Mary of St Joseph Doyle

Mary of St. Joseph Doyle (born Bridget Doyle, 1835–1869) was an Irish born, religious sister, and the Founder and first Prioress of the Abbotsford Convent, in Melbourne, Australia.

Early life

She was born in 1835, in Roscore, County Offaly, Ireland to parents John Doyle and Eliza Molloy and was baptised on August 18, 1835 in the Parish of Rahan.

Religious vocation In the 1850s, she joined the Congregation of our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, at the Mother House, located in Angers, France. The mission of the order was to provide a place of refuge for women who were trapped in poverty or prostitution. The sisters purchased a manor known as Abbotsford House, which had been built in 1840 by John Orr; the estate included six acres of land on the bank of the Yarra river. This became the Abbotsford Good Shepherd Convent. Mary of St. Joseph became prioress of the convent and the first leader of the order in Australia. As the prioress, she raised funds and oversaw the launch of a penitentiary for women and a reformatory school for girls. Bishop Goold performed the funeral mass, which was attended by many clergy as well as the sisters of the convent. Mary of St. Joseph was buried in the convent cemetery. In 1975, when the order sold the Abbotsford Convent, her remains were relocated to the Boroondara Cemetery.