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, which historically was called Noodle’s 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.

She 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 to be a third-grade teacher at St. Michael School in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1954, and one of her best memories is of Sister Elizabeth O’Connor, who took her under her wings and became her mentor. “She gave me a love for teaching. Sister Elizabeth is still very much alive and well and faithful at more than 100 years of age.”

Her ministry has involved education—teaching and administration—in four Dioceses (Manchester, Springfield, Fall River and Boston), teaching chemistry and mathematics. She has experience on all levels—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.”

“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. There were several opportunities available at the time, and one was working at the “Lake” in Worcester, which was the Sisters’ retirement/nursing Home at the time.

For the next 20 summers, she worked at “The Lake” caring for our Sisters. “These were very special summers,” she recalls. “It was a way of paying back/being grateful for the Sisters’ sacrifice that provided so much for me.”

Updated in 2025