In 2010, Tarrant was commissioned to design a piece in Listowel town square. He chose to celebrate Honora “Nano” Nagle, founder of the “Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary” in Ireland (also known as the Presentation Sisters), and a pioneer of Catholic education in Ireland. The name “Honora” given at baptism was soon replaced in the family circle by the affectionate diminutive “Nano”. Nano Nagle lived in a period within Irish history when the Irish were denied access economically, politically, socially, and educationally to the rights and means that would have raised them from poverty and oppression making her efforts at teaching the disenfranchised all the more important.
The profile of the nun stands at 8 feet and is cut from black granite. She stands outside the church, overlooking the square. The first Presentation Sisters Order arrived in Listowel in 1844, beginning a relationship with the town that was to last 163 years until the convent closed in 2007. The statue stands as a memorial to the order’s contribution to education and social care in the town.
Tarrant’s daughter, Ilo, was used as the model for the Nun’s silhouette.