Denis, her niece Ethna MacCarthy, and three consecutive generations of MacCarthy poets during her lifetime alone. Life's work Poetry MacCarthy began writing religious poetry as a young woman and is believed to have had her first work published in the first edition of the Irish Monthly, December 1873. The editor was Matthew Russell. Her association with the magazine continued until June 1895, where her work appeared under the publishing pseudonym S.M.S. She contributed to other Catholic journals, most notably the Rosary. Among MacCarthy's works, she is credited for editing 'Birthday Book of the Dead', containing a poetic extract that was from her father's 'ode on the death of a young Earl in Belfast', its prose written by Father Joeseph Farrell. She is also more widely credited for her published work 'Song's of Sion', which contains a brief sketch of her life and several memorial poems, two of which are written by her father. In all, the Irish Monthly published twenty of her poems between 1873 and 1895. After her death, they published a further two poems anonymously, one in 1898 and another in 1903. Nun and teacher After assisting in preparing a new foundation in Tyrawley House, 19 Eccles St., Dublin, with Mother Antonina Hanley (December 1882–January 1883), she returned to Sion Hill. In September 1886, she began teaching in the convent's new university department which prepared female students for RUI examinations, the first degree for women in Ireland considered to be on par with their male counterparts. Dominican nuns of Sion Hill, such as MacCarthy, were noted as having challenged accepted gender roles in Irish education, contributing to curriculum reform and encouraging girls to register for public examinations. Due to personal belief or cultural climate, it was not deemed appropriate by the Dominican nuns to campaign publicly for women's educational rights, but MacCarthy and her peers felt comfortable pushing for curriculum reform and acceptance of competitive examinations for girls. Among her earliest undergraduate students was Katherine Murphy (later Hogan), who took first place in Ireland in the BA examinations for 1890. MacCarthy was elected sub-prioress of Sion Hill in 1889 and 1892. In September 1893 she joined the new community at St Mary's, Merrion Square, Dublin, where she continued her teachings in the English department. She was later appointed sub-prioress of St Mary's community, August 1896. Death and legacy McCarthy's funeral was celebrated by clergymen and friends in the