Catherine McAuley
Irish Philanthropist, Founder and First Superior of the Sisters of Mercy
1787 – 1841 A.D.

Catherine McAuley, known as Mother McAuley, an Irish philanthropist, founder and first superior of the Sisters of Mercy.

In childhood she was adopted by a wealthy Protestant family, who allowed her to remain in the church of her father, the Roman Catholic, and left her a large fortune which she used for the benefit of the poor.

The religious order was begun in Dublin in 1831, and the works which the members perform are visiting the poor, sick, and imprisoned, teaching, establishing hospitals, orphanages, homes for the friendless and other works of mercy.

There are houses of her order in all parts of the world, and in the United States there are about six thousand members.

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Reference: Famous Women; An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women By Joseph Adelman. Copyright, 1926 by Ellis M. Lonow Company.