From The Cork Examiner, 19 June 1878 - TO THE EDITOR OF THE CORK EXAMINER ------------ 195, Phibsborough-road, Dublin, June 16th, 1878. DEAR SIR,--On the 14th of October, 1876, I addressed a letter to the Catholics of Ireland, through the Freeman's Journal, in favour of the Society of African Missions, asking, not merely for pecuniary aid, but still more, for subjects willing to devote their lives to the evangelization of Dahomey. The first application I had in reply was from a child of Waterford, Miss Ryan, of Chickpoint, whose letters, full of holy zeal, are now before me. I wrote to her in reply :--"The mission is a very hard one, and will involve continual self-sacrifice, with little if any, earthly comfort," to which she generously replied :--"I have but one life to devote--and if God will accept it for the poor Africans I unhesitatingly place it at their disposal." Accordingly, I adopted Miss Margaret Ryan, and sent her to the convent at Lyons. While there she was a model of the interior life, delicate, indeed, in body, but strong in mind, and ardent in her desire to join the Sisterhood at Dahomey, West African Coast. After a year's probation she received the veil, and thus became "a daughter of the Propagation of the Faith." I visited the convent at Lyons last year, and had for some weeks a daily opportunity of conversing with Sister Mary Dominick, for this was the name Miss Ryan took in religion, and never shall I forget the deep lessons of piety--the burning desire to serve God--and the very apostolic zeal for Africa which marked her every sentence. In the beginning of this year several members of the society, priests and nuns, were sent to Lagos, Dahomey, and among them Sister Dominick--all the others were French. Sister Dominick was, in fact, the first Irish missionary that set foot in Dahomey, and this was to her a subject of delight. But, alas! to-day I received a letter from Lagos, conveying the sad intelligence that Sister Dominick is numbered among the dead!! From the moment of her arrival she failed in health--still rallied now and then, and devoted the last weeks of her life to the black children, whom she called her dear little adopted brothers and sisters. She felt grateful that God had allowed her, even for a short period, to aid in teaching the heathen children the message of salvation, and then passed into the eternal presence of Him who she had served in the persons of His poor little creatures of Dahomey. Thus the first in Ireland who volunteered for the Mission of Dahomey, was the first Irish subject sent there, and the first of Ireland's children whose life has been laid as a sacrifice on the altar of apostolic charity in that benighted land. However, we may regret her early death, yet we are glad to see noble, ardent, God-like zeal for such souls blessed with a crown of immortality. The Catholics of Waterford will, however, have reason to congratulate themselves that one of their fellow-citizens, and that one, of the weaker sex, has fallen a victim in far distant shores, not to earthly ambition, but to Divine love. May her place be with the saints, and may others follow to perpetuate the great work, and be, in their turn, crowned with a heavenly reward.--Most faithfully, JAMES O'HAIRE. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dennis Ahern | Ireland Newspaper Abstracts Acton, Massachusetts | http://www.IrelandOldNews.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -