Holy statue donated to community following Kerry convent’s closure after 162-years

A wonderful statue of St Joseph and the Baby Jesus that once adorned the Poor Clare Sisters Convent in Kenmare has found a new location after it was donated to nearby Finnegan’s Funeral Home.

The Poor Clare Sisters convent has been in Kenmare since 1861. Sadly, the nuns brought their long and cherished association with the town to a close last month following a special Mass to celebrate their contribution to the locality over many decades.

But in a wonderful show of historical continuity, Sr Concepta approached the Finnegan family in April to ask if they would be interested in taking the statue for their funeral home.

The family was only too happy to accept, and the statue’s new location is at Our Lady’s Well – adjacent to Finnegan’s Funeral Home, which is run by John and Maureen and their sons Brian and Eoin.

“We would like to thank St Concepta for considering us worthy custodians to care for this beautiful statue. We’re delighted she thought of us and we’re extremely proud to have it, we’ll treasure it. Sr Concepta has been to see the statue and she is delighted where it is,” Maureen said.

However, transporting the statue to its new home was no easy task. This required the assistance and expertise of Kenmare stonemason Seán O’Sullivan and his brothers. Kenmare Tidy Town volunteers also assisted as the Our Lady’s Well is an important focal point in the town.

Maureen explains that the idea was to carefully position the statue in a non-obtrusive way so as not to take from the site in its current form as it is a place of prayer and contemplation for many people. But the consensus since the statue’s arrival is that Our Lady doesn’t seem so lonely anymore!

“We installed it nicely in the corner as we didn’t want to take from Our Lady either as it’s her space. Sean built a lovely stone plinth for it and it’s the perfect location,” Maureen said.

“When you go there now, there’s a lovely feeling that Mary is not alone anymore with Joseph and the Baby Jesus near her. The place just seems cosier now that the three are together,” she said.

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