Papers of M. Teresa Ball IBVM, Superior General 

The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), more commonly known by its nickname ‘Loreto’, has its origins in a community of women religious established by Mary Ward in 1609. Unlike many other congregations of women religious, it was not a diocesan order but international, with a centralised system of governance in the (elected) Superior General and her (elected) General Council. Authority devolved at local (country) level to Provincial Superiors and Provincial Councils. Mother Teresa Ball (1794–1860) came from an upper-class Irish merchant family and received her education at a convent in York before returning to Dublin in 1808. Thirty-seven convents and schools were opened in Ireland under her leadership, and sisters were sent to India, Canada, England and Spain. The various archival collections within the Loreto Archives document the establishment of the Institute in Ireland in 1821, with convents, novitiate, and schools, and its international presence in India, Mauritius, Gibraltar, Canada, England, Spain, South Africa, Australia, USA, Eastern Africa, and Peru.