Sr. de Ricci Hourigan was born in Lattin, Co. Tipperary in 1917. She had six sisters, four of whom chose the path of Religious life. She trained as a Secondary Teacher and taught in Kerry and Donegal before coming to Presentation Secondary School, Ballingarry in 1951. After teaching for one year in Ballingarry she decided to enter the Presentation Order and did her Noviciate years in Thurles. This must have been a difficult time for her as she found herself living with seventeen and eighteen year old novices when she was twice their age, she never complained. She returned to Ballingarry Secondary School in September 1954 to teach Irish, English, History and Latin until her retirement in June 1982. Her pupils had a great love for her, they respected her for her wisdom, knowledge and common sense. She wanted her students to do well, they knew it and responded to her. The presence of so many of her past pupils at her funeral, many of whom she had taught thirty five years previously was a sign of the affection they had for her. She was a woman of great intelligence, one you could always depend on for sound advice. She loved people and never lost the common touch. She retained close links with her home farming community and this helped her to relate well with the people around Ballingarry.
As a staff member in the school, she was always willing to help in every way and when the Sisters had to go out to the local community to raise money to build a new school in 1978 and 1979 she led by example. She always remained grateful to the local people for their generous support of the work of the nuns during those years. She was an expert at working out crossword puzzles, no doubt ably assisted by her great command of the English language. She was in charge of the Boarding School for several years and was responsible for many improvements in the conditions of the boarders. In retirement she started a school tuck-shop, stocked with goodies the students liked.
In an interview carried out in 1996 by Mary Brennan she was asked what she disliked about teaching, her reply – “the only thing I disliked about teaching was the onus on the Teacher to make sure that the pupils were doing their work and not wasting the precious years of teenage life. I never found teaching a chore, I taught Irish, English, History and Latin, I loved those subjects and I still do”. When asked about the changes in student behaviour over the years she replied; “students have changed with the changing times, so the students of today are the product of their day, as the students of 30 – 40 years ago were products of their time, so no comparisons”.