The Sisters of Mercy in the Crimea 1854 – 1856
(In the light of recent events in the Crimea it might be interesting to recall the important ministry of the Sisters of Mercy in the Crimean War 1854 – 1856).
The Crimean War broke out in 1854 between Russia and Turkey over access to the Christian shrines in the Holy Land but the underlying dispute was Russian ambitions to establish a navy on the Black Sea. Britain and France saw this as a threat to their trade routes to India and the Far East. Therefore they supported Turkey in the dispute. The French had obtained the services of Sisters of Charity to the great benefit of the sick and wounded in the war. Following their example the British War Office requested Cardinal Manning of England to find Sisters to nurse the sick and wounded of the English army in military hospitals in the Crimea. Florence Nightingale and six Sisters of Mercy went from England in October 1854.
Eleven Sisters were chosen to go from Ireland : Srs. Joseph Croke and Clare Lalor from Charleville; Srs. Paula Rice and Aloysius Hurley from Cork; Srs. Agnes Whitty and Elizabeth Hersey from Dublin; Srs. Aloysius Doyle and Stanislaus Heyfron from Carlow; and Mother Francis Bridgeman, Srs. Joseph Lynch and Clare Keane from Kinsale.
They were accompanied by four Sisters from England: Sr. Bernard Dixon from Chelsea, London and Srs. Magdalen Alcock, Winifred Sprey and Elizabeth Butler from Liverpool. Mother Francis Bridgeman was appointed Superior of the group.
Panel on Crimean War in Sisters of Mercy Provincial Heritage Centre, Charleville, Co Cork, by Genemarie Began RSM (2005)
According to the Charleville Annals the war brought the Sisters of Mercy “to work in a new field of action, and to walk in untrodden paths”. There was great excitement in Charleville as the two Sisters set off for the Crimea. The Convent annalist recorded:
“Accompanied by Rev. Mother Teresa Hogan they left for Dublin on the 24th October. The event caused a great stir in the town and the Sisters going ‘to the war’ were accompanied to the train by a crowd of all sizes and classes”.
Dora Lynch rsm and Colman Deevy rsm at the Provincial Heritage Centre
Mary Lyons rsm at the Provincial Heritage Centre
They spent the end of October and all of November in Baggot Street, Dublin awaiting the order to travel to the Crimea. Finally, on the 2nd December, 1854, they travelled from England to France and on the 6th December they boarded the ‘Egyptus’ at Marseilles and sailed to Constantinople, arriving on the 17th December. For most of 1855 they nursed in the hospitals in Koulali and Scutari, on the Bosphorus, living in one section of the hospital. Sr. Clare Lalor fell ill and returned home after three months. She died two years later.
It was a very difficult mission both physically and psychologically. From the beginning they were given strict orders against proselytising and sometimes falsely accused of same. They were allowed tend to the spiritual needs of those of their own faith. There were many Irishmen among the soldiers, a large portion of the 41st Welsh were Irish; the East Middlesex Regiment and the Cambridgeshire Regiment were almost exclusively Irish; the Perthshire volunteers had many Irishmen who were from Tipperary. The Sisters of Mercy prayed with many of these soldiers.
The Irish Sisters moved to Balaclava in the Crimea early in October 1855. They lived in wooden huts on top of a hill, close to the harbour, overlooking the Black Sea. Conditions were appalling with shortages of food, water, medical supplies and severe overcrowding. Many soldiers suffered from frostbite, while rats infested the hospitals and living areas. Outbreaks of cholera and typhus claimed many lives including that of Sr. M. Winifred Sprey from the Convent of Mercy Liverpool who died on the 20th October, 1855 and Sr. M. Elizabeth Butler also from Liverpool (but originally from Ireland), who died on the 23rd February, 1856. Both Sisters were buried by the soldiers in Balaclava with great dignity and mourning.
The Treaty of Paris was signed on the 30th March 1856 bringing the war to an end. The Irish Sisters of Mercy left Balaclava on the 7th April, 1856. They were returning home. Sr. Joseph Croke survived the ordeal with her usual good humour and optimistic outlook. She recorded her feelings in her journal:
“Every heart beat light, going home! After such scenes! And going home alive! We looked at each other when we stepped on board and the look told much and each one read it correctly.”
Sr. Angela Bolster of St. Maries of the Isle, Cork published “The Sisters of Mercy in the Crimean War” (Mercier Press, 1964) – this is a history of the work done by the Sisters of Mercy who went out to nurse the sick and the wounded during the Crimean War.
All of the Sisters in the Crimea were encouraged to keep journals but only three journals survive – the journals of Mother Bridgeman, Kinsale, Sr. Aloysius Doyle, Carlow and Sr. Joseph Croke, Charleville. Maria Luddy edited and published these three journals in 2004 – “The Crimean Journals of the Sisters of Mercy 1854 – 1856” (Four Courts Press, 2004).
“The Crimean Journals of the Sisters of Mercy 1854 – 1856” (Four Courts Press, 2004) edited and published by Maria Luddy
These journals give us fascinating descriptions of the daily life and relationships experienced by the Sisters. We also get glimpses of their friendships with some of the English Lady Volunteer Nurses with whom they worked closely – Miss Mary Augusta Stanley and Miss Frances Taylor – both were so inspired by the dedication of the Sisters of Mercy that they converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism and Frances Taylor went on to establish the Congregation of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God in 1869.
Dora Lynch rsm and Mary Lyons rsm
Southern Province
