History

 On Dec 2^nd 1912 a group of Sisters led by Mother de Sales O’Byrne left Monaghan and arrived the following day in  Redditch, England,  to start the first English foundation.  They had been invited there by Dom Campbell O.S.B. with the intention of establishing a Convent and Secondary School. They remained there for the following eight years doing splendid work but over those years things became unsettled and it became obvious that the original hopes would not be fulfilled so in 1920 at the request of Fr. Thompson S.J., the Parish priest of Gt. Yarmouth, who needed Sisters to take charge of the Secondary and Elementary Schools,  the sisters left Redditch. They moved to Gt. Yarmouth and thus began many years of Service in the East Anglian Diocese.  The Sisters remain working in that Diocese, in a variety of apostolates, to the present day. Not long afterwards in January 1924 a group of Sisters arrived in Bury St. Edmunds to take charge of Secondary and Elementary Schools. Other foundations followed - Newmarket in 1936, Aylesbury in 1945.  1945 also saw the establishment of Sisters at Shefford where their work was involved in looking after the boys at St. Francis’ Home (Orphanage).

Life remained relatively stable after that until 1972 when a move further north to the Shrewsbury Diocese took place where sisters were to take up work with the Diocesan Children’s Rescue Team under the direction of Canon McHugh.  Much Wenlock was the first place of residence there but by 1978 a house had been purchased in Wellington  to which the sisters moved. Apart from work with the Rescue Society, apostolates in the area were many and varied.  Over approximately the next three decades the presence of the sisters in the North of England increased and included foundations in Dukinfield, Oldham, Liverpool, New Brighton, Bolton and finally Bradford. In very recent years however, due to all sorts of unpreventable reasons, most of these foundations have sadly had to close with an active presence still being maintained in Bradford.

During these years expansion was also taking place further south in London where in 1980 some Sisters moved into a house in Fulham Palace Road. This foundation arose in response to the needs of sisters who were working in London for a community where they could live together. This foundation later transferred to Wightman Road in 1986. At the same time other houses were springing up and have continued to spring up in various parts of London, including the Regionalate which moved to New Southgate in 2004. Two more recent moves have been to Brighton and Ipswich where two Sisters now live and work.

Over the years since 1912, there have been movements, changes and closures but the work of the sisters in England still remains vibrant.