Irish Women on the Move

Illustrations

Figure 1. Map of Irish settlement in the Iberian peninsula

Table 1. Convent and Monastery Hospitals in Seville

Table 2. Women and Churches in Cadiz

Figure 2. The Hospital de Mujeres, Cadiz. Author’s photograph. Reproduced with permission

Figure 3. An abbess’s crozier

Figure 4. Christ dictating to Marina de Escobar. Reproduced with permission

Figure 5. Entrance to the Chapel, Hospital de Mujeres, Cadiz. Author’s photograph. Reproduced with permission

Preface

At the end of the fifteenth century a group of Irish Dominican sisters travelled from Galway to Bilbao in the Bizkaia region of Spain with the specific purpose of founding a convent there, and to establish their own school for girls. This determined action led to a wave of female migration from Ireland to Spain and Portugal. The ambitions of this first group of Irish sisters sparked successive waves of female migration including women who were professed, and those who had an indirect attachment to the Irish Catholic church. Dominican sisters had a positive, pro-active mission which they successfully introduced into the Iberian peninsula from 1499 onwards. Irish Dominican sisters had female education at the heart of their order, and their schools came to be appreciated as excellent models both in terms of structure and curricula. The Dominican order in Ireland had a long tradition of putting out its tentacles in Europe and beyond. The pilgrimage tradition was just as prolific from Ireland as it was to Ireland, with female pilgrims prepared to travel as far as men, including to the Holy Land. What is less well known is the broader history of Irish women who migrated for religious and other reasons, developing permanent roots in a number of countries, with the express purpose of establishing their own home and culture.

This is a history which has not been written.

What this study does is to turn the focus, previously dedicated to scholarly attention upon the experience of male migrants, to the migratory experience of Irish women, both as distinct groups with shared identities, and as groups or individuals with little common purpose. Irish women chose to migrate as religious groups, family or sept groups and as single women. Their motivations were varied. Their class and status ranged from the most elite Irish women with some autonomous decision-making through to middle-ranking women with their own finance streams, to female religious with an intention of establishing their own orders in Europe, and those ←xi | xii→who were poor, but made the decision to move countries. These women were single, married, widowed, separated, some had professed, or were novices or pupils, and some were too young to be categorised. Some chose to develop networks between themselves, or with Spanish women. Some chose to live a more separate existence. This is their story.

Acknowledgements

This book has had a long gestation, and I have incurred many debts. I am very grateful for the help and support of all the archivists and staff at the many archives I have used over several years researching throughout the Iberian peninsula.

One of the first academics to encourage my academic interest in late medieval and early modern Spain was my late colleague, Alex Cowan, an esteemed early modern Venetian scholar. I remain grateful for all his encouragement and support. Other colleagues at Northumbria University have also been generous with their time, particularly Charlotte Alston and Neil Murphy, who both read through an earlier draft of the book, and provided comments which much improved the text. Other Northumbria colleagues have provided sound advice and suggestions, particularly Carlos Conde Solares, Lesley Twomey and Jacky Collins. Also at Northumbria University the Inter Library Loan team have been extremely helpful in tracking down so many diverse requests of mine.

In addition, other academics who have made various comments and suggestions about this work in its earlier stages. I wish to thank James Amelang, Virginia Blanton, Samuel Fannin, Gwenda Morgan, Colmán Ó Clábaigh, Veronica O’Mara, Ciaran O’Scea, Igor Pérez Tostado, Peter Rushton, Flocel Sabaté, Charles and Pat Smith, Brian Ward and Jane Woodruff.

I wish to thank Lucy Melville at Peter Lang press for all her editorial support, and also Phil Dunshea who approached me with the initial proposal. My thanks go to the two anonymous readers whose insightful suggestions have certainly made this a better book.

Finally, I owe my family so much thanks for the unswerving support of many years, in particular my father, Bill, my son John, and my husband, Robin.

Abbreviations

A Note on Translation

I have retained contemporary linguistic expressions in Castilian and Catalan. All translations are my own unless otherwise noted.

INTRODUCTION

Irish Women on the Move

When a small group of Irish sisters from the order of Saint Dominic migrated to Bilbao in 1499 their intention was to found their own Dominican female mission in the province of Biscay, and beyond. The first recorded group of Irish sisters to profess in Spain joined the Dominican convento de la Incarnación, founded initially in 1499 for conventual tertiaries, but by 1523 included sisters who had taken solemn vows and were fully professed. Membership and profession in the convento de la Incarnación was followed by profession in eight other convents across the peninsula. These were the convento del Corpus Christi founded in Valladolid in 1545, the convento del Santa Clara in Esterri d’Àneu in 1560, the convento del Nuestra Señora de las Angustias in La Coruña in 1589, the convento del Santa Clara in Santiago de Compostela in 1590, the convento del Santa María la Real de las Duenas in Zamora in 1590, the convento del Nuestra Señora Bienventurada de Atocha in Madrid in 1592, and the convento de Nossa Senhora do Bom Sucesso in Lisbon in 1639. All of these convents were Dominican apart from the two in Santiago de Compostela and Esterri d’Àneu which followed the order of Saint Clare. All had an educational mission. In addition to this group, there were a number of other convents across the peninsula which Irish women joined throughout the two centuries under examination, where they were in a minority compared to the numbers of professed Spanish sisters. Irish women professed at the convento Dominiques de L’Ensenyança de la Immaculada Concepcio in Tarragona, and the convento de Santa Clara in Tarragona, helping to provide and garner funding for educational and medical missions, and also building financial and political networks. A number of Irish sisters also professed at the convento de San Salvador de Almonacid de Zorita de la Orden de Calatrava in Madrid, and the convento del Concepcíon Reales de la Orden de Calatrava in Madrid, from where they worked as spies for the Spanish crown. There is also ←1 | 2→evidence that a number of Irish nuns moved between convents, and even orders during their lives in Spain. All of these convents were supported by direct sponsorship by Irish and Spanish funders, and also by successive monarchs. These Irish women religious made it clear that their settlement in Spain was of a permanent nature, and this facet undoubtedly contributed to their acceptance and success.