Walk the Heritage Trail
Your journey through our rich history begins here:
Follow the Sisters of Mercy Heritage Trail icon to guide your journey. These signposts are located at each significant landmark on the trail and provide fascinating insights into the Sisters' contributions to the community.
1 - Acknowledgement of Country and the First Nations
We respectfully remember the Burramattagal of the Darug nation, the traditional custodians of this land.
VISIT >
2 - The cradle of Catholicism in Australia
The bells of St Patrick’s Cathedral remind us that Parramatta has been called the Cradle of Catholicism in Australia. The first official celebration of Mass in Parramatta was on 22 May, 1803.
VISIT >
3 - The site of the first convent in Australia
The Sisters of Charity arrived in Sydney on 31 December, 1838 to work among the women of the Parramatta Female Factory. St Mary’s Convent was gifted to them by William Davis in 1840 to be their home.
VISIT >
4 - Pennant Street (Victoria Road) 1889
These bricks from the front wall of Saint Joseph’s Hospital for Consumptives built by the Sisters of Charity, 1888. To the right are St Mary’s Convent, 1840, and St Patrick’s Parish School, 1874. The school relocated to Ross Street at the beginning of 1926.
VISIT >
5 - St Joseph's Hospital for Consumptives
In July 1886 the Sisters of Charity returned to St Mary’s Convent Parramatta to open St Joseph’s Hospital for Consumptives as a branch of St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. This extension, accommodating about seventy patients, was opened in March 1889 and St Mary’s Convent then became solely the sisters’ residence.
VISIT >
6a - Our Lady of Mercy College (OLMC) Students
Students from OLMC pose before the newly completed West Wing of the Convent. The original St Joseph’s Hospital building is seen in the background before the additions of the East Wing in 1916 and the third story and colonnades in 1921.
VISIT >
6b - Centenary Procession 1931
To mark the centenary of the foundation of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin in 1831, the Sisters of the Parramatta Congregation celebrated with a large procession through the local streets.
VISIT >
6c - Sixty Years in Parramatta (1888 - 1948)
A Garden Party to Celebrate the Diamond Jubilee concludes with Benediction. Sisters and students form the choir singing beautiful Latin motets.
VISIT >
7 - Catherine McAuley
My name is Catherine. I was born in 1778 in Dublin, Ireland. I was born into a Catholic family and all I ever wanted was to serve the poor because that seemed to be what God was asking of me. I knew that God never calls any person without giving them the means and necessary help to carry them through all the difficulties of it, and such it has been with the work of the Sisters of Mercy.
VISIT >
8 - Honouring the Pioneer Religious
This chapel opened on December 12, 1938, and is dedicated to the memory of Mother Mary Clare Dunphy and the Pioneer Religious of Parramatta.
VISIT >
9 - The Narthex and Chapel
Even in early Christian times the Narthex was a gathering place - a space to take a breath, to leave outside busy-ness and to gather oneself, each of us remembering why we come into this holy place.
VISIT >
10 - Sayings of Catherine McAuley
Catherine was well known for her Irish wit, her sense of joy and her down-to-earth common sense. She was a great letter writer and we have over 300 of her letters which her Sisters treasured and which we can still read today.
