Jansson, Maria Patricia

Date of Birth: 19th May 1955

Place of Birth: Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh

Date Interviewed: 23rd October 2008

Summary: Maria Jansson’s father was a Swedish Lutheran widower when he married Maria’s mother. Maria was their first child, born in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. Her childhood was idyllic though she later found out that her father found Ireland to be unjust and oppressive. Maria enjoyed wonderful holidays in Sweden as a child – living in a wooden cottage, swimming in lakes, eating raw fish. When Maria was 8 years old her father was transferred to the ESB station in Cork and the family settled in Bishopstown. She didn’t like primary school very much and was constantly “mitching”. In secondary school she was thrown permanently out of religious class. When the school principal discovered her standing in the corridor she took her to her office and surprisingly suggested that perhaps Maria should study theology. She eventually qualified as a religious teacher herself and returned to teach in that same school. After some time in France and Israel she returned to Ireland to further her studies. After a scare over her health she decided to become a church minister and trained in Howth. She spent a year as a curate in Galway but was delighted to be offered a curacy with Rev. Norman Ruddock in Wexford. Maria is now the Church of Ireland rector for the parish and is proud to be Wexford’s first female priest. Wexford is now her home and she hopes to remain here indefinitely.