Thanks, pastmagic.
I may well try the Sisters of Mercy later. At the moment, I am waiting to hear back from another possible relative. The mourners at the nun's funeral also included `Mrs. Kenny, Ranelagh, Dublin' who must be the Mrs Lucie Kenny née O'Dea who lived three doors away from my father and grandparents in Ranelagh at the time. This was part of a remarkable series of coincidences, as the Waldron/McNamara and O'Dea/Kenny families, although not related, have now crossed paths in Clare, Limerick and Dublin over no less than six generations. Until I found this newscutting, I was not aware of any relationship between these O'Deas and the O'Dearest O'Deas. I am hoping that Mrs Kenny's grandson will be able to confirm or refute the relationship.
Mrs Kenny's father was George O'Dea of Limerick:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Limerick/Glentworth__Limerick_No__5/George/1502930/http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Limerick/Limerick_South_Rural/Ballinacurra/625288/George was 44 b. Limerick in 1901 and 50 b. Limerick City in 1911.
Sr. Benignus was 41 b. Co. Limerick in 1901 and 51 b. Co. Limerick in 1911.
Michael was 47 b. Co. Limerick in 1901 and 58 b. Co. Limerick in 1911.
Under 'O' at
http://www.limerickcity.ie/Library/LocalStudies/ObituariesdeathnoticesinquestreportsfuneralreportsetcfromTheLimerickChronicle/Alphabeticallistingsofobituariesdeathnoticesetc/ is:
O'Dea Bridget 12/02/1921 Kilrush mother of George O'Dea, Limerick.
I know 'my' George's grandparents were from west Clare, but I'm not certain that this is the mother of the same George.
The oldest Bridget O'Dea in Kilrush was 58 in 1901 and 67 in 1911:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Clare/Kilrush_Urban/Henry_Street/1082188/http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Clare/Kilrush_Urban/Henry_Street/364115/If she's the mother of the three children born in Limerick, she has obviously knocked a fair few years off her age.
On the other hand, George's middle daughter Bridget (4 b. Limerick in 1901) was alive but not at home in 1911; and Bridget's household in Kilrush in 1911 included none of her own children, but did include a granddaughter Bridie (14 b. Co. Clare).
In 1911, Bridget was married 47 years, 6 children born alive, 3 still living.
Living with Bridget and her husband Michael in 1901 were two further children, Mary (26 b. Kilrush) and Stephen (25 b. Kilrush)
The IGI reveals the following births to Michael O'Dea and Bridget Brew:
Stephen 26 Dec 1874 Kilrush
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/igi/individual_record.asp?recid=100020062731Alice 21 Mar 1880 Kilrush
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/igi/individual_record.asp?recid=100407798505Stephen was alive in 1911, aged only 26, living with his father, wife and children in a second house on the same street as his mother:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Clare/Kilrush_Urban/Henry_Street/364133/Father and mother were both described as married, so this is hardly coincidence. Father said he was married only 41 years, with only 4 children born alive, 3 still living.
The span of years from Michael born no later than 1854 to Alice born in 1880 is just about plausible, but it's hard to credit both parents independently miscounting their number of living children, so it appears that we are dealing with two different families.
The Irish Civil Registration Indexes at familysearch.org don't have a death of Bridget O'Dea in Kilrush in 1921, although there are a couple in the following quarter in neighbouring districts.
There is another George son of Bridget in the 1911 census:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Clare/Creegh/Cloonenagh/360671/