Sister John Baptist De Lacy : Short Biography

Sister De Lacy reached Sydney in 1828 with four other Sisters. They helped women convicts transition to roles including Australia's workers, wives and mothers. De Lacy in 1839 organised the schools associated with the Catholic Orphanage at Waverley. When donations allowed them to buy a property at Woolloomooloo Heights, De Lacy had the Sisters set it up as a convent, hospital, and school for the poor. When the Sisters of Charity took over the House of the Good Shepherd, De Lacy was the first Superior there. Her lasting legacy is St Vincent's Hospital, for which she garnered multi-denominational support. 

This Chronicle has been adapted by kind permission of the Aisling Society. The content has been inspired by the Aisling 20/20 Vision project, which forms part of a programme marking the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the Consulate General of Ireland to New South Wales. 

The Aisling Society is an Irish Australian cultural society whose main interests are the study of the history, life, and culture of Ireland, and the effect of Irish heritage on Australian life.