Clare O'Connor

Sister Clare O'Connor FCJ was an Australian religious sister, historian and author known for her work in documenting the history of the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ) in Australia. The Faithful Companions of Jesus is a female religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church. The congregation was initially founded in France in 1820 and first came to Australia in 1882.

Life and ministry Sister Mary Clare O'Connor, FCJ, was born in Ireland. After coming to Australia, she was a student at St Ignatius School and Vaucluse College in Richmond, an inner suburb of Melbourne.

The FCJ Sisters are a Catholic religious congregation founded in France in 1820 by Marie Madeleine d'Houët, with a focus on education and spiritual retreats. After Jesuit priest Rev. Fr. J. Dalton sent an urgent invitation to the Rev. Mother Josephine Petit FCJ, asking for sisters to come to take charge of a girls' school, twelve FCJ sisters arrived in Melbourne on the S.S. Liguria in 1882. They took charge of St. Ignatius Girls’ School and opened a secondary day school for girls on the same property. She also wrote Come at Once, an account of the journey of Sr Patricia Mary Grogan FCJ from England after the outbreak of World War II.

Selected publications O’Connor, M. Clare. The Sisters, Faithful Companions of Jesus in Australia. Armadale, Vic.: Graphic Workshop, 1982.