Sister Orla Treacy IBVM from Holy Redeemer Parish was recognised for her significant contribution to education, social justice and women’s rights across the world.
On 27 September 2025, in the historic College Chapel of Saint Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth, the Chancellor, Archbishop Eamon Martin, conferred an honorary Doctorate in Theology on Sister Orla Treacy IBVM (pictured) in recognition of her significant contribution to education, social justice and women’s rights across the world. Moved by the plight of girls and young women who are forced into early marriage, Sister Orla has dedicated her life to protecting human rights in a geo-political context of extreme danger.
Sister Orla was joined at her conferral ceremony by friends, family and members of her congregation: the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), also known as the Loreto Sisters. She was born in Carlow, spent time in Dundalk, Ennis and Cork, before moving to Bray, Co Wicklow, where her family remain. In 2006, she became a Sudan Relief Fund partner establishing a girls-only boarding school in Rumbek, South Sudan, for at-risk girls who would otherwise be denied an education.
During the ceremony Archbishop Martin said, “Sister Orla, we thank God for all that you, and your community are doing in South Sudan to bring faith, hope and love into our our world – a world that too often appears faithless, hopeless and ‘love-less.’ God is working through you. And you have generously answered God’s call to bring your many gifts to making a real difference – your gifts of leadership, courage, and perseverance; your positivity and joy. You carry the light and compassion of Christ to the peripheries.