Cork nun who founded Tabor Lodge hosts first art exhibition, aged 86

AN exhibition of attractive art work by a retired nun can be seen at Bishopstown Library in Wilton until September 28.

Proceeds from the sale of the work by Sr Margaret Kiely will go to Ukrainian refugees in Poland through the SMA (Society of African Missions.)

Sr Margaret worked with the SMA in Cork, co-ordinating its health services. Now, this 86-year-old energetic nun, who describes herself as a multi-tasker and “probably a workaholic”, is finally getting to express herself artistically after a long life of service. She only retired at 80 and is an advocate for working beyond the usual retirement age if possible. She says it’s good for the head.

Sr Margaret’s exhibition is of seascapes and landscapes of Cork and Kerry, including Skellig Michael. Coming from Millstreet, she says these counties “have the nicest scenery”. Her work includes depictions of puffins and sheep against dramatic backdrops. She only took up art when she retired six years ago.

“I was good at art in school but I never got the opportunity to carry it on. When I started doing art classes after I retired, I used acrylics then oils. Going to a class motivated me to keep going.

“The most recent class I went to was in the Crypt in Dennehy’s Cross church. Brother Albert is a very good teacher there. I find art relaxing. It’s great to be able to sit down and start painting something. 

I forget about everything else when I’m doing it.

Sr Margaret, who was instrumental in addiction treatment having set up Tabor Lodge, trained as a nurse and then joined the Mercy Sisters at 21.

She worked in the South Infirmary Hospital before training as a nurse tutor at University College Dublin. She taught for 14 years and was then asked by her order to set up a residential treatment centre for people struggling with addiction.

She spent a year in America, training in addiction counselling in Minnesota. Tabor Lodge opened in Ballindeasig, Co Cork, in 1989.

“I opened Tabor Lodge with no funding. There was no policy or procedure at the start. I just started off and trusted in God. It was very rewarding work. I enjoyed every minute of it.

“I had experience of addicts coming into hospital, drunk and disorderly, breaking furniture and things like that. Once people get sober and get off the drugs and start treatment, they’re lovely. They’re normal. They realise what alcohol did to them. They do the 12 step AA programme. I use it myself too. There’s lots of situations in life where I’m powerless and I just have to let go.”

Sr Margaret realised many of the younger people attending Tabor Lodge needed more care than could be provided during a month-long residential stay. In 1999, with the help of the Mercy Sisters again, she opened a women’s halfway house called Renewal in Shanakiel. Three years later, Fellowship House for men was set up in Togher.

Now, the Tabor Group has five houses.

“I’d never have done that if I was on my own and if I wasn’t in an order,” she has said. 

But then somebody puts you forward and says ‘we want you to do that’. You kind of trust in God then and say if it’s meant to be, it will be.

In 2002, Sr Margaret was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I’ve done well since. I had chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Losing my hair was the worst thing. Thank God I got the all-clear five years ago. As soon as I noticed the lump, I went about it. The cancer hadn’t travelled. I suppose having a positive attitude is important and to keep doing things, a hobby or a job. Gratitude is important too.”

Sr Margaret feels that she has been given another chance at life. In her nursing days, people with breast cancer often died. Now, the survival rate is high.

“It’s an amazing change. I was one of those lucky people.”

During the pandemic, Sr Margaret was extremely busy, sewing masks. She reckons she made thousands of them. People gave her donations of fabric, reels of thread, stamps and even a sewing machine. The sisters in her community began to help with cutting, ironing and distributing the masks.

Initially, they were given out free. It was then suggested that people donate to a charity. The Irish Motor Neurone Association was the recipient. As well as giving Sr Margaret a purpose, making the masks was not without an environmental benefit as they are washable and reusable.

Since retiring, Sr Margaret has volunteered as a tutor for Age Action, giving lessons to computer novices in Cork. She says that training older people in technology is best done on a one-to-one basis.

“If you’re dealing with a group of people, each person wants to learn a different thing. 

One person might have forgotten their password. Someone else wants to know how to use Rip.ie and then there’s the person who wants to learn how to do Face-time.

A group of tutors including Sr Margaret gave a course in computers to patients at Marymount Hospice.

“It was lovely to see the patients using iPads and tablets, communicating with people all the time.”

Not being au fait with technology can be very isolating for older people, says Sr Margaret. She has no regrets about not having children and enjoys the company of her 50 nieces and nephews and 24 grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

Sr Margaret lives in an apartment on the site of an old convent near Cork University Hospital, keeping herself busy, mixing with the other nuns there, and indulging in art.

It’s one more accomplishment to add to the list of this talented and resourceful nun.