It was pre-famine. times in Ireland, actually 1836, when Mother Catherine McAuley, Foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, agreed to a foundation in Charleville. Efforts to establish Presentation and Sisters of Charity Convents in the town had not materialised.
In the mid-nineteenth century Charleville had a relatively large population of extremely poor people living in hovels along laneways. A traveller at the time records seeing one such family dwelling with straw on the floor and only one iron cooking pot. The town was surrounded by high quality land in the ownership of well-off landowners, chiefly Lord Cork.
Mary Clanchy, daughter of John Clanchy, and member of a benevolent family, with Fr. Thomas Croke, P.P. were instrumental in inviting the Sisters of Mercy. Dr. Crotty, Bishop of Cloyne, made the formal request. Although hard pressed for Sisters, the Tullamore foundation already made, and the ministry demands in Baggot Street, Catherine set out with Mother Angela Dunne and two novices – Sr. M. Joseph Delaney, who returned to Baggot Street in 1839, and Sr. M. Elizabeth Hynes, whose health deteriorated making it necessary for her to return to her family. They travelled by canal packet to Tullamore where they visited their dear Sisters. Fr. Croke was already there to meet them. They continued by canal packet to Limerick. It was a cold, uncomfortable journey. They spent a restful night in the Presentation Convent in Sexton Street. Next day they drove by coach to Charleville where they received a great welcome, arriving on 29 October 1836.
Mary Clanchy had given one of her houses at Clanchy Terrace and a contribution of £500. The house proved uncontrollably damp and Catherine feared for the health of the Sisters. However, they immediately commenced visitation of the people living in the laneways. They prayed the thirty days of prayer morning and evening, to help them discern the will of God and obtain the strength to do it. One day as Catherine and her companion walked along a laneway, a poor woman came to her half-door and called to them “It was God himself that drove ye in among us”. On hearing this Catherine was convinced the Sisters should remain in Charleville.
The Sisters visited the newly built National School on the Limerick road, where they gave religious instruction. Later they taught full-time in the school. For nearly four years the community numbered no more than three. Little wonder that Mother Angela Dunne tried to persuade Catherine to close the foundation.
Her reply was firm “are not the poor of Charleville as dear to God as elsewhere? And while one pound of Miss Clanchy’s five hundred lasts, ought we not to persevere and confide in his providence?”
In June 1838 Fr. Croke succeeded in getting a piece of land from Lord Cork, to build a convent. The foundation stone was laid on 24th September 1838 and Catherine and a companion were present as they were on their way to make the Limerick foundation. On the opening of the new convent in 1839, Catherine said of Charleville, “Hitherto it has been a sick branch, but it will be a strong one yet”. By the end of the 1840s there were nine Sisters in the community. In 1839 the nucleus of a girls secondary school began in a room of the convent. Thirty years later a field was bought above the cemetery and a new school was officially opened in April 1894. Down the years Sisters have ministered in visitation, primary school and secondary school, voluntary home nursing and public health nursing. In the 1980s the Catherine McAuley Nursing Home and a Day Care Centre were opened. All proving Catherine McAuley was a true prophetess for Charleville.
- In the Crimea 1854-1856
- Foundation to Bathurst 1866 in Australia 1866
- Foundation to Buttevant Feb. 1879
- Foundation to New Inn May 1879
- Working in Kilmallock Workhouse 1881
- Working in Midleton Workhouse 1892
Undertakings/ Foundations
Written by Sr. Mary Lyons
(Tribute from Charleville Chamber of Commerce. Community Awards, 2008)
“Since 1836 the Sisters have ministered in Charleville in Primary and Secondary education, in Health Care, visitation of the sick and the bereaved, older people in their homes and assisted people in need.
Over the years, Sisters have gone out from Charleville to nurse in the Crimea, to found a mission in Australia, to work in Kenya, British Colombia, England and Wales.
In more recent times they have pioneered Sheltered Housing, Day Care facilities, the first Nursing Home in the town and a Family Resource Centre, which provides crèche facilities and after school care with home work assistance. They have contributed to Liturgy in the Parish Church and assisted Prayer groups.
They have made a tremendous contribution to the temporal and spiritual welfare of the people of Charleville and its surrounding areas. We owe them a debt of gratitude, and so we acknowledge and honour their contribution by presenting the Sisters of Mercy with this award.”
Southern Province 