London - Bermondsey
Foundation
19th November 1839 is the Foundation Day of the Convent of Mercy, Bermondsey. It was the first Convent to be built on a public highway in London since the Reformation and the first Convent of Mercy outside of Ireland. Our Foundress, Mother Catherine McAuley came herself to start the foundation. The need was for education of children and the visitation of the poor and the sick.
Previously, on the 4th April 1838 Elizabeth Agnew and Maria Taylor were received as Postulants in Cork for the Bermondsey Foundation. They were clothed in the Habit as Sisters of Mercy in July 1838. In August 1839 they were Professed and Catherine Mc Auley took them to visit previously founded Convents in Ireland before they returned with her to Bermondsey.
On 21st November 1839 Sister Clare Moore was appointed Superior and the Bishop gave Catherine McAuley £50 to procure furniture etc. for the new house.
On 12th December 1839 six postulants including the Lady Barbara Eyre received the Holy Habit and started their novitiate. Having seen the new foundation off to a good start Mother Catherine McAuley left Bermondsey for Baggot Street, Dublin on 13th January 1840 having appointed Sister Clare Agnew as Assistant Superior.
Rev. Peter Butler commenced building the School for poor girls. Twelve very small bedrooms were ready for use by Easter 1840. Sisters M. De Sales White and M. Xavier 0' Connell arrived on loan from Dublin with Father Peter Butler to help the young Community.
Early November 1840 saw the deaths of Sister M. Ursula O' Connor and Sister M. Scholastica Burroughs who both died of typhoid fever.
The Convent chapel was opened by Father Peter Butler on the 17th December 1840. A large case of valuable relics was given by Bishop Dr. Griffiths and fixed at the Gospel side of the altar.
The greatest challenge of all was the appeal for nurses for the soldiers in the Crimean War (1854). Five Sisters went out and three more followed in early 1856. Florence Nightingale wrote to Mother Clare Moore in 1856 "...What you have done for the work no one can ever say....My being above you was my misfortune, not my fault. My love and gratitude will be yours, dearest Reverend Mother wherever you go....l do not presume to give you any other tribute. The gratitude of the army is yours."
The Story of the House and its Sisters
Fr. Peter Butler formed a nucleus of wealthy ladies to work for the deprived poor and from them were drawn the future Sisters of Mercy. Foremost among them was the Lady Barbara Eyre, later to become Sister M. de Sales and who may be regarded as the co- foundress of this Convent.
This was the springtime of the Congregation, the `golden age,' and vocations were not slow in coming. However the early years were indeed very difficult and challenging. The convent was damp - there was no central heating - and the cellars were often flooded from the Thames. The food was poor and the work strenuous. Naturally the inevitable happened, Sisters became ill and died. This was not the only trial. Sister M. Clare Agnew, who had been appointed Superior after Mother Clare Moore had returned to Ireland, soon showed signs of a dangerous instability and eccentricity of character which sought to undermine the whole spirit of the Institute. The danger was averted with the return of Mother Clare Moore whom the Bishop appointed as Superior.
In 1845 the Community had the joy of opening a Convent in Chelsea.
Over the years the Bermondsey community provided Sisters for other foundations as well as developing their ministry to the poor dock workers and their families.
Education was of great importance at this time and Sisters were engaged in many educational enterprises. They also established other houses dependent on Bermondsey for their Sisters.
Bermondsey Community Ministry 2005
Today we are a community of eight Sisters. As the first foundation in England sharing, preserving and safe-guarding our rich heritage of letters and artefacts is an important part of our ministry. Hospitality, especially to Sisters of Mercy and Associates from around the world who pass through London and wish to visit the House started by our Foundress, Catherine McAuley and have an opportunity to visit the archives is an important and rewarding aspect of this work.
Underlying, surrounding and enriching this heritage ministry, the mercy work which brought us to Bermondsey in 1839 continues. Needs change over the years but prayer, outreach to the local church, parish and community including visitation of the sick, lonely and housebound continue as important facets of our ministry. School assemblies are given in primary and secondary schools. Two Sisters are actively involved in the Mercy Missions in Kenya and Peru.
Foundation
Our Foundress, Catherine Mc Auley, came with the founding Sisters to establish the first Convent of Mercy in England on the 19th November 1839 for the education of children and the visitation of the poor, sick and needy.
Convent of Mercy, Bermondsey
1839 Portrait of Mother Catherine Mc Auley
On the 21st. November 1839 Mother Clare Moore was appointed Superior and six postulants received the Holy Habit on 12th December 1839. In January 1840 Sister Clare Agnew was appointed Assistant.
Having seen the foundation off to a good start, Catherine left Bermondsey to return to Dublin on the 13th January 1840. Catherine Mc Auley died on 11th November 1841 having made a second English foundation in Birmingham.
Mother Clare Moore,
Superior of Bermondsey Mother Clare Moore's page from
our Profession Register
Reception Ceremony in
Bermondsey Church Annals of the Middle School
Crimea
One of the major events of those early years was the involvement of the Mother Clare Moore and her Sisters, with Florence Nightingale and her work in the Crimean War in 1854. Florence herself said in a letter to Clare Moore in 1856 –
“ . . . What you have done for the work no one can ever say . . . My being above you was my misfortune, not my fault. My love and gratitude will be yours, dearest Reverend Mother wherever you go . . . I do not presume to give you any other tribute. The gratitude of the army is yours.”
Mother Gonzaga Barrie, Sister Anastasia Kelly and Sister Stanislaus Jones
who served in the Crimea. Eight Bermondsey Sisters went to the Crimea.
The Sisters Today
Today we are a small, but thriving community of six Sisters, one of whom is working on the Peru mission and another continues to keep close links with our Kenyan Mission. We strive to continue the work begun by those dedicated women who have gone before us, over 170 years ago. Their works are translated to meet the needs of life in the 21st. Century.
Our Vision Statement
Inspired and animated by Catherine, and living a prayerful and reflective life, we strive to be a support and strength to those with whom we live, work and reach out to, in our local and global community. Mindful that we are caretakers of our Mercy House of Hospitality, Heritage and Archives, we endeavour to be a welcoming presence to all who visit.
It is our great joy and privilege to live and work in this Bermondsey Convent of Mercy, Archive and Heritage Centre, where we are in a unique position to offer hospitality to countless Sisters of Mercy parishioners, local schools and many other visitors.
Opening and Blessing of the new
Heritage Centre
