Mary angela shea biography of martin

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School: St. Alphonsus (San Leandro, CA)
Memory: I attended ‘St.Al’s’ from 1960 until 1968, and I must start this by complimenting every single Sister that I ever knew while I was in school. As an adult looking back, I know now that they were all kind and gentle souls, tasked with an enormous job, and no doubt were confronted with great challenges.

In my school, there were always 50 kids to a class with one Sister trying her best to teach and manage the ‘crowd.’ By the time I got into seventh grade, there was a gender disparity in my class – 35 girls and 15 boys. I can only imagine the handful Sister Mary Brian had to deal with.

In an age where Sisters at Catholic schools had a reputation for arbitrary application of corporal punishment with rulers and pointers, I can tell you: There was none of that in my school. Not once, in eight years of going to class every day did I ever witness a Sister, or any lay teacher, apply that kind of ‘discipline.’ Not ever. That is a testament to the kind of wonderful people the Sisters were, and the philosophy and approach my school took towards teaching and managing the kids.

From Day One ( I was crying ) of going to St. Alphonsus, my interactions with the Sisters was positive (well, mostly). Sister Anne Gillette was my first grade teacher. I don’t have too many specific memories of that year, but I certainly have no bad ones. Second Grade brought First Communion, a really nice black St. Joseph Missal, and Sister (M.) Paul Joseph, with wonderful memories of an especially kind and gentle teacher, one whom my mother especially liked.

Third and fifth grade were lay teachers, Mrs. Rizzi and Mrs. Watters respectively. (Mrs. Rizzi was tough; Mrs. Watters was getting pretty old…) and the sixth grade was taught by a universal favorite, Sister Joseph Ann. Sr. Joseph Ann had a real gif

Mary McAleese served as president of Ireland from 1997 to 2011, the second female president of that country. She succeeded Mary Robinson, making her the world's first woman to succeed another as president.

McAleese was born on June 27, 1951, in Belfast and is the first president to come from Northern Ireland. The eldest of nine children, McAleese grew up in Northern Ireland through the violent times that have come to be known as The Troubles. She graduated in law from the Queen's University of Belfast in 1973 and was called to the Northern Ireland Bar in 1974. In 1975, she was appointed Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College Dublin, and in 1987, she returned to her alma mater, Queen's University, to become the director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. In 1994, she became the first female pro-vice chancellor of the Queen's University of Belfast.

McAleese is an experienced broadcaster, having worked as a current affairs journalist and presenter in radio and television with Radio Telefís Éireann. She has a longstanding interest in many issues concerned with justice, equality, social inclusion, anti-sectarianism and reconciliation.

Prior to being elected as president, McAleese worked as a director of Channel 4 Television, the director of Northern Ireland Electricity, and as a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Trade and Investment in Ireland and its follow-up Pittsburg conference in 1996. She also served as a member of the Catholic Church delegation in 1996 to the North Commission on Contentious Parades and as a member of the Catholic Church Episcopal Delegation to the New Ireland Forum in 1984. McAleese was also a founding member of the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas.

In 2014, McAleese was appointed Distinguished Professor in Irish Studies at St Mary's University.

Sources:

Marsh, M. (2001, February 15). “Mary McAleese” Britannica. Retrieved December 5, 2022. https:/

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