Abbreviations for Women Religious in Ireland

In this blog I will discuss the abbreviations used for Women Religious from Ireland. In 1801 there were six religious orders for women operating in Ireland. Immigrant sisters in your family are key individuals. They left a paper trail which at some point, the hope is, will tell you where the entire family was from in Ireland. Remember, these were trained and educated women sent out with a purpose to service.

If you see an immigrant obituary for the Women Religious in the family, or one perhaps mentioning her, then there will probably be initials after her name. The initials are abbreviations to which order she belonged. This is the key to you identifying where the entire family was from.

Below you will find a list of these religious orders for women who trained in Ireland. I’m drawing my source material from the excellent article by Kyle J. Betit “Priests, Nuns and Brothers in Ireland “ The Irish At Home and Abroad 5, #2 (1998): 70-76. Although dated, I would still recommend getting a copy of the entire article for the full context and sources. He takes his study of religious orders in Ireland prior to 1920 as follows:

CHF: Holy Faith Sisters

CSB: Congregation of St. Brigid (Brigidine Sisters)

DC: Daughters (Sisters) of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul

IBVM: Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto Sisters)

OCD: Order of Discalced Carmelite Nuns

OP: Nuns of the Order of Preachers (Dominican Sisters)

OSB: Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict (Benedictine Nuns)

OSU: Order of St. Ursuline (Ursuline Nuns)

PBVM: Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Presentation Sisters)

PCC or OSC: Poor Clares

RSC: Religious Sisters of Charity (Irish Sisters of Charity)

RSM: Religious Sisters of Mercy

RGS or CGS: Good Shepherd Sisters

Once you have identified the religious order, then search the Internet for a website if they are still operating in Ireland. Otherwise, contact the Central Catholic Library in Dublin: www.catholiclibrary.ie