ABSTRACT
The nineteenth-century was a period of significant change in the spheres of Roman Catholicism and national education in Ireland. Presentation Order was the first of modern congregations of women religious to be established in Ireland, and over the course of the nineteenth-century secured its position within sphere of Irish Catholic education. The evolution, implementation and recording of various organizational routines and practices ensured consolidation of the Order as both a religious and an educational entity, enabling Sisters to underline the character of their congregation. The successful development of the institute demonstrates that Presentation Sisters were women religious dedicated to the mission of education, who opened schools that endured, grew and thrived across the nineteenth-century, continuing into the twentieth-century. Their success within the highly restricted and paternalistic environments of the Irish Catholic Church and National Education is testament to their skills as educational administrators and managers, in addition to their skills as negotiators, property developers, financial and business managers, and diplomats.
