Sister Enda Egan, RSM
Sisters of Mercy
“I wanted to be a teacher so that also attracted
me to the Mercy community,” Sister Enda said.
“During this time, my mother was in the hospital
with cancer and many of the sisters took me under
their wing and were very kind and caring.”
While in high school, a Jesuit priest, Father Louis
Stevenson, also served as a source of strength for
her and help lead her in her decision to becoming
a sister when he, “Continued to guide and direct
me.” In 1958, she entered the convent.
Soon after taking her orders, she was sent to the
United States. In 1961, Msgr. Mortimer Danaher
came to Navan looking for sisters to staff a school
at the San José Parish in Jacksonville, Fla. Sister
Enda was sent along with Sisters Therese Horan
and DeMontfort Tuite.
BRANDON DUNCAN
“[I was] told that I would be here for the rest of
my life,” she said.
In 1979, Sister Enda and Sister Therese moved
to Christ the King Parish School to further their
reach.
ister of Mercy Enda Egan is one of the
founding sisters who helped establish San José
Parish School in Jacksonville, and she remains
active in the diocese.
Born in Castletown-Geoghegan, County
Westmeath, Ireland in 1940, Sister Enda’s father
was a policeman, and her mother a teacher. She’s
one of six children – one of her sisters is now a
Sister of Mercy in Navan, County Meath, Ireland,
and one of her brothers is a priest. The idea of
becoming a sister was an early one for her, she
said.
She was in fifth grade when she initially thought
of the idea, but she wasn’t exposed to any women
religious until she went to high school.
When she saw the sisters teaching in the school,
it appealed to her strongly.
After Father Seamus O’Flynn was appointed
pastor at St. Anastasia in St. Augustine in 1991,
Sister Enda volunteered to help and continue
teaching there. By 1993, Sister Enda had two fulltime jobs, but she decided to take a career break
and became a pastoral associate until she retired
from that position in 2010. She’s now a chaplain
at St. Anastasia Catholic Church in St. Augustine.
“As a chaplain, I now spend my days visiting the
sick at Flagler Hospital and the Bailey Community
Hospice... visiting nursing homes where
parishioners are living and bringing Communion
to the sick,” she says. “The Lord has blessed
me with a good memory for names, and I love
being able to greet people [by] name. I remember
many of my former student’s names, and when
possible, I will return to Jacksonville for funerals.
People are shocked when I do remember them.”