Continued
On 8th of December 1858 a school was opened in the western wing of the new Convent, called St. Annes. Junior pupils on the ground floor in a large room which later became the Sisters’ dining room, senior pupils upstairs in the same area. On the 19th March 1890 a new National School was built in the convent grounds called St. John’s National School. It was blessed by Dean Coffey. It was extended in 1928, 1958, and 1961 to accommodate the increasing number of children attending it. Since then the school has been enlarged and renovated. It is now a thriving Co-Educational School.
A Secondary top was established in 1925 in the national school. Secondary tops allowed pupils in the higher classes of the national schools to follow the secondary school curriculum. It operated until 1952. In 1952 St. John’s Secondary School was established as a registered Secondary School. In the following years several building programmes took place extending and adapting the original building. In 2001 St. John’s Secondary School, Balloonagh and St. Mary’s Secondary School Moyderwell amalgamated to form Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School which is built on a new green site . It is one of the biggest Co-Educational schools in the country.
In 1863, in addition to the many works which the Sisters had on hands a private school (called Pension Schools) was opened for children of the well to-do-class. In 1869, these children were transferred to a suitable house in Staughton Row – almost opposite the former Convent at Day Place and directly opposite the Dominican Church. It was called St. Angela’s and the children were known as Angelites. Later it was transferred to Mercy convent , Moyderwell.
Pembroke Alms House Industrial School/Nazareth Home
The orphans were transferred from Day Place to the Convent in October 1858 and remained there until 1866 when the Pembroke Alms House Industrial School was ready for occupation. It was built by William Pembroke, a nephew of John Mulchinock. Over the years many young people were cared for here until 1993 when it was closed and group homes were opened in other parts of the town. The building was later used as a nursing home called McAuley Home and Kerry Teenage Counselling Services had rooms there also. McAuley Home closed in 2011. ‘Console’ occupied part of the building for a few years after the closure of McAuley Home. In 2015 the building together with the convent became the property of the diocese of Kerry and were put up for sale. In 2021 the properties were bought by Baile Mhuire Day Care for Older People. Rooms are leased to the HSE.
Magdalen Asylum 1858- 1910
The women needing protection moved from the house in Strand Street to a new building called the Magdalen Asylum (asylum-refuge) on 24 October 1858. This building was also built by John Mulchinock. A small laundry and needlework room was established. A cemetery was consecrated beside the building. Five of the ladies are buried in the cemetery. In 1910 the numbers had declined and the building was closed.
St. John’s Laundry 1918-1976
The Dean of Tralee was very anxious to establish a laundry to give much needed employment to the town and the premises was opened again, called St. John’s Steam and Electric Laundry. It closed in 1976. The building has been renovated by Baile Mhuire Day Care Centre for Older People and is now a much needed facility in the town.
Branches: The story of Balloonagh convent cannot be confined just to Tralee as from the 1870s on branches spread to other parts of Kerry and beyond.
In 1871 three volunteers joined the Mercy Sisters in Brisbane Australia and in the course of five years thirteen Sisters for the Brisabane mission were sent from St. John’s Balloonagh.
In 1871 also the Sisters from Tralee together with Sisters from Killarney were involved in the setting up of a convent in Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick.
In 1872 Moyderwell Convent, Tralee was founded from St. John’s, Balloonagh at the request of Dean Mawe who donated Dean McEnery’s house to them. New Convent foundation stone laid 19/03/1878. Today the long involvement in education continues in Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School and in the Moyderwell Primary School.
Nursing
The long involvement of the Mercy Sisters from Balloonagh in the field of nursing began officially in November 1874 when the Board of Guardians asked them to take charge of the Workhouse Hospital in Tralee. Up until then they visited the workhouse in a voluntary basis. The Workhouse system was abandoned 1922. In 1934 the Workhouse was renovated and replaced by the County Hospital. The Sisters of Mercy continued their work there as matrons, nurses and ancillary staff. It was called St. Catherine’s County Hospital. In 1978 a new hospital on a different site was built, called Kerry General Hospital. The first matron there was a Sister of Mercy and Sisters continued to work there for many years.
