Convent of Mercy, Catherine Street
8th September 2024
A Day of Celebration and Thanksgiving might strike one as an odd way to mark the closure of a well-established Convent of Mercy, but this is what transpired on the 8th September, 2024 in Newry, Co Down. Twenty-five Sisters gathered to share stories and memories, participate in a beautiful ritual, receive icon mementos and share in a delicious meal.
There is much that could be said about Newry Mercy, but I will focus on three areas gleaned from a marvellous resource entitled, “The Walking Nuns – Sisters of Mercy in the Newry Area 1855 – 2005”.
Firstly, the Russell Sisters – Kate, Elizabeth and Sarah, from a well to do background and broad education each of them in turn were in charge of the keys of the family house in Dominic Street, where management skills were learned early!
Kate – Sr. Baptist at twenty five, founded the first Convent of Mercy in San Francisco 1848. When an epidemic of typhoid and pneumonia hit the city, her practical nursing saved the lives of many – the Makers of California – granted free public transport to all Religious because of Sr. Baptist’s selfless industry for the people of San Francisco.
Elizabeth (Aquin) and Sarah (Emmanuel) both joined the Sisters of Mercy Newry on 26th June, 1855. They taught, built and organised schools and set up a Sewing and Lace School to provide employment for girls and women between twelve and thirty. With a resourceful, determined, compassionate and skill based, can-do attitude, need was the creed of these remarkable Sisters.
Secondly, The Emmanuel Chapel opened in July 1904
As noted in the Walking Nuns, “the chapel is beautifully crafted, spacious yet compact, chaste in its adornment, warm in its embellishment and admirably functional.” And later, “A chapel is more than stone and marble, wood and glass. It is a sacred space, which enfolds the history of the soul.”
Memories of Receptions and Professions were much to the fore as Sisters who had gathered for the celebration spent time in the Emmanuel Chapel for the last time.
From the outset the Chapel was a resource for the wider community. The annals document First Communions and Confirmations for the special children from Rathfriland and Newry. Masses for wedding anniversaries, ecumenical gatherings, choirs from Our Lady’s School Newry. Many a vocation was sparked by time spent in the Emmanuel Chapel. These gatherings were usually followed by refreshments in the community room. Hospitality and generosity hallmarks of the Newry community.
During the closing ritual of Catherine Street each member of the Sisters of Mercy Newry received a framed picture of one of the stain glass windows of the Emmanuel Chapel as a memento of the occasion and her own association with Catherine Street.
Thirdly, Mercy Mission
Schools and Branch Houses were established in Newry, Warrenpoint, Rostrevor, Bessbrook and Lurgan. In 1961 Five Sisters set off to establish a new foundation in USA in Mobile Alabama.
The foundations chart the outreach of Mercy Mission to those who were marginalised in the society of the time. The Sisters brought determination, ingenuity and resourcefulness to the foundations and relied on local support from sympathetic benefactors, clergy and local people for fundraising bazaars.
The vision and passion of Catherine McAuley informed and sustained this incredible mission and ministry to the poor and marginalised. A tradition and conviction each was called and empowered to witness to today in these challenging times.
Mercy is always reconfiguring itself and here we are standing on the brink of yet a new departure as we look forward to the Enactment of Oneness in April 2025.
“In the Spirit on the Constitutions we choose again to live our Mercy Mission in every encounter.”
Adapted from a presentation given in Catherine Street on 8th September, 2024.
Sr. Mary De Largy
Northern Province
