordship’s letter who agrees to our receiving Miss Ball as a member of our holy Institute with a view to training her for a Foundress of a house of the same in Dublin, in the event of such a project being realised, and that she be allowed sufficient time to be formed for that great undertaking, which could not be at least under five years, from the commencement of her noviceship. As we cannot hold out a probability that we can contribute to such an Establishment either by sending a colony from this Community, or by penury resources, this good work must solely rest with Miss Ball and her friends, whose decision we shall be glad to know as soon as possible. But one favour I particularly request that it may not be known to one unnecessary person that Miss B. is fixed on for the projected Establishment, such a report spread abroad would neither be pleasant to the young lady herself nor to us. With my respectful regards to Mrs. Ball and our affectionate remembrance to our young friends I beg leave to subscribe myself, My Lord,
Your Lordship’s obedient servant and daughter in J.C., E.M.J. Coyney
List of resources used in the research of this newsletter:
Joyful Mother of Children, A Loreto Sister (1961) An I..B.V.M. Biographical Dictionary of the English Members and Major Benefactors 1667-2000, Sr. Gregory Kirkus I.B.V.M. (2001) Ball Family Records, W. Ball Wright (1908) ‘Dublin in 1829’ in Catholic Emancipation Centenary Record, edited by Rev. Myles V. Ronan (1929) ‘Mrs John O’Brien, her life, her works, her friends’, by Beatrice Bayley Butler and Katherine Butler in Dublin Historical Record XXXIII (1980) Laity and Clergy in the Catholic Renewal of Dublin, Cormac Begadon (NUI Maynooth Phd, 2009) Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin, edited by George Dames Burtchaell and Thomas Ulick Sadleir (1935) A Dictionary of Irish Artists, Walter G. Strickland (1913) Burke’s Peerage, John Burke (1952) ‘Obituary: Mr. John Ball’ in Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Feb 1890) The Irish Times The Freeman’s Journal www.churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie UK Probate Records Cemeteries Montpellier