Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No: 482
D.O.B. 27.08.1923
First Profession: 06.05.1961
Died: 04.11.2008 Aged: 85 years

Bridget Hogan came from a large Tipperary farming family and was one of eight girls and five boys.  She was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Thurles, where she matriculated and took her leaving certificate.

She then went to technical school where she completed a secretarial course. Breda worked for the Tipperary County Council where she developed a lively interest in politics. She loved her home county and came from a strong nationalist tradition.  She had a full and happy social life and was a frequent visitor to race courses.

As a young woman, Breda was engaged to be married, but both she and her fiancé felt a call to religious life.  They visited Lourdes to help them discern their future and decided to break the engagement and follow their call.  Breda’s fiancé, Jim, went to the seminary and was eventually ordained as a priest. The stone from Breda’s engagement ring was inserted into his ordination chalice.  Breda was to wait for some time before following her own dream, as the parish priest advised her to first take care of her aging parents, which she dutifully did until their deaths.  Breda finally entered MMM in 1958.

Sr. Breda was professed in 1961 and for the next twenty-two years, with the exception of a three-year spell as secretary at the Apostolic delegation in London, was to spend her time in Ireland in various secretarial and administrative positions in Drogheda, Clonmel and Rosemount.  Finally in 1983 she had her first overseas assignment  to Kenya.  She was also to spend time in the USA and Uganda.  Everywhere she went she did her job efficiently and well, took an interest in the local culture, enjoyed new and varied experiences, and got to know as many people as possible.  She had a very lively mind and a wide range of interests.

Breda returned to Ireland in 1994, first to Kilmacow and then to Waterford. While at Waterford she became seriously ill and returned to Drogheda, where she had ‘nine glorious years’ after her health improved.  She did all the things she wanted to, reading avidly, going to plays and films, visiting the various monasteries of the Benedictines and Cistercians at every opportunity and becoming MMM’s unofficial representative at the funerals of the rich and famous!  Breda loved a good argument and kept herself up-to-date with current affairs. She was a good community person, with a heart of gold hidden under a sometimes gruff exterior, showing the gentle side of her nature by unobtrusively helping the more fragile Sisters, doing their washing, bringing their meals, etc.

Sr. Breda spent the last six months of her life in Áras Mhuire, gradually becoming more helpless but patiently bearing all without complaint.  She took great comfort from the visits of her many family and friends from Tipperary and from around the globe, enjoying their company even though she often did not have the strength to talk to them.  Breda died suddenly and peacefully on 4 November.  She gave a small gasp, looked radiant and was gone.