Father Joseph Gerard O`Hara & Presentation Nuns Print Page 
The stained glass window commemorates Mosman Park priest Father Joseph Gerard O’Hara and three Presentation nuns who drowned in the Mandurah estuary or Peel Inlet in January 1959.
On the afternoon of January 28th 1959, the tragic deaths by drowning of one young Irish Catholic Priest and three Irish Presentation Sisters occurred in the Peel Inlet. The four who lost their lives were Father Joseph Gerard O’Hara (age 29), Mother Patricia Lynch (age 50), Mother Finbarr Tarrant (age 37) and Sister Joachim Delahunty (age 26).
The two survivors were Sister Acquinas McMahon and Sister Augustine Goodchild. Father O’Hara and the Sisters had been holidaying at the Presentation Convent at Mandurah. While picnicking at South Yunderup, the group went boating and it overturned during a vicious squall. Two of the nuns died almost immediately and the rest clung to the upturned boat. After about eight hours Father O`Hara and Mother Finbarr disappeared. The two survivors were found after clinging to the upturned boat for 17 hours.
1959 Newspaper ArticleLocation
| Address: | Stevenson & Creery Streets, Church of Our Lady`s Assumption , Mandurah, 6210 |
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| State: | WA |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -32.536111 Long: 115.724722 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Window |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Tragedy |
| Actual Event Start Date: | 28-January-1959 |
| Actual Event End Date: | 28-January-1959 |
| Link: | http://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-… |
Dedication
| Approx. Monument Dedication Date: | 1994 |
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