A number of Loreto Sisters are involved in 3rd level education in Ireland.

Elizabeth Cotter, IBVM, is the Director of Canon Law Programmes in Milltown Institute of Theology where she teaches Higher Diploma and Masters students. As well as providing formation and education for clerics, Milltown is most noted for providing access to the sacred sciences (theology, philosophy, scripture and canon law) to lay persons. Elizabeth organises a summer school in Canon Law each year which is open to all who wish to participate. Although Elizabeth’s doctoral dissertation is in the area of religious law, because of the approach taken at Saint Paul’s University, Ottawa, where she studied, she teaches all areas of the Code of Canon Law. She has written a number of articles and recently published her doctoral dissertation: The General Chapter in a Religious Institute with Particular Reference to IBVM Loreto Branch. Elizabeth also acts as extern examiner to Heythrop College in London. For more information on Milltown Institute see: www.milltown-institute.ie

Elaine McDonald, IBVM, lectures in the School of Education in the Mater Dei Institute of Education. The Mater Dei Institute was established in 1966 as a third-level Catholic College of Education specialising in the academic and professional formation of Religious Educators and Teachers for post-primary schools in Ireland. The Institute is distinctive in its adoption of the concurrent model of teacher education. Elaine has particular responsibility for student teacher education: this includes the delivery of lectures concerning the role of the teacher and advising students as they prepare for life in the classroom. Elaine has a particular interest in the history of Loreto education and completed her doctoral dissertation in Mater Dei on this subject in 2009.

Louise O’Sullivan, IBVM, lectures in Music and in the Philosophy of World Religions, specifically Judaism, in Mater Dei Institute of Education. The college facilitates students who wish to combine Religious Education with an Arts subject. Before she joined the staff of MDI, Louise taught Religious Education and Music in secondary schools in Dublin, Fermoy and Letterkenny. In conjunction with her work in MDI, she is pursuing doctoral studies in NUI Maynooth on the topic of Music and the Shoah. Her interest in this area arose from a fascination with the arts, particularly music, as a vehicle in the search for meaning in the context of atrocity. You can find more information on Mater Dei at: www.materdei.ie 

Kathleen Fitzpatrick, IBVM, teaches “Religion in the Second Level School” to the second and third year BA and B.Th students in St Patrick’s College, the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. As many of the students plan to pursue a career in teaching on completion of their degrees, the lectures aim to cover the current Junior and Leaving Certificate programmes in Religious Education with accompanying teaching guidelines and methodology. Kathleen is also engaged in research for her studies which explore the links between Theology and Music.

Brigid McElroy, IBVM, began working with Muslim women in the Mosque in Clonskeagh, Dublin in 2003. Some of the women are illiterate; others require practical knowledge on how to access services so Brigid’s English lessons are much in demand!. One of Brigid’s chief aims is to enable the women to integrate more into Irish society. Her work brings her not only into touch with the language needs of these women but also provides the opportunity to befriend them in their various situations.