PHOTO: The Australian Brigidine Pioneers. L-R Back: Mary Catherine Bergin, Mary de Sales Maher & Mary Stanislaus Hayden. L-R Front: Mary Ignatius Fitzpatrick, Mary John Synan & Mary Gertrude Banahan
ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY years ago, Coonamble saw the arrival of the six pioneering Sisters who were to establish the first Brigidine foundation in Australia.
This year their anniversary will be marked by the return of Brigidine nuns to Coonamble to celebrate the occasion and thank the local community for their continued support.
“Coonamble has always had a special place in the hearts of the Brigidine Sisters,” Sr Maureen Keady told the Coonamble Times.
On 21 June 1883, most of the town’s 800 or so residents turned out to welcome them.
The weary band had travelled from Mountrath in Ireland for two months by ship and ten days by horse drawn wagon to open a Catholic school in Coonamble.
The Irish Sisters wrote back to Ireland of the ringing of the Church bells as they approached, the huge crowd and the “grand dinner” that awaited them at their new home.
“Everything was much better than we expected,” they concluded.
Classes began within 18 days of their arrival with 50 primary and 10 secondary students, and the first boarders took up residence in February 1884.
Coonamble in 1883 was a young and rather primitive settlement – no running water, only candles or kerosene lamps for lighting – and the intense heat and dust of summer was something they had never experienced in Ireland.
Mother John Synan was an indomitable leader in those earliest days.
A woman of vision, warmth and compassion, ready to compromise between the strictures of monastic life in Ireland and the vastly different customs, needs and climate of their new home.
The sisters taught everything from ‘the 3 Rs’ to music, elocution, needlework, cooking, typing, bookkeeping and sport.
They taught classes from kindergarten to the leaving certificate, ran the boarding school, cleaned and polished the church, and were involved in all facets of parish life.
The sisters also worked tirelessly behind the scenes for many community events – theatrical performances, debutante balls, cultural and sporting events.
Coonamble became the “cradle” for a wider community of Brigidines as they built on their success here by establishing congregations in many other areas of Australia and New Zealand.
Life in Coonamble changed significantly over the years, and most dramatically for the Brigidine Sisters.
The heavy serge habits disappeared, and from being teachers the sisters’ ministry moved to parish work – their care of the sick and housebound being appreciated by so many.
Coonamble’s last resident Brigidine, Sister Finian Gaughan, passed away on St Brigid’s Day in 2016. This year’s milestone provides an opportunity to reflect on their experiences and contribution.
“Looking back over the 140 years, we see the building of the ‘new’ convent and boarding school in 1910 and the continued growth of the schools, Primary and Secondary until increased Government requirements forced the Secondary school to close in 1974,” Sr Keady said.
“During the early years, the crises of typhoid and tuberculosis caused deaths in the Convent as well as in the town community, and the fire that destroyed the main street in 1929 threatened the Convent and boarding school as well.
“At such times the Sisters experienced the wonderful support of the Coonamble community,” she said.
Over the many years since the sisters arrived in Coonamble, thirty two local ladies joined the Brigidines, dedicating their lives to the works of the Brigidine Congregation.
“The Sisters depended on the community for their income, and were never disappointed, for all the fundraising efforts were very well supported,” said Sr Keady.
To supplement their income, the Sisters gave lessons in Music, Typing, Book keeping and Accounting to members of the local community after school hours and on weekends.
“In the later years, when the Sisters moved out of the school into pastoral work, they found the same warmth, encouragement and inclusion in the community,” she said.
“Now, looking back over the years, the Brigidines can only offer heartfelt thanks to the Coonamble community.”
Generations of Coonamble families have benefited from the tireless work of the Brigidine Sisters.
Their strength and gentleness is sown into the fabric of our community and, regardless of faith, it is widely acknowledged that their loving presence has helped give our town its soul.
A celebration of the 140 year milestone will be held on Thursday 14 September.
Current and former students, teachers, families and interested community members are invited to join the visiting Brigidine Sisters in a program of events.
The day will begin with the blessing of the story boards at St Brigid’s School, followed by an 11am Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.
A R.S.V.P. is required to join them for lunch at the Bowling Club at 12.30pm and all are welcome to the Brigidine’s presentation of a public gift to Coonamble at 79 Castlereagh Street at 2.15pm.
The final event will be a Remembrance Ritual at the Coonamble Cemetery at 3pm.