The Pioneer Sisters
On Friday 12 October, 1888, nine Pioneer Sisters, accompanied by Cardinal Moran, set sail on the 'Cuzco' and arrived in Sydney on 29 November, 1888. By 5 December, 1888, four of the Sisters had set up residence in Parramatta. The other five joined them a week later. The first Mass was celebrated on
8 December, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
The Sisters wasted no time in embracing their mission of Mercy wholeheartedly.
Mother Mary Clare Dunphy (Catherine)
1849-1927
Catherine was 39 years old when she arrived in Australia. She was recognised as the sister … for whom no work was too hard.
Catherine, at the time of her selection as Superior of the new community was an experienced teacher and manager, having taught at the Callan School for 7 years, and been in charge of the Kilkenny Workhouse, a Government Nursing Home for the Aged, for 5 years.
Born to John and Ellen Dunphy in Rathdowney, Co. Laois on 1 September, 1849, Catherine was 24 years old when she entered the Sisters of Mercy, Athy, Co. Kildare. She moved to Callan as a novice and was professed on 8th September 1873 taking the name of Sr Mary Clare.
Before her death in 1927, Mother Mary Clare had held office twice as Superior and had opened many branch houses as well as two orphanages. The Catholic Press said of her:
‘One of the greatest gifts of God, given by Ireland to Australia’
Sr Mary Alacoque Kavanagh (Margaret) 1858-1914
Sr Mary Agnes Kavanagh (Kate) 1862-1946
Both Margaret and Kate were recognised for their love of service and generosity, and for their boundless kindness.
It is documented that Margaret (Sr Mary Alacoque) was the soul of generosity, putting aside her own needs in order to give of her best to the poor, and as a teacher loved by her students. Margaret was 30 years old on her arrival in Parramatta.
Margaret’s younger sister, Kate (Sr Mary Agnes) who had joined the Sisters of Mercy in 1878 at the age of 16, was 26 years old when she arrived in Australia. She, too, was noted for her practical love for the needy and was witnessed cloaking a thinly-clad little girl with a warm gown whilst whispering to herself: ‘I love doing this. It was my first work in Kilkenny Poor House’.
Both these warm-hearted women were the daughters of Patrick and Mary Kavanagh, born in the historic town of Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford - Margaret in 1858 and Kate in 1862.
An interesting note:
At the time of Margaret and Kate’s arrival in Sydney, three other family members were already residing here: Ellen became a Sister of Charity for some years, and Mary, who helped our Founding sisters set up residence in Parramatta, later entered the Gunnedah Sisters of Mercy. Elizabeth, the third sister, was employed as a lay teacher in St Peter’s Surry Hills in 1889.
Sr Mary Brigid Darby (Mary)
1855-1923
Mary was born in Athy, Co. Kildare in 1855 to her parents Henry and Brigid Darby. The background to her call to mission in Parramatta is quite extraordinary.
Mary had entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1880 at the age of 25 and was initially thought to lack the strength required … for the strenuous life chosen’
However, Mary (Sr Mary Brigid) at 33 was destined to be one of the chosen Foundation Stones and was noted as working tirelessly and uncomplainingly in the galvanised iron kitchen in their first Convent in Villiers Street, Parramatta.
Mary had to endure cooking during a record season of drought, heat and lack of water in the early years of the Foundation. Regardless of the many challenges and difficulties of each day, Mary was always able to see the humorous side of daily happenings, eliciting a smile from her companions.
Sr Mary Alphonsus Shelly (Bridget)
1857– 1917
Bridget was recognised for her many positive traits. Two of these which shone out were her positivity towards others and her ability to rise above everyday hurdles despite her … acute suffering endured at the break with her native land and all its associations.
Bridget (Sr Mary Alphonsus) was Mother Mary Clare’s assistant and was recognised as one who … acknowledged all that was meritorious in the work of others, and this, frequently, to the disparagement of her own.
Born in Callan, Co. Kilkenny in 1857 to Thomas and Ellen Shelly, a grand old family, Bridget entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1874 and was 30 years old when she volunteered to join the missionary group bound for Parramatta.
Sr Mary de Sales Shelly (Ellen)
1860-1940
Ellen, first cousin of Bridget (Sister Mary Alphonsus Shelly) was also a Callan woman. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1882.
Recognised as a talented musician, Ellen was also noted as a remarkably successful teacher and as having a very kind, quiet and unassuming disposition.
It is documented that it was not just her aptitude for her success in teaching which was remarkable, but that unswerving devotedness to the smallest precept of our Holy Rule and Customs.
At the age of 28, Ellen set out on her journey to Parramatta with her eight other Mercy companions
No original image available
Sr Mary Joseph O’Callaghan (Nora)
1862-1894
Nora (Sr Mary Joseph) was the youngest member of the Founding sisters. It is documented that she had entered specifically to be a missionary, and was in her first year of Profession when she enthusiastically volunteered to be one of the nine to start the new Foundation.
Born in Co. Cork in 1862 to Joseph and Mary O’Callaghan, at 24 Nora entered the Sisters of Mercy and was professed on 24 September, 1888.
Recognised as giving of her youthful energy and of living every moment to the fullest, Nora sadly died at the age of 32 years, after giving 100% to her missionary dream.
Sr Mary Columba Woodlock (Mary Anne)
1849-1926
Another Co. Cork woman, Mary Anne, was born in 1849 to David and Mary Woodlock.
Mary Anne (Sr Mary Columba) was nurse and companion to Mother Mary Clare, and was recognised as a skilled administrator and excellent finance manager.
It is noted that at the head of each page, Mary Columba would emblazon Trust in God and had the ability for balancing ‘the purse’ which always appeared to have sufficient funds so that … no one in St Brigid’s has ever been in want.
Having entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1875 at the age of 26, Mary Anne was close in age to Mother Mary Clare when she set out for Parramatta in 1888.
Sr Mary Teresa Wall (Teresa) 1856-1926
Teresa was noted as a skilled needleworker and designer.
She had spent some years as a teacher, and had also served the poor in the Workhouse before volunteering for the new Foundation at the age of 32 years. Born in Co. Kildare in 1856 to Henry and Margaret Wall, Teresa (Sr Mary Teresa), entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1876 and was professed in 1879.
It is documented that Teresa embraced her missionary life in Parramatta with great enthusiasm, being recognised as … a spirit daunted by nothing, whether privation, hardships or sacrifice. She toiled in the heat of summer … walking bush tracks … down gullies, up hills and along rough paths, to rescue some poor way-one