On 24th of September, 2024 we gathered to join Catherine O’Brien, Maureen Barry, Celestine Farrissey, Martina Holmes, Theresa McGuane, Bernadette Marie Knopek and Joan O’Sullivan for their farewell to the Convent in Charleville. It was a bittersweet occasion as the Sisters had been 188 years in parish.
Charleville Convent
Members of the Provincial Team and Sisters from the province who had lived or ministered in Charleville came to join in this celebration. Marcella O’Connell, Cluster Leader, welcomed us to a lovely lunch, during which we shared many memories of times past going back to the very beginning in 1836 when Catherine McAuley came to Charleville.
Lunch was followed by a Eucharistic celebration enhanced with music and singing. Canon Donal O’Mahony was the Chief Celebrant, assisted by Canon Sean Cotter and Fr. Pat Corkery. Sr Eileen O’Flynn gave a detailed account of the foundation, which was the third house founded by Catherine McAuley.
Mary Clanchy, a local woman who with Fr. Croke had invited the Sisters to Charleville, had given one of her houses at Clanchy Terrace and a contribution of £500. The house proved very damp and there were concerns 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 1840’s 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.
What started out as a ‘sickly branch’ in 1836 has left a rich and vibrant legacy in Charleville and beyond. Sisters went to the Crimean War in 1854 – 1856, to Bathurst, Australia 1866, Buttevant 1879, New Inn 1879, Kilmallock Workhouse 1881, Midleton Workhouse 1892.
Over the years many Sisters built up the story of mercy in Saint Joseph’s Infant School, Saint Anne’s Primary School, Saint Mary’s Secondary School, Saint Joseph’s Foundation. Sisters will be remembered for their generous hospitality in the convent. Sisters worked as public health nurses in the district and the surrounding areas. This led to the development of other services, Sheltered Housing, Day Care Centre, Creche and after school services and Garden Centre. Sisters are still involved in parish ministry, choirs, prayer groups, ecumenical groups. Today migrants are helped to integrate into the local community. The history of the Sisters is recorded in the Heritage Centre.
Sisters enjoyed meeting each other and sharing memories of times spent there as we browsed through old photos. Even though many years have passed since we (Colette and Brigid) lived in Charleville, we are grateful that we were companions on the Charleville Mercy journey. We remember the Sisters who worked with us in the schools and the convent and now gone to their eternal reward. They are all part of the Mercy story we celebrated.
We wish Catherine, Maureen, Celestine, Martina, Bernadette Maria, Theresa and Joan well in their new homes in Charleville, Mallow and Killarney. As this new chapter of our Mercy story in Charleville begins, we remember the words of our Foundress Catherine McAuley. ‘Put you whole confidence in God, He will never let you want.’ (Letter from Catherine McAuley to Sr. Angela Dunne 20th December, 1837).
God remains with us, though we let go of our cherished place.
God remains with us, though we sing new songs and worship in new ways.
God remains with us, though we serve in different ways and pursue different causes.
God remains with us, though we find new friends in our new places.
Srs. Colette O’Connell and Brigid O’Connell
Southern Province
