Maude O'Connell and 'the need of the mother'
Anne O’Brien
Abstract
movement and, in the late 1920s, founded the Grey Sisters, a religious congregation to assist over-burdened mothers. O’Connell’s exercise of leadership was shaped by the untimely death of her own mother, by her religious faith and by her seeming disregard of gender norms. She gained much support from May Bannon, one of the first entrants to her congregation, who remained her ‘constant companion’ until her death. The foundation of the Grey Sisters was a compassionate response to ‘the need of the mother’ but it also supported papal teaching on birth control. Like many women who exercised leadership in the church, O’Connell perpetuated that teaching while trying to mitigate its consequences.
Keywords
trade union, equal pay, motherhood, maternal mortality, social work, charity, family, religious sister, nun, Catholic, church
Full Text: PDF