Related Stories

• The Heroic Parish Priest of Ballyporeen – Fr John Michael O’Shea 1871-1942
  
  
• Private David Condon, Kiltankin, Ballyporeen (1894-1917) killed in action at the Somme
  
  
• The Red Deer of Killarney
  
  
• Bygone days of Barnane Walk, Fermoy on Munster Blackwater
  
  
• The Parting
  
  
• Christmas tales from Rathcormac
  
  
• Christmas shopping in Fermoy – some memories
  
  
• Word renowned composer pens a ‘Song For James’
  
  
• Community effort makes COPE sensory garden a reality
  
  
• Can you name them? Perhaps from the Fermoy area?
  
  
• A sneak peek into how pups become guide dogs
  
  
• A history of Galtee Castle at Skeheenarinky between Cahir and Mitchelstown
  
  

The postcard picture showing the SS Mongolia, which brought the O’Brien sisters, from Conna, to Australia. Photo: Tom Finn

By Tom Finn

An old picture postcard was unearthed in Conna some years ago. It was slightly faded but otherwise in excellent condition. It showed a picture of the 17,000 ton turbine steamer ship T.S.S. Mongolia and also had views of its interior. The ship was owned by Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O).

The contents of the postcard brought back memories to some of the older generation. It described the voyage, in 1936, of two young sisters from Curraheen, Conna on the high seas on a one-way ticket to Australia. It was addressed to their school friend, Elsie Beecher, who later ran a shop in Conna for many years

Eileen O’Brien (20) and her sister Gretta (18) had said goodbye to their parents and their friends to follow their vocations as nursing sisters with the All Hallows Convent of Mercy in Brisbane, Queensland. Venerable Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy in Ireland in 1831 and established a foundation in Australia in 1861. A convent was acquired by the Order in Brisbane in 1863 and renamed ‘Convent of Our Lady of Mercy All Hallows’. They ministered in the fields of health, education and social welfare programs.

GROWING UP

The O’Brien sisters were born and reared in Curraheen, Conna where the Leahy family now resides. Eileen was born on January 26th, 1916 and Gretta on August 22nd, 1918. Their parents were Maurice and Frances (nee Smyth). The lands were later divided up by the Land Commission and one of the fields is now the Community Sports Field. The two girls received their schooling at Curraglass National School and the Convent of Mercy in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary. It was at the latter school that they got the idea of joining the Order together. They had one elder sister who had earlier left home to get married. Thus, the parting must have been a bittersweet and traumatic one for the parents, as they knew they would never see their two younger daughters again. In those days, the voyage to Eastern Australia would have taken several weeks and as well, nuns were rarely, if ever, allowed to go home.

The post card was written on board the ship by the elder sister Eileen, reading as follows: “Gretta and myself are enjoying the trip very well. We had a nice crossing from Dublin on Thursday night (November 26th, 1936) and arrived in Hollyhead about midnight. We had a long train journey to London from 12:00 to 6:30 but we slept on the way. We met Dolly O’Brien in Dublin but had not very much time there as it was 5 o’clock in the evening when we got in. We had a great day in London, driving around the city in two busses, visiting all the important buildings such as Buckingham Palace etc. We left that evening for Tilbery Docks by train and got on board the ‘Mongolia’ at 6pm (have a look at the card).

“It was exciting the first evening getting our cabins, cases etc but we are settled down now, it is our fifth day. We are enjoying ourselves and have not time to get lonely as we have many amusements on board. Every night we have a game of cards with one of the priests. There are four of them aboard and every morning we have Mass, sometimes three! Can you imagine it with the waves rushing along outside.

“The weather is getting fine now and we have sunshine every day. We are near the coast of Africa and we saw land yesterday. We are now heading for the Strait. Our letters will be posted on Thursday, 3rd December at Marseille. I suppose it will not reach Conna for a while.

“If you have time write soon so that there will be a letter over when we land. We write home as often as we can. I sent a card from Dublin and London. I hope they arrived OK”.

NEW LIFE

In due course the two O’Brien sisters did indeed become nursing sisters with the Sisters of Mercy and resided at All Hallows Convent, Brisbane. Eileen took the religious name Sr. Mary Francesco and Gretta took the name Sr. Mary St Maurice. The names Francesco and Maurice were probably taken in memory of their parents.

Both sisters entered the convent at the same time, January 11th, 1937. They took their first vows together on December 21st, 1939 and made their final profession on the same day, December 10th, 1942.

Years later they were able to visit their friends in Conna on a few occasions but their parents were dead by then. They also celebrated their golden jubilee in Conna in the summer of 1989. After Mass in St Catherine’s Church, Conna, a party was held in their honour in the Sports Complex. This was attended by many of their relatives and friends including, of course, their friend Elsie, who was now Mrs Elsie Power. Canon John Kelleher PP made a special presentation to the nuns to mark the occasion.

After many years of service in the Lord’s Vineyard, the two sisters finally passed to their eternal reward. They died within less than a year of each other, having spent their long lives together. The younger sister, Gretta, died on June 10th, 2006, aged 88 years and Eileen died on February 22nd, 2007, aged 91 years. They are buried close to each other in Nudgee Cemetery, Brisbane, Queensland.

blog comments powered by Disqus