St. Leo’s College celebrated 185 years of education in Carlow
ST LEO’S College is celebrating 185 years of Mercy education in Carlow this year. To mark that milestone, a special Mass was held on 30 April in the convent chapel adjacent to the school.
Members of the Mercy congregation and the school community took part in the Mass of thanksgiving to commemorate the opening of St Leo’s College in 1839. The Mass was concelebrated by Bishop Denis Nulty, Fr Yanbo Chen and Mgr Brendan Byrne. It was fitting that the Mass was celebrated in the convent chapel because this is where the story of St Leo’s College began 185 years ago.
The first Mercy congregation lived in a small residence to the left of the entrance to the present convent. The nuns were so anxious to open a ‘pension school’ for young Catholic girls that they opened the first classroom to students before their own accommodation was completed. This marked the beginning of a long tradition of Mercy education in Carlow town.
Bishop Nulty welcomed members of the Mercy congregation and invited guests, as well as the principal, staff and students at St Leo’s. His homily paid a comprehensive tribute to the educational legacy of the Mercy Sisters in Carlow. Bishop Nulty reflected on the challenges the sisters would have faced in the Ireland of the early 1800s and the relevance of the Mercy tradition for contemporary Ireland. During the liturgy, prayers of the faithful acknowledged the rich tradition of Mercy Sisters and the responsibility of the lay management and staff to continue the philosophy of education of the school’s foundress Catherine McAuley.
