THE PRESENTATION SISTERS COME TO RIVERHEAD

“Ah! Must –Designer Infinite! –

Ah! Must Thou char the wood

ere Thou canst limn with it?"

(The Hound of Heaven,

by Francis Thompson)

After their arrival in St John’s in 1833, the Presentation Sisters immediately and wholeheartedly began their work among the poor Irish Catholics of the port.

The “Designer Infinite” did indeed “char the wood” for, despite the solicitous care of Bishop Fleming, the Sisters’ early years in St John’s were beset with difficulties. Nevertheless, their efforts on behalf of the people were blessed and the girls of the town flocked to their school.

The four founding Sisters, Sr Bernard Kirwan, Sr Magdalen O’Shaughnessy, Sr Xaverius Lynch and Sr Xavier Maloney, were joined in 1843 by two Postulants from Ireland. That year, on the Feast of the Assumption, Bishop Fleming received Catherine Phelan (Sr M Ignatius Aloysius) and Amelia Shanley (Sr M Antonio Magdalen) into the Presentation Congregation in St John’s. In his excellent book, “Fire Upon the Earth”, Brother J B Darcy tells us that a lay Sister was also received that day but, unfortunately, he does not give her name.

It was becoming increasingly difficult for just six Sisters to cope with the more than 1,000 pupils who daily came to the school. Accordingly, the good Bishop once again appealed to the Galway Presentation Convent for more Sisters. In 1846, having received the consent of Bishop O’Donnell of Galway, Sr M Josephine French and Sr M DeSales Lovelock accompanied Bishop Fleming to their new home in St John’s. True to the spirit of Nano Nagle, and in the full knowledge of the tragic fire that had just reduced St John’s to a pile of blackened rubble, these selfless and courageous ladies generously volunteered to forsake their home, family and friends.

Gradually the Presentation Community grew as the Sisters were joined by recruits from Ireland and Newfoundland and the Sisters began to establish new Convents in the Colony. Their first new House was opened in Harbour Grace in July 1851. By 1855 there were five Presentation Convents in Newfoundland.

The Old St Patrick's Convent
(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

On 10th January 1856, four Presentation Sisters came from the Community at Cathedral Square to establish a Convent at Riverhead, in the West End of St John’s. Sr M Clare Waldron was appointed Superior. The next day, Fr Kieran Walsh celebrated Mass in the Convent Chapel. This house was cold and damp so in March 1880 the Foundation Stone was laid for a new building to better serve the needs of the Sisters and their charges. On the Feast of Corpus Christi 1882, Bishop Thomas Joseph Power solemnly blessed the new St Patrick’s Convent and celebrated the first Mass in its Chapel.



In the beginning, the Sisters taught both boys and girls in their school. However, St Patrick’s eventually became an all girls’ school. The enrolment increased steadily and, 65 years after the Sisters opened their first school, a new school was opened. In 1921 a new St Patrick’s Convent School, erected as a Memorial to the men of the Parish who died in WWI, opened on Deanery Avenue.

By the 1950s, it was realized that the current buildings were unable to adequately meet increasing educational needs. On 2nd October 1953, His Grace Most Reverend Patrick James Skinner blessed the cornerstone of the new St Patrick’s School on Patrick St. On 4th January 1954 Archbishop Skinner celebrated Mass on the main corridor of the new school and blessed the building.

Sadly, St Patrick’s Convent School is no more. In 1999 St Patrick’s closed its doors for the last time. The building is now a private school. Fortunately, the Presentation Sisters remain a presence in St Patrick’s Parish and the oft renovated and improved Convent which was opened in 1882 is still their home.

LINKS TO THIS POST:
THE LADY WITH THE LANTERN
FIRST PRESENTATION CONVENT OUTSIDE IRELAND