Four McHugh Sisters

Four sisters, four Sisters!

The late Bridie McHugh once told me, with a great sense of enjoyment, of having a holiday in Salthill in the early 1990s with her three sibling sisters Winnie, Mary and Nellie. Each morning the landlady, or Bean an Tigh, of the B&B entered the dining room she would exclaim almost in disbelief “four sisters, four Sisters!” . But of course that exclamation was the perfect description for the four ladies awaiting breakfast as they are known in their own communities as Sister Angela, Sister Rose, Sister Annette and Sister Magdalene respectively. We knew them however as Mary, Winnie, Bridie and Nellie.

The ‘McHughNuns’, as we titled them locally, were born in Mullaghmore South and were regular visitors back to their home place to visit their brother, the late ‘Mikeen’ and his wife Annie. While they came individually on some occasions they always made a point of being there at the same time every few years. Sadly now Mary (Sister Angela) and Winnie (Sister Rose) have gone to their eternal reward while Nellie (Sister Magdalen D.C.) lives in Dublin and Bridie (Sister Annette SHSp) lives in San Antonio, Texas.
Sister Rose McHugh, SHSP died peacefully at her home, Convent of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate in San Antonio, Texas on January 13, 2022. Born on April 7, 1936, Rose was the sixth of seven children, was born Winifred, to John McHugh and Ellen McHugh in Mullaghmore, Moylough.

She entered the Sisters of the Holy Spirit in 1954 with a deep desire to be a missionary. This zeal for mission fuelled every day of her ministry for the rest of Sr. Rose’s life. For 33 years, she served as a teacher and parish minister in Texas and Louisiana and relished the relationships that she formed at each of her assignments. In San Antonio, Sr. Rose taught at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School on the Eastside.

In 1988, Sr. Rose was part of the first group of Holy Spirit Sisters to minister in the Western Province of Zambia. During her 25 years in Zambia, Sr. Rose trained RCIA teams, ran feeding programs for orphan children and the elderly and ministered to those ravaged by the AIDS pandemic.
Sr. Angela (Mary) Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, died March 13, 2014 (peacefully) at 109, Mount Prospect Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin 3. Her remains reposed in Mount Prospect Avenue prior to removal to St. Gabriel’s Church, Clontarf with burial after Mass the following morning in Deans Grange Cemetery.

This image was taken in the front garden of the McHugh family home on February 25th, 2013, with the print of the late Annie’s green fingers very evident in the background. Pictured are: Nellie (Sister Magdalen), Bridie (Sister Annette), Winnie (Sister Rose) RIP and Mary (Sister Angela) RIP.