- Miss McAuley and the Baggot Street Ladies - Mother Catherine
McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy - Sayings of Mother Catherine
McAuley - The Foundation of All Hallows' School - The Sisters of
Mercy today 1. Miss McAuley and the Baggot Street Ladies
Following the death of William Callaghan in 1822, Catherine
McAuley inherited a large fortune, including his home, Coolock
House. She sold the Estate and began her life's dream of
building a House of Mercy for the poor. The foundations of the
house now the International Headquarters of the Sisters of
Mercy, in Baggot Street Dublin, were begun in 1824; orphans were
accommodated there and lodgings were offered to young working
women. As well, the ladies provided daily meals for the poor. In
1828 Catherine moved to Baggot Street herself with her godchild
and nieces. She and her companions were known as "The Ladies of
Mercy" or "The Baggot Street Ladies". In the Dublin of
Catherine's time it was considered highly irregular for a single
woman to direct an institution of