In 1853 the Parish Priest of New Ross, Fr. James Walsh, invited Sisters from Wexford to make a foundation in the town. New Ross had also suffered in the aftermath of the 1798 Rebellion and again as a result of the famine. However financial assistance from a wealthy businessman by the name of Molloy enabled the Sisters to establish the foundation. This first convent was in Priory Street, but it was too small to accommodate a school. The primary work of the Sisters at that time consisted in visitation of the many sick of the area.
Then in 1856 a bigger house – the former home of a Mr. Tottenham who was the MP for New Ross – became available. The Sisters rented this house for the next one hundred and eleven years. There they opened a Benefit School for those who could pay and later a school for those unable to pay fees. Then in 1862, this latter school – the Poor School as it was called – became part of the recently established National School System of Education.
Until 1857 the convent in New Ross remained a branch house of the Wexford foundation. Then it became autonomous, with Aloysius Sinnott being appointed its first Superior. Another professed Sister, Francis Farrell along with two novices – Borgia Crolly and Stanislaus Cheasty were also assigned to the town. Both made their Profession on 25th November, 1857.
The Sisters still reside in New Ross today and are engaged in pastoral work
Southern Province 