GwyNedd-Mercy College

The Sisters of Mercy were founded in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831 by an Irish heiress, Catherine McAuley. The special charisma of the Sisters is based on the example of their foundress who "served the needy with courage and compassion, with a special concern for women." The Sisters, since 1831, have introduced Catholic education and health care to immigrants and poverty-stricken communities throughout the world. From Ireland, their work spread to England, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, Guam, the Philippines, the Caribbean and South America. 
On April 23, 1894, three Sisters of Mercy, Sr. Ursula Green, Sr. Antonia Chambers and Sr. Pauline DeFreitas, at the invitation of Bishop A. Butler, S.J. laid the foundation of Mercy in the then British Guiana. Their work was then mainly in education and visiting the poor and the sick in the Charlestown area where they resided. They served in elementary schools in Georgetown, along the East Coast and in the county of Essequibo. In 1897 St. Joseph’s High School was started in Charlestown. In the 1910’s and 1920’s they moved to the interior in the Rupununi, Santa Rosa, Morawhanna, Hosororo and Mabaruma. In 1944 they were invited by the "Sword of the Spirit" movement and the Diocese of Georgetown to administer a Catholic Hospital, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. 
The Sisters continue to run St. John Bosco Orphanage for boys, to work in the parishes and among the poor and sick, carrying out Mother McAuley’s challenge to serve where the need is.