Mercy nurses mark 150th anniversary celebrations

CELEBRATIONS to mark the 150th anniversary of one of the country’s leading medical institutions were launched in Cork last night.

Lord Mayor councillor Michael Ahern hosted a reception for the city’s Mercy University Hospital (MUH) to recognise the enormous contribution of the Mercy Sisters to the city.

Other events planned include the opening