On the 8th May 1883 a request came for Sisters to nurse in the Fever Hospital in Listowel. The Sisters continued to work in Listowel Hospital complex down through the years as it developed from a Fever Hospital to a District Hospital together with a Geriatric ward.
Next it was Dingle’s turn…Once again the Board of Guardians of the Workhouse asked that the Sisters of Mercy would take charge of the Workhouse. Sisters came on the 16th May 1889 and remained on through changes from Workhouse to St. Elizabeth’s, District Hospital down through the years.
In 1883 also the request came to open a school in Ballybunion, a house being offered to the Sisters on the cliffs overhanging Doon Bay by Mrs. Mary Young. The request was answered and on 6th August 1883 three Sisters took up residence there and without delay a school was started in the basement. Gradually over the years new schools were built and today St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Ballybunion is a thriving school. The convent closed in 1999. It was taken over by Respond Housing.
Cólaiste Íde, Dingle
In 1927 another unusual request came to the community in St. John’s Balloonagh when they were asked to set up a Preparatory College, established by the Department of Education on the Ventry Estate in Burnham, three miles from Dingle town. It was an all Irish speaking school. On 23rd February 1923 four Sisters went to establish the school called Coláiste Íde. When the Preparatory Colleges system was ended in 1961 the Sisters of Mercy in Balloonagh bought the College from the Department of Education and continued the tradition of an all Irish speaking school. The final phase for the Sisters of Mercy there came in 1996 when due to lack of personnel they had to withdraw from the school and Cáirde Coláiste Íde replaced them. The school is running very successfully.
In 1961 Sisters from St. John’s answered the request to staff a school in Sacramento in Carmichael, California, USA. On 12 September 1961 the new school opened its doors to the first students. By 1963 there were eight grades in the school and the community grew to nine in number. Over the years many Sisters came and went to Carmichael and witnessed many changes. Gradually the Sisters returned to Ireland and were not replaced but the school continues and the work goes on.
In 1973 Diocesan amalgamation took place and the three independent units of Killarney, Tralee and Castletownbere, united as Kerry Mercy Union. This opened up more opportunities and the Sisters in Balloonagh cooperated in such ventures as working with emigrants in Wembley England in 1979; setting up a school in Kipkelion, Kenya, Africa in 1983; and working in Peru as part of the Cork and Ross mission.
The wind of change came again in 1994 when all of the Sisters of Mercy in Ireland together with South Africa joined to form Mercy Ireland. We, in Balloonagh, are now part of the Southern Province which is a union of the six former dioceses of Cork & Ross, Ferns, Ossory, Cloyne, Waterford & Lismore and Kerry.
Closure of Convent 2015
In the late 1990s as vocations to the religious life decline and Sisters advanced in age it became evident that Balloonagh convent would have to close some day. That day came in 2015. During the summer Sisters began to move into alternative accommodation in the town.
On 25 November 2015 the keys of the convent were given to Bishop Ray Browne, Bishop of Kerry. The handing over took place, appropriately, in the Convent of Mercy, Holy Cross, Killarney their founding house,
The Convent together with McAuley Home was handed back to the diocese of Kerry in November 2015 in accordance with a clause in the original lease in the 1850s. The property was put up for sale by the Diocese. Finally, in October 2021 the property was sold to Baile Mhuire Day Care Centre for Older People for €800,000 .
Addendum 2021 :See Radio Kerry notice on sale of Balloonagh convent October 2021 to Baile Muire.
18 October 2021 Radio Kerry: The former Balloonagh Convent in Tralee has been bought by a nearby day care centre. Baile Mhuire Day Care Centre for older persons has announced that it’s purchased a seven-acre site which includes the former convent, the McAuley Home and the freehold on its existing site in the town. The site, which was bought for €800,000, was owned by the St Brendan’s Trust under the management of the Bishop of Kerry. The purchase was partly financed by a loan from Clann Credo Community Loan Finance, which provide loans to community organisations, charities and social enterprises. Chairman of Baile Mhuire, Paddy Garvey, says it’s an ideal opportunity to expand the range of services it offers to older people.
Southern Province 