The Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy is a Catholic women’s religious congregation founded by Catherine McAuley in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland.

Mercy Congregational Archives holds the Archives of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy.  The purpose of Mercy Congregational Archives is to identify, collect, preserve and make available records of enduring value created by or relating to the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy.

The structure and governance of the congregation has evolved over the years and this is reflected in its archives.

The original houses of the congregation were independent communities. In time, autonomous communities within dioceses began to amalgamate. By 1985, diocesan unions had replaced autonomously governed communities with new centralised forms of government in all 26 dioceses in Ireland.  On 14th July 1994, a single Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy came into being following the union of the 26 Mercy diocesan congregations in Ireland and the Sisters of Mercy of South Africa.

The Archive Collections
The Archive holds a range of collections. These include the archives of individual convents, and the archives of diocesan unions. These collections contain records relating to the administration of convent communities and diocesan unions, and records relating to Mercy ministries and individual Mercy Sisters.

Other holdings include the archives of industrial schools, orphanages and other institutions run by the Sisters of Mercy.

The archive includes a reference library on the history of the Sisters of Mercy.

Mercy Congregational Archives does not hold the archives of workhouses, county homes and public hospitals where Sisters of Mercy nursed.

To see some Snippets & Images from our Archives, please click here

Catherine McAuley Centre

Address and Contact Details

Mercy Congregational Archives
Catherine McAuley Centre
23 Herbert Street
Dublin D02 HD68

Telephone: 01 6387521
E-mail info@mercyarchives.ie

Enquiries
Enquiries can be made by email, post or phone.

No charge applies for enquiries.

Visiting Mercy Congregational Archives

Mercy Congregational Archives is a private archive.
Researchers are welcome, by prior appointment only.
Access to some records may be restricted by the Data Protection Act 2018.
For further information and to arrange an appointment contact the archivist by email, post or telephone.

Opening Hours
9.30am – 12.30pm, 1.30pm- 4.00pm – by appointment

Facilities:
Reading room, photocopying, phone enquiry, postal enquiry, e-mail enquiry.

The building is wheel chair accessible