The documentary Mary Ward: Dangerous Visionary was made by TV production company New Decade. It focuses on two projects where Mary Ward’s Sisters are working today, 400 years after she founded her first Institute in 1609. The first of these projects was filmed at Loreto Rumbek, a pioneering secondary school for girls in South Sudan. The second project filmed for the documentary was Sr Christine Leyser’s work with the homeless and mentally ill in Guelph, Canada.
The following is the cast list for the historical recreations of episodes in Mary Ward’s life.
| Narrator | Hugh Barford |
| Mary Ward | Sinéad Murphy |
| Young Mary Ward | Cianna Walsh |
| Marmaduke Ward | Keith Patrick Byrne |
| Priest | Fergus McCarthy |
| Mary Ward’s Aide | Ethel Keegan |
| Mary Ward’s Companions | Jenny Duffy |
| Rachel Duffy | |
| Marcia Heffernan | |
| Isabelle Veale | |
| Lydia Veale | |
| Art Direction & Costumes | Ciaran Doyle |
| Hair & Makeup | Gaynor Donnelly |
| Lighting Camera | Ciaran O’Connor |
| Ruairi O’Brien | |
| Seamus Callagy | |
| Research | Sr Jennie O’Connell IBVM |
| Sr Therese Larkin IBVM | |
| Sarah Mac Donald | |
| Sr Monika Glockann CJ | |
| Sr Christina Kenworthy-Browne CJ | |
| Additional Interviews Directed by | Gerry Nelson |
| Production Coordinator | Jen Dunbar |
| Online Assistant | Rebecca Moore |
| Post Production Sound | Killian Fitzgerald |
| Graphics | Miguel Macaya |
| Original Music | Kila |
| Marcus PB Mac Donald | |
| Archive Courtesy | Bar Convent Archive, York |
| Zentrum Maria Ward, Augsburg | |
| Cecilia Goodman CJ | |
| AKG Images, London |
Sudan
Mary Ward was concerned about equal educational opportunities for women, as there were few educational openings for them in the 17th century. She sought to offer education across all strata of society, including schools for the poor in Naples. She was convinced that women, on the basis of a thorough education, could make an important contribution to the Church and society. The legacy of this educational aspect of her work is summed up by the mission of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM) in the city of Rumbek in South Sudan. There, IBVM Sisters started and are teaching in the region’s first secondary school for girls, challenging women’s educational disadvantage, as well as cultural norms such as early and forced marriages and the dowry system.
Canada
“Most of our people don’t have families or extended families. They are people on the street or out of prison or mentally ill. Somehow the family connection gets disjointed. Where are they going to go?”
It was while Sr Christine Leyser, IBVM, was working in the Canadian prison system that she decided that Guelph, near Toronto needed a place free of drugs and alcohol, which offered friendship, support and low-cost nutritional food. The drop-in centre in Guelph was established in 1983, from which other projects sprang subsequently. These include the Dwelling Place – a supportive housing project (1984) and the Stepping Stone emergency shelter, the Nottingham Street workshop where furniture and televisions are repaired and a foot clinic and hair days are held, as well as the 24-unit housing complex on York Road for those suffering from mental illness and schizophrenia. According to Volunteer, Don Kerr: “I never knew this side of the tracks. It was quite an eye opener, especially the lack of help for the mentally ill who fall through the cracks.”
On 15 May 2009, Sr Christine was presented with the Order of Canada – the country’s highest honour – in recognition of her work and contribution towards building a better society for those on the margins.
York
Mary Ward’s story begins in and ends in Yorkshire. The documentary was filmed in some of the places associated with her, such as Osbaldwick where she was buried, and the Bar Convent York, which is still in the care of the CJ branch of Mary Ward’s Institute and is the oldest active convent in England. It was founded in 1686 by Frances Bedingfield, one of Mary Ward’s early companions.
1686 was a time of severe persecution for Catholics, and the Bar Convent endured its fair share. The Sisters concealed their identity. Frances Bedingfield suffered imprisonment and the convent narrowly escaped destruction by an angry mob. Education was provided for Catholic girls of all classes, rich and poor, and a beautiful hidden chapel was built in 1769. Mary Ward’s Sisters ran the school for 299 years, until it was handed on to the Diocese in 1985 as part of All Saints School. The historic core buildings are now devoted to various forms of heritage work, hospitality, and a pastoral centre. It was from the Bar Convent that the IBVM branch of Mary Ward’s Institute was founded in Dublin in 1821/22.
Filming Gallery
The filming gallery shows Ciaran O’Connor, director of Mary Ward: Dangerous Visionary, as he records footage in Sudan, Canada and films re-enactments of moments in Mary Ward’s life. The actress Sinead Murphy played the Yorkshire foundress of the IBVMs and CJs. Designer Ciaran Doyle provided the costumes for these.
“It is ingratitude if one thinks that everything is chance just because one is not aware that everything can come from the hand of God”
Mary Ward LR 234/5
