THE SISTERS OF MERCY
The history of the Sisters of Mercy in Lurgan dates from February 1865. Then, acting on behalf of the local parish priest, Very Reverend James McKenna, a member of the Magee family of Union Street bought a piece of waste ground close to the livestock pound in Edward Street. This was to be the site for a Convent. Building work started in March 1865, and in May 1866 it was completed and ready for a group of Sisters of Mercy who arrived by train from Newry, along with their leader, Mother Emmanuel Russell.
On the 10th September 1866, the Sisters opened two schools inside the building: St. Mary’s for girls, and St. Joseph’s for boys. Education was free, but if the family could pay, they were asked to contribute one penny a week. Average attendance in those early days was 280 children. The Sisters also opened night classes for adults, mainly for those wishing to learn to read and write. Average attendance was 190 for the night school.
The Board of Education in Dublin was slow to recognise these new schools, and the Sisters had no financial resources and no income. Obtaining equipment was not easy, so they often made alphabet cards out of letters from newspaper headlines.
At this time, most Catholics were very poor and there was no compulsory education for children until 1921. Child labour was permitted and little boys and girls were sent to work as soon as they were able, aged eight or nine years old. The only Catholic girls’ school in the area was in a wooden shed in the Dougher cemetery, at the bottom of Shankill Street.
Lurgan in those days was a power house for the linen industry. There was scarcely a house where there was not a loom. People worked twelve-hour days and were paid between six and nine pence a day. Older girls, who usually stayed at home to look after young babies, were allowed by the Sisters to bring cradles to school so they could take care of the younger members of their family.
In 1871, the Convent, which had been dependent on the Sisters in Newry until then, became an independent foundation with Sister Mary Gertrude O’Hagan as the first Mother Superior. Well established by 1875, the community began a school building programme. The Edward Street school, which is next door to the old Convent, cost the princely sum of £1,000 to build!
Over the years, the Sisters were a familiar sight, walking through the town in twos, visiting local homes, supporting families, and praying with the sick. They opened Sacred Heart Primary School, initially in the building that is now the Credit Union, then later in Edward Street, adjacent to what is now the Adoration Chapel. They opened St. Michael’s Grammar School and also served as teachers in St Mary’s Girls’ High School, which was later incorporated into St Ronan’s College.
The story of St. Michael’s began in 1892, when the property known as “Irishtown Hill House”, Cornakinnegar. was purchased for a permanent Boys’ Industrial School. Plans for an extension having been approved, Dr. O’Neill laid the foundation stone and the school was named St. Michael’s as a form of tribute to Rev. Michael B. McConville, PP. The boys were transferred from their temporary school for Junior Industrial Boys (established in 1905) at 81, William Street, Lurgan, on 26 June 1903 and remained there until 1924 when the two Industrial Schools – St. Michael’s for Boys and the House of Divine Providence for Girls (established from 1892) – closed following the partition of Ireland.
With continued refashioning and extension, the Boys’ Industrial School developed rapidly into Our Lady’s Boarding School, and in 1959 a new Chapel was completed and blessed by Bishop Eugene O’Doherty. In 1972 the name of the school was officially changed from Our Lady’s to St. Michael’s Senior High School when it became a co-educational school enrolling pupils at 14+ The school was renamed St. Michael’s Grammar School in 1995.
As secondary education developed in 1960’s, girls went to Our Lady’s Grammar School if they passed the ‘eleven plus’ academic selection examination, or to the new St. Mary’s Girls’ Secondary School. The equivalent boys’ secondary school, St. Paul’s, opened in 1963.
As social attitudes changed, the dream emerged among a growing number of families, to see all the children of the area having the opportunity to attend the same school, wearing the same uniform, having the same educational opportunity to develop their potential without the burden of academic selection. In the early 2000s, a steering group began to explore the possibility of making the dream a reality and after much exploration, consultation and negotiation, trusteeship of St Michael’s was transferred to the Diocese, the Interim Board of Governors came into being and in 2015, the new all- ability, non-selective grammar school, St. Ronan’s College, became a reality, operating in a three-way split site , using the three former schools’ buildings, while plans were afoot to secure a new, twentieth century building.
The completion of the new College campus, on the site of the former St. Michael’s Grammar School, was marked on 25 June 2025, by a Legacy Mass, formally recognising the contribution to Catholic Education of the three legacy schools, St. Paul’s, St. Mary’s and St. Michael’s. The new St Ronan’s College building opened in September 2025.
Over the years, the Sisters were a familiar sight, walking through the town in twos, visiting local homes, supporting families, and praying with the sick. They opened Sacred Heart Primary School, initially in the building that is now the Credit Union, then later in Edward Street, adjacent to what is now the Adoration Chapel. They also served as teachers in St Francis’ Primary School and St Mary’s Girls’ High School, which was later incorporated into St Ronan’s College.
In 1995, the Sisters were aging and finding the Convent too big to meet their needs, so they moved into their new modern and more suitable convent building next door. Although they are ageing, the Sisters continue to be a vibrant source of prayer and support in our two parishes and beyond. Their continued presence among us is a blessing.