Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No: 777
D.O.B. 15.11.1917
First Profession: 27.04.1970
Died: 06.11.1979 Aged: 61 years

Mary Josephine Meenan, née McDonagh, from Belfast, entered on 8 September 1967.

She was a widow with no family. She had not married until she was nearly forty and her husband, John, had died after only nine years of marriage.

After postulancy in Clonmel and novitiate formation, she undertook a correspondence course in Montessori and a Sisters’ theology course at Milltown Park, Dublin.

Sr. Joannes was assigned to Kenya in 1974 and spent four years there working as a Montessori teacher in Kakuma. It was said that all the children there spoke English with a strong Northern Irish accent! She returned to Ireland when she became ill. She died and is buried at Drogheda.

Sr. Joannes was a great admirer of Sr. Joannes King. It was in her honour that she assumed the name Joannes, although the custom of assuming a religious name at reception was no longer practised in MMM in 1967.

An amateur musician, she played the organ in Drogheda. One of the older entrants, she was always cheerful and willing to be of practical assistance to the other novices. She had a hearty laugh and was full of down-to-earth, practical common sense.