In Reply to: april 17, 1970 posted by Treki on April 17, 2008 at 14:44:14:

In April of 1970 in Castlebar, a small piece of history took place also, when seven teacher-nuns were given permission to leave their cloistered convent once a week, to learn home-making skills from their pupil’s mums.
They joined the C/bar Branch of the ICA to learn crafts such as crochet, rushwork, etc.
It may seem of little news now but for these nuns and those who followed, it was a huge deal as the winds of change ( Vatican II ) was slowly sweeping across religious orders & the clergy. They also got an opportunity to socialise with townspeople at whist card games, daytrips, etc and to participate in local matters.
Some of the nuns were Sisters Assumpta, Magdalen & Ignatius and in the ICA, Una Ainsworth was President and Mai Keaveney was Secretary.