Article by Sr Diane on Closing of Conception Harbour Convent
In 1869 the first convent was built (a replica of the convent in Brigus). Three young women, Sisters Mary Michael Gertrude Moore, Mary Theresa Slattery, and Mary De Sales Meehan came from Mercy Convent in St. John’s to found the first community of Sisters of Mercy, Conception Harbour. These three young women were born in Ireland and came to Newfoundland in their late teens or early twenties to join the Congregation. In subsequent years other Irish girls and local born girls joined the Conception Harbour convent.
The first convent building was replaced by a new one in 1931. Since 1869, 106 Sisters of Mercy have lived in the convent, taught in the schools in Conception Harbour, and later in Brigus, Avondale and Holyrood. Throughout the years the Sisters visited people in their homes and were engaged in various parish and community activities. As was the custom in early years (prior to the amalgamation of the Mercy Convents in 1916) a cemetery was located near the convent where five Sisters of Mercy have been buried. The headstones bear the names: Sisters M. deSales Meehan (1885), M. Gertrude Moore (1891), M. Agnes Banks (1893), M. Philomena Leamy (1893) and M. Cecilia Joy (1910), all Irish-born, except Sr. Cecilia.
There is sadness and loss for the Sisters, for the people of Conception Harbour and the surrounding communities, for the Parish of St. Anne and the Renewal Centre in the closing of the convent after more than 150 years of life and ministry, church and community involvement. There is deep loss at the heart of the community of a presence that has been part of the lives of many men, women and children over many generations. The spirit of the Sisters of Mercy lives on in the lives of those whom the sisters have touched through education, music, drama, and spirituality and at the most sacred moments of their lives. Now new and exciting reality, based in the convent space and surrounding property, will arise in Perchance Theatre to bring new life to the community in art, music, drama and social consciousness.
Moving Into the Future
The Sisters of Mercy formally leave Immaculate Conception Convent, Conception Harbour, with gratitude and pride in the rootedness of faith and culture of the people. We rejoice in the new life of the arts, music, drama, pathos and humor that will be brought to the stage and the community involvement of Perchance Theatre. We rejoice that this new location will be “home” to some of the most talented men, women and youth of our province and beyond. We are grateful that Perchance Theatre will enable the legacy of the Sisters of Mercy in education, in arts, social and cultural values to live on.
