As Sisters of Mercy, we have a more than rich legacy that never fails to inspire. One element of appreciation for those now part of the Communion of Saints is to tell the story. Another is to continue the mission in ways that are appropriate to the current life we are living in the now. A third aspect of appreciation is to find a new way to give life to what might have been thought to have been consigned to history.
The former, historic Convent of Mercy in the South Galway town of Gort is a place where the third of these options is taking life. This is because this building has been selected for a substantial grant that will allow a whole new development to take root. The Connaught Tribune has followed the story and the desired outcome. Denise McNamara wrote in May, ’24 of a dream for, “a magnificent new lease of life as a multi-purpose remote working, innovation, cultural, and community hub at the heart of the South Galway town.” The paper went on to declare that “the generous grant has now, been confirmed by Minister for Social Protection, Rural and Community Development, Dara Calleary. He confirmed that the project has received funding under Category 2 of the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF).” As had been heralded, the funding will support the acquisition of the Sisters of Mercy three-storey, 1,400 sqm building site and the development of a detailed project to adapt the historic location, where the Sisters of Mercy had a vibrant presence.
Mercy Mission
The convent officially closed on August 18, 2021, concluding over 164 years of ministry by the Sisters of Mercy in Gort. The convent had opened in the post famine era, when abject poverty was the norm and emigration the only solution for many. The mission continued when the building was used temporarily to house Ukrainian refugees initially after the remaining Sisters moved to their new homes.
Telling the Story:
Sister Mary de Lourdes Fahy, one of the Gort Sisters, is a leading historian. Her book, Near Quiet Waters, was published in 2007 and gives an authoritative account of the first Sisters, who came to the town, still badly affected by the Great Famine, on Nov. 5, 1857. The nuns are rightly proud of their Foundress, Mother Aloysius Doyle, who had, prior to leading a handful of Sisters to set up the convent in Gort, worked with Florence Nightingale in military hospitals in the battle-fields during the Crimean War (1854 – 1856). On her return to Carlow, Mother Aloysius was asked to lead a group of Sisters to Gort, where the bravery of the foundress found other causalities of a new battlefield.
De Lourdes Fahy recounts one of the practical ways these early Sisters used to address the dreadful situation they faced, “The industrial or technical department in their Gort school was the source of local economic benefits. Working on a co-operative basis with local households, this became an industry producing an astonishing range of clothing, household products and vestments… In 1891, they had 8 looms for weaving yarn there. First class quality products made from the yarn… the finished work was sold in Ireland, Great Britain and South Africa.” She goes on to tell that, “Queen Victoria’s daughter, the Empress Fredericka, asked for Gort designs to be sent to her.”
De Lourdes goes on in her beautifully written book that, “In 1871, they founded Ennistymon Convent and took charge of the Workhouse Hospital. In 1878, they established a house in Kinvara. At Gort, their school had concentrated on arts and crafts, but at Kinvara it was poultry.” In the twentieth century, schools in Gort provided top class education for the youth of the area. 1961 saw a new generation of Sisters answering another international call, by founding a house and successful school in Titusville, Florida, USA. [to learn more of the illustrious career of de Lourdes, see Stories from the Mercy world
What we are to be in the future has not been revealed: 1 John, 3: 2
We have yet to see what might happen from this new lease of life in the former convent in Gort. But one thing we know is that it had a magnificent foundation from the dream of Catherine McAuley and the wise fidelity of the many Sisters of Mercy to that desire. Let us trust in providence, as Catherine did, and await whatever new wonders might be revealed.
