Reverend Mother Gertrude SheehyPrint Page

A white marble sculpture of St. Joseph commemorates the the Golden Jubilee of the first Mother General's Religious Profession. 

On Monday 22 October 1866 , the ship “The Empress” entered Port Jackson, bringing seven Sisters of Mercy from Charleville, County Cork , Ireland to establish the first Convent of Mercy in the Bathurst Diocese under the leadership of Mother Mary Ignatius Croke. They traveled from Sydney to Bathurst over the Blue Mountains by Cobb & Co Coach. They came at the invitation of the Right Reverend Dr Matthew Quinn, first Bishop of Bathurst.

In 1908, partly in response to developments in regard to teacher training, the other seven Convents founded from Bathurst were amalgamated under the leadership of one Superior General, Mother Mary Gertrude Sheehy. It was at this time, 8 December 1909, that the Congregation acquired the Bathurst property “Logan Brae” – renamed St Joseph’s Mount – as a central novitiate and teacher training facility.

Fifty years in religion! What a beautiful record of loving service and self-sacrifice. Fifty years, bearing the sweet yoke of the religious life ; fifty years devoted to teaching the young: and relieving the sufferings of the poor and the afflicted. Such a record has been accomplished by the Rev. Mother Gertrude Sheehy, superioress-general of the Sisters of Mercy of the Bathurst diocese, whose golden jubilee was celebrated yesterday. The event was made the occasion of an enthusiastic demonstration of affection and appreciation by the Sisters, the school children, Catholic parishioners, and citizens of Bathurst.

A lasting monument to the Rev. Mother's life's work will be a magnificent statue of St. Joseph, which will be mounted on a pedestal 16 feet high directly opposite the main entrance at St. Joseph's Mount. A lawn has been laid out and shrubs planted, and all the pathways converge to the base of the monument. The pedestal is a beautifully finished Tuscan column, and the statue, which is due to arrive shortly, will be most ornamental. At the ends of the walks nearest the convent are erected two archways, and when these are vine clad and " the damp hill-slopes have quickened into green, and the live green has kindled into flowers," the novices of the Sisters of Mercy will have ever before them a beautiful mememto of the golden jubilee of their venerable mother. 
National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW), 19 June 1913.

A beautiful statue of St. Joseph has been erected at St. Joseph's Mount, as a memento of the golden jubilee of Mother Mary Gertrude Sheehy, which was celebrated in June last (writes our correspondent). On last Sunday afternoon, in the presence of a very large gathering, this statue was unveiled and blessed by His Lordship Bishop Dunne. 
Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW), 4 December 1913.

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