On the 8th December 1868, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Convent of Mercy, Kanturk was founded as a branch of Mallow Convent. Mother de Sales Butler was Rev. Mother in Mallow when the foundation was made in Kanturk. She sent her best and most gifted Sisters to this foundation. The six Sisters were: Mother Catherine Cheevers who was Sister-in-charge; Sr. Evangelist Creagh; Sr. Aloysius Keane; Sr. Baptist Bodkin; Sr. Francis O’Connell; Sr. Camillus Keane.
The request for this foundation was made by Archdeacon O’ Regan with the approval of Dr. Keane, Bishop of Cloyne. When the new Church of the Immaculate Conception was completed and dedicated on the 20 October 1867, Archdeacon O’Regan turned his attention to the erection of a convent beside the Church. It is a three storey building, the frontispiece of which is cut limestone, and which was taken from the old Church.
The convent, surrounded by 4 acres of land, was built on the lands of the Earl of Egmont. At first the property was rented under lease or agreement. In 1897 a Deed of conveyance was drawn up between the Earl of Egmont and seven Srs. of Mercy as Trustees. In consideration of the sum of £172 paid to the Earl the Sisters received in Trust the whole property in fee simple i.e. freehold, free from all rent. In 1868 when the Sisters arrived the walls surrounding the convent property were not built. It took 5 years to complete the work.
As Kanturk remained a Branch House of Mallow until 1916 Sisters were frequently changed from Mallow to Kanturk.
Schools
In 1867 when the Archdeacon O’Regan had built the new church he renovated and remodelled the old church. The Nave was divided into 2 large rooms by a glass partition. On the ground floor of one of the aisles was the infant room and first class was upstairs. On the ground floor of the other aisle was a cookery room and 2nd class was upstairs. In the early days part of this school was used as a ‘Pension School’ but later on, in the 1890s a separate school called the ‘Pension School ‘was built. It was in the ‘old Church’ the Sisters taught from 1868 until 1936. Before the arrival of the Sisters there was a small national school in the town. The ladies who were teaching in this school came to teach with the Sisters in the new school.
The Sisters came to Kanturk on the 8th Dec. and on the following Monday work in the new National School commenced. The Archdeacon O’Regan was in the school to welcome the Sisters and the pupils. The school was filled with the young of all classes of society not only from the town but from the farms and cottages of the neighbouring town lands.
In 1869 the school was incorporated in the National School Board. Inspectors were sent here to report on the school building, teachers and work done. The report was ‘very satisfactory’ so Capitation Grants were given. Restrictions were imposed on the display of religious emblems in the school. On one occasion they were ordered to remove a cross which was over the school gate (in cement) and threatened that the Capitation Grand would be withdrawn if they refused to do so. They refused but the Grant was not removed! After some time the restrictions were removed.
The Sisters were helped in the school by Monitresses who went on to become trained teachers. The nuns prepared senior pupils for the Preliminary and Junior Oxford examinations as well as the King’s Scholarship. Successful students in the Oxford examinations got called to an English Training College and got jobs in English Catholic schools. Music, drawing, painting were always taught to a high standard. The Board asked the Sisters to take charge of the young boys under the age of seven. In the late 1920s and during the 1930s emphasis was placed on the Irish language and Sisters did summer courses and spent terms in the Gaeltacht to qualify for the Bi-Lingual Certificate in Irish.
Secondary Education in Kanturk
About 1895 the secondary school was built by the Sisters. Soon after their arrival in Kanturk they saw the need for providing secondary education to the pupils who wished to avail of it. Fees were high in boarding school and most pupils could not afford to go to them. At first classes were held in one of the National School classrooms but as numbers grew it was necessary to build. The new building was called the ‘Pension School’. In 1930 the name was changed to the Secondary School. As well as the usual subjects, pupils were taught music, fancy needlework, French, drill and speech training. In 1930 the school was incorporated in the secondary school branch of education. In 1932 the first pupils did the Inter Cert. In 1936 two new classrooms were built at the back of the old rooms. In 1964 Science and cookery rooms were built. In the 1980s a new block was built in land owned by the Sisters.
Visitation
From their arrival in Kanturk the Sisters visited the sick and the poor in their homes. A kitchen called afterwards, ‘Mary’s Lodge’ was built to provide warm meals for the poor.
The Kanturk Workhouse
The Kanturk Workhouse was built in before or soon after 1840. In 1902 the Board of Guardians asked Bishop of Cloyne, Dr. Browne, if the nuns would be allowed work in the Workhouse Hospital. He consulted with the Mother Superior and the request was granted. A small convent was built for them detached from the main building. The Guardians agreed to pay £45 to the trained Superintendent Sister and £30 to another Sister Nurse. By 1905 everything was ready for them. The Sisters who were working in the Fermoy Hospital since 1889 were recalled to take up duty in Kanturk. On the 8th September 1905 they took up duty there. Sr. Patrick Wiseman was appointed Superintendent Nurse the others were: Sr. Camillus Farrell, Sr. Bernard Barry, Sr. Joseph Boyan, Sr. Felicitas Fox. In August 1920 during the War of Independence an English battalion took possession of the workhouse and the building had to be evacuated. In August 1922 during the Civil War the IRA set fire to the Workhouse. The Sisters saw that they could never return to the Hospital they loved. The present Hospital was built in 1932. As Kanturk convent had no young trained nurses the Hospital passed into the keeping of lay nurses.
Amalgamation
Kanturk remained a branch house of Mallow from 1868 to 1916 when all the convents of mercy in the diocese of Cloyne amalgamated.
In 1994 the Sisters of Mercy in all the diocese in Ireland amalgamated to form Mercy Ireland which was divided up into four provinces. Kanturk is now part of the Southern Province of the Sisters of Mercy.
Kanturk convent closed 2015 and the property was sold in 2016 to a Language School. One sister continues to live in Kanturk and work in the Parish.
From :The Contribution of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy to Education. Vol 11. Dr. Máire Ní Chearbhaill, Research Fellow. NUI Maynooth. July 2011
Southern Province 