Early Life
Mother Gonzaga Barry was born on the 24th of July 1834 into a large well-to-do family in Wexford, Ireland. She was educated at the Loreto Abbeys in Gorey in 1848-51 and Rathfarnham in 1851-53. She sadly passed away at Loreto Abbey, Ballarat on the 5th March 1915.
Calling by God
At the age of nineteen Gonzaga Barry strongly felt her calling from god to do something for the world and for others, she entered the Insititue of the Blessed Virign Mary (IBVM) at Gorey in August 1853 taking the name of a young Jesuit Saint Aloysius Gonzaga.
Doing Gods Work
In 1853 at the age of nineteen Gonzaga Barry left home and joined the Institute of the Blessed Mary (IBVM) at Gorey, taking the name of a young Jesuit Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Over the next twenty years she held many leadership roles. In 1875, when the Bishop of Ballarat invited them there, she led the first group of Loreto Sisters to the Australian Colonies. There in Ballarat she formed the institutes first Australian community at Mary's mount. Seventeen years later in 1892, Gonzaga brought the IBVM to New South Wales, where she established the first Sydney Loreto school in Randwick in July that year. Loreto Randwick was a day school and also home to thirty boarders under the care of another nun Mother Dorothea Frizelle. Within five years the nuns were looking for a larger premesis, so a father of 2 daughters at Aston Lodge, Randwick, took both Mother Gonzaga and Dorothea to nine hectares of land in South Hornsby, with the hope and possibility if opening a boarding school there. on the way Mother Gonzaga was very worried about making the right decision so she prayed to God for help. It had been raining but as the nuns arrived at the land a beautiful rainbow formed over the estate, there Mother Gonzaga called it Rainbow land and said "finally i have found where I am going to build my school, right here". It was known as Loretto Hornsby, until the district was named Nomanhurst in the early 1900's.
Building the Kingdom of God - The IBVM
Today, Sisters of the IBVM (Institute of the Blessed Mary) are found worldwide. It has historically been divided into three main groups known as the Roman Branch, the Irish Branch and the North American Branch. This situation changed in September 2003, when the sisters of the North American Branch voted to unite with the Irish Branch, they were then confirmed by Papal Decree as The Loreto Branch. The IBVM Sisters are women drawn to campanionship in the service of the gospel. They were inspired by Mary Ward and they strive to support growth into freedom through spiritual ministries, education, and any other works that meet the needs of their time.
Recognition of her work
Mother Gonzaga did so much for Australian women all over the country, she founded Loreto convents, primary and secondary schools, parish schools, a teachers’ college and kindergartens in Ballarat, Portland, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Hamilton and Adelaide. Young women, girls and people of Australia should be very thankful and proud of all the work and time Mother Gonzaga Barry put into building, running and founding these Loreto schools all over the country.
Interesting Facts
Mother Gonzaga Barry was born on the 24th of July 1834 into a large well-to-do family in Wexford, Ireland. She was educated at the Loreto Abbeys in Gorey in 1848-51 and Rathfarnham in 1851-53. She sadly passed away at Loreto Abbey, Ballarat on the 5th March 1915.
Calling by God
At the age of nineteen Gonzaga Barry strongly felt her calling from god to do something for the world and for others, she entered the Insititue of the Blessed Virign Mary (IBVM) at Gorey in August 1853 taking the name of a young Jesuit Saint Aloysius Gonzaga.
Doing Gods Work
In 1853 at the age of nineteen Gonzaga Barry left home and joined the Institute of the Blessed Mary (IBVM) at Gorey, taking the name of a young Jesuit Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Over the next twenty years she held many leadership roles. In 1875, when the Bishop of Ballarat invited them there, she led the first group of Loreto Sisters to the Australian Colonies. There in Ballarat she formed the institutes first Australian community at Mary's mount. Seventeen years later in 1892, Gonzaga brought the IBVM to New South Wales, where she established the first Sydney Loreto school in Randwick in July that year. Loreto Randwick was a day school and also home to thirty boarders under the care of another nun Mother Dorothea Frizelle. Within five years the nuns were looking for a larger premesis, so a father of 2 daughters at Aston Lodge, Randwick, took both Mother Gonzaga and Dorothea to nine hectares of land in South Hornsby, with the hope and possibility if opening a boarding school there. on the way Mother Gonzaga was very worried about making the right decision so she prayed to God for help. It had been raining but as the nuns arrived at the land a beautiful rainbow formed over the estate, there Mother Gonzaga called it Rainbow land and said "finally i have found where I am going to build my school, right here". It was known as Loretto Hornsby, until the district was named Nomanhurst in the early 1900's.
Building the Kingdom of God - The IBVM
Today, Sisters of the IBVM (Institute of the Blessed Mary) are found worldwide. It has historically been divided into three main groups known as the Roman Branch, the Irish Branch and the North American Branch. This situation changed in September 2003, when the sisters of the North American Branch voted to unite with the Irish Branch, they were then confirmed by Papal Decree as The Loreto Branch. The IBVM Sisters are women drawn to campanionship in the service of the gospel. They were inspired by Mary Ward and they strive to support growth into freedom through spiritual ministries, education, and any other works that meet the needs of their time.
Recognition of her work
Mother Gonzaga did so much for Australian women all over the country, she founded Loreto convents, primary and secondary schools, parish schools, a teachers’ college and kindergartens in Ballarat, Portland, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Hamilton and Adelaide. Young women, girls and people of Australia should be very thankful and proud of all the work and time Mother Gonzaga Barry put into building, running and founding these Loreto schools all over the country.
Interesting Facts
- As a child she witnessed some of the horror of the Great Famine of the 1840s and never forgot it.
- Gonzaga was small, plump, profoundly deaf and increasingly dependent on the use of an ear trumpet and yet during her 40 years in the colonies she became one of the most significant figures in Australian Catholic education, particularly for women.
- Mother Gonzaga was buried in a small garden cemetery at Mary's Mount Ballarat, where she died.
- In her 40 years in the Australian colonies she founded ten girls’ boarding schools, ten day schools, six primary schools, three kindergartens and two teacher training colleges as well as taking over the running of at least eight parish schools.
- At her funeral, Gonzaga’s confessor, Father John Ryan SJ, said of her:“I have never known a woman of more varied gifts and all so admirably blended…. She seemed instinctively to anticipate the wants of her time.”