Bray is a coastal town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated about 20 km (12 mi) south of Dublin city centre on the east coast. It has a population of 33,512 making it the tenth largest urban area within Ireland. Bray is home to Ardmore Studios, and some light industry is located in the town, with some business and retail parks on its southern periphery. Commuter links between Bray and Dublin are provided by rail, Dublin Bus and the M11 and M50 motorways. Parts of the town's northern outskirts are in County Dublin. The town is in a townland and civil parish of the same name.
The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609. The congregation takes its name from the Marian shrine at Loreto in Italy where Ward used to pray. Ward was declared Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 December 2009. The Loreto Sisters use the initials I.B.V.M. after their names.
Geraldine Valerie Whelan, known by the pen name O. R. Melling, is a writer of fantasy novels, mostly for children and young adults. Melling's novels focus on Irish and Celtic folklore. She writes reviews and film scripts as G. V. Whelan. She is sometimes published as Orla Melling.
Orla Brady is an Irish theatre, television, and film actress born in Dublin. She started her career as a touring theatre performer and began appearing regularly in television roles in the 1990s. She has been nominated for several awards from the Irish Film & Television Academy for her television work. Major or recurring TV roles continued in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with Brady appearing in over thirty series, limited series, or television movies up to the 2020s. This included her portrayal of two supporting characters in the CBS-Paramount+ series, Star Trek: Picard.
Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School is an all-girls Catholic secondary school in Hogg's Hollow neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Established by the Loretto Sisters in 1847, it is one of Toronto's oldest educational institutions and is part of the Toronto Catholic District School Board since 1987.
East Coast FM is an Irish local radio station broadcasting from Bray, County Wicklow under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
Frances Mary Teresa Ball, IBVM was an Irish Catholic religious sister who founded the Irish branch of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, better known as the Sisters of Loretto.
Órlagh Fallon, professionally known as Órla Fallon, is an Irish singer, songwriter and former member of the group Celtic Woman and the chamber choir Anúna.
Sister M. Cyril Mooney, IBVM was an India-based Irish nun, educationist, educational innovator and 2007 winner of the Padma Shri Award, the Government of India's fourth-highest civilian honour. She received awards including recognition by UNESCO (1994) and the International Christian Stewardship Award in 2002 given by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Sisters of the Holy Faith is a Catholic religious congregation, originally for the care of Catholic orphans. It now works broadly in the areas of education and faith development. The congregation is part of the Vincentian family.
Teresa Ellen Dease was a Roman Catholic nun and the foundress of the Loreto Sisters (Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Canada and in North America. She arrived in Toronto in 1847 at the invitation of Bishop Michael Power.
Loreto Convent School is a girls' school in Delhi, India. Situated in Delhi Cantt, the school is an English medium school affiliated to CBSE boards of Delhi, and run by Loreto Educational Society, associated with Sisters of Loreto, a Roman Catholic dominion founded in 1609. It was first established in January 1964 at 28, Mall Road, with Mother Francis Clare as the Founder Principal, it later shifted to its present location in July 1966.
Carmel Humphries MRIA was an Irish zoologist, specialist in fresh water Chironomidae. She was the first female professor of zoology and head of department in Ireland, and devised a technique for the identification of chironomid flies that is still employed today.
Sr. Dr. Maura Lynch was an Irish doctor, a nun, and proponent of women's health.
Sister Mary Gertrude Joyce was an Irish Sisters of Mercy nun and musician.
Mother Mary Eucharia Ryan was an Irish Loreto sister and pioneer of women's higher education.
Alicia Vacas Moro is a Spanish-born nurse and a leader of the Comboni Missionary Sisters in the Middle East and Asia. She served as a nurse in Egypt and in Bethany in the West Bank. During the pandemic she returned to help in Italy. She was awarded the International Women of Courage Award in 2021 on the recommendation of the Holy See for her work.
Barbara Bell, was a Catholic educationalist and later a religious sister who made a significant contribution to teacher training in Australia.
Mother Michael Corcoran was an Irish nun and the longest serving Superior General of the Loreto Order. She is recognised as a pioneer of female education in Ireland.
