Catherine McAuley, RSM was an Irish Catholic religious sister who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831. The women's congregation has always been associated with teaching, especially in Ireland, where the sisters taught Catholics at a time when education was mainly reserved for members of the established Church of Ireland.
Sister Mary Catherine McAuley
Statue of Catherine McAuley in Dublin's Baggot Street
The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute has about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They also started many education and health care facilities around the world.
Mother Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Religious Sisters of Mercy
Mercy Convent, Templemore, County Tipperary