Born in 1778 in Dublin, Ireland, to a prosperous Catholic family, Catherine McAuley was orphaned by the age of 20 and moved to the home of non-Catholic relatives. In 1803, she was invited to live in the home of William and Catherine Callaghan as a companion to Mrs. Callaghan. The Callaghans were childless and upon Mr. Callaghan's death in 1822, Catherine inherited about £25,000, their estate, "furniture and plate."

With this inheritance, Catherine leased property on Dublin's Baggot Street, building a large house for religious, educational and social services for women and children. Other women, intrigued by the house and the work for which it was intended, were attracted to Catherine and began to join her preparations for the ministry she planned.

On September 24, 1827, the Feast of our Lady of Mercy, the first residents came to live in the house they called the House of Mercy in honor of the day. Ultimately, it was recommended that they form a religious Institute. Though this was not her original intention, Catherine accepted the advice and began the founding of a new religious congregation of women dedicated to service to the poor.
After 15 months of formal preparation for the founding of the Sisters of Mercy at the Convent of the Presentation Sisters in Dublin, Catherine and two of her associates pronounced vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and to persevere until death in "the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy." Thus the new community was founded on Dec. 12, 1831.

In her ten years as a Sister of Mercy Catherine established nine additional autonomous foundations in Ireland and England, and two branch houses near Dublin. When she died in 1841 there were 150 Sisters of Mercy. Shortly thereafter, small groups of sisters left Ireland at the invitation of bishops in Newfoundland, New Zealand, the United States, Argentina and Australia. In 1990, Catherine McAuley was declared venerable, the first step in the cause for sainthood. Click here to read more about the efforts to canonize Catherine McAuley

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Click here to learn more about the cause for canonization of Catherine McAuley. For prayer cards and materials related to the canonization, please contact Annrene Brau, RSM at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .