IDENTITY

Name

SOCIETY OF THE SACRED HEART,  IRELAND SCOTLAND PROVINCIAL ARCHIVES

Identifier

IE 2918

CONTACT

Address

Mount Anville House, Mount Anville Road, Dublin D14 KX80

Telephone

353 (0) 87 1017237

Email

Website

Head of repository

Emma Stewart, Provincial Archivist

DESCRIPTION

Institutional context

Records relating to the Irish Scottish Province of the Society of the Sacred Heart, and to the Society worldwide. Includes:

• Books of biography regarding key rscj (Religious of the Sacred Heart/Réligieuse du Sacré Coeur de Jésus)
• Writings of Superiors General and Provincial
  Papers relating to the administration of the Province, including Chapter documents
• Personal papers and correspondence of many deceased members of the Province (e.g. photographs, published works)
• Records of Society communities
• Records (e.g. registers, journals, photographs) of Sacred Heart Schools 
• Material relating to the overseas missionary work of the Province and the wider Society

Most of the material dates from the 19^th – 21^st centuries. Formats: paper, photographs, born-digital material (including video and cassette tapes, CDs, DVDs, electronic newsletters).

Institutional history

The Society of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic religious congregation founded in France in 1800 by St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, in response to the extreme violence of Revolutionary France. In such a broken society Sophie Barat hoped the Society of the Sacred Heart would make present the love of God revealed in the Heart of Christ and help the restoration of Christian life in France. Its major work was the education of young women of the rich and the poor classes. The Society of the Sacred Heart quickly expanded within Europe and beyond, and came to Ireland in 1842 and Scotland in 1895. Members use the suffix "RSCJ" which stands for Religieuses du Sacré-Cœur de Jésus, or Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Administrative structure

The Society of the Sacred Heart is divided worldwide, for administrative purposes, into a number of Provinces. The IRS Provincial Archives facilities the Society of the Sacred Heart in Ireland and Scotland.

Collecting policy

The main accessions come from rscj houses, especially those now closed, from Sacred Heart schools past and present, and from the papers of deceased rscj.

Buildings

The archives occupy three rooms in the basement of Mount Anville House, formerly the convent of the Society of the Sacred Heart at Mount Anville.

Archival and other holdings

Records relating to the administration of the Province. Records of deceased members of the Province, of rscj communities, of Province works, and material relating to Society of the Sacred Heart schools past and present.

Finding aids and publications

Hard copy descriptive lists can be consulted in the Provincial Archives Office.  In addition, The Irish Archives Resource (www.iar.ie) includes descriptions of Society of the Sacred Heart schools in Ireland and Scotland.

ACCESS

Opening times

Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. by appointment.

Conditions and requirements

The collections of the Society of the Sacred Heart comprise a private archive and access is at the discretion of the Archivist. Researchers are required to fill in a registration form at their first visit and to abide by all rules of the archive.

Disabled access

Yes

Transport

The Provincial Archives are located on the campus of Mount Anville School, Mount Anville Road, Dublin 14. For transport to Dublin city centre, the number 11 bus stop is a short distance from the school.

SERVICES

Research services

The Provincial Archives Office is open to bona fide researchers. Archive staff are unable to undertake detailed research on behalf of enquirers.

Reproduction services

No material may be reproduced without the written permission of the Provincial Archivist. Copyright restrictions apply. Photocopying is not available. Digital photography is not permitted.

Public facilities

Yes

CONTROL

Date of creation

8th October 2024