Adrienne “Marie Adrienne” Curran

“Talk much to our Lord in peace and calm.”
-St. Julie Billiart

Sister Adrienne Curran, SNDdeN grew up in East Boston, historically known as Noodle Island. It was surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Chelsea Creek, which was a docking place for oil tankers. Her parents were first-generation Irish of Galway and Donegal heritage. She had an older brother, John/Jack, and a younger brother, James/Jim, and an older sister, Anne Marie. Music was definitely an important part of their lives, and they all had piano lessons.

Sister Adrienne belonged to St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish, where she was baptized, received First Holy Communion and was confirmed, and where she was educated by the Sisters of Mercy at St. Mary Star of the Sea Grammar School. She received her secondary education at Fitton Central High School, an all-girls’ high school in another parish in East Boston, where she was educated by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur on August 1, 1951, at Waltham, Massachusetts. “In answer to the question, ‘Why did I enter Notre Dame?’—especially when I had three relatives with the Sisters of Mercy—the answer is that I felt that Notre Dame asked for a greater sacrifice as well as an opportunity for foreign missionary work,” she recalls. “And I admired my teachers and recognized their desire to teach us.”

Her first mission was as a third-grade teacher at St. Michael School in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1954. Some of her best memories are of Sister Elizabeth O’Connor, SNDdeN, who took her under her wings, became her mentor and gave her “a love for teaching.”

Across four dioceses (Manchester, Springfield, Fall River and Boston), Sister Adrienne’s ministry has involved teaching chemistry and mathematics and serving in school leadership roles. She experienced children and young adults at every stage—primary, secondary and college. “I enjoyed every minute of teaching. I endorsed Aristotle’s thought that the fate of empires depended on the education of youth,” she says.

A lifelong learner, Sister Adrienne has pursued multiple opportunities to grow her knowledge and skills. She says, “I’m grateful for the education provided by Notre Dame, at Emmanuel College, Boston, graduate study at University of New Hampshire, and doctoral study at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.”

It was understood in the Province at the time that after completing bachelor’s and master’s degrees, each Sister would give some service to the Province during the summer months. For 20 summers, Sister Adrienne worked at “The Lake” in Worcester, caring for Sisters in their retirement years. “These were very special summers,” she recalls. “It was a way of paying back and being grateful for the Sisters’ sacrifice that provided so much for me.”

Updated in 2026