Musical Charts Life of Derry Nun Clare Crockett on Home Stage
A musical about Clare Crockett, a Derry nun whose cause for sainthood is under consideration, opened at St Columb's Hall in Londonderry on Friday. Her sister Shauna Gill said it was finally putting her name on the stage. A second show falls on what would have been her 44th birthday.
A musical that charts the life of Derry nun Clare Crockett, whose cause for sainthood is being considered by the Catholic Church, was performed in her home city for the first time when it opened at St Columb's Hall in Londonderry on Friday.
The show is called A Famous Nun: Clare Crockett - A Life Brought to the Stage. A second performance takes place on Saturday, November 14, on what would have been Sister Clare's 44th birthday.
A show written by her order
Members of the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, Sr Clare's religious order, wrote and composed the production. It was first performed last summer to a crowd of around 2,000 young people at a Marian Eucharistic event in Spain.
The Derry shows mark the first time it has been performed in English. The cast is made up of women aged between 15 and 21 who have come from across the island of Ireland. Ellen-Mary plays Sr Clare, and Lilly portrays her conscience.
Their performances explore Clare's journey from a rebellious teenager, lost in a life of constant partying, to discovering her faith. After Derry, the musical will be performed in the US.
Sr Rachel Maria helped bring the show to Derry. She knew Sr Clare in the years before her death and said the musical looks at Clare's life before she became a nun.
It also examines "how she encountered God and how she struggled to respond to her vocation", Sr Rachel said.
"I have lots of memories of her just joking around, being funny, bringing joy to everyone around her. She was great craic, as they say."
Sr Rachel said the order thought it would be a beautiful thing to bring the musical to Ireland, especially as this year marked the 10th anniversary of Sr Clare's death.
Who was Sr Clare Crockett?
Sr Clare was born in Derry in 1982 and grew up in the city's Brandywell area. As a teenager she dreamed of becoming an actress.
On a chance trip to Priego in central Spain in 2000, she attended a Catholic pilgrimage and later said she felt called by God. She entered the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother at 18 and went on to work with young people in Spain, the US and Ecuador.
In April 2016 she was killed when an earthquake caused the collapse of a school in Ecuador where she was teaching music. In 2025, the Catholic Church declared her a "Servant of God", the first formal stage in the process that can lead to sainthood.
Family and audience reaction
Her sister, Shauna Gill, told BBC Radio Foyle it was "amazing that they've brought it to the town". She said the cast were performing it "with such love".
Gill said her sister had at times wanted to be "rich and famous" but had also wanted to be a nun. Sr Clare would joke that maybe she could be a famous nun.
Among the audience were pupils Faye and Sophie from Scoil Mhuire Buncrana in County Donegal. Faye said she knew a bit about Sr Clare from religion classes at school, but "definitely learned so much more after seeing the show".
Gill said Sr Clare was finally "getting her name on the stage the way she always wanted".
"And sure that's her - not in the way we wanted but I'm sure she'd be very proud and happy," she said.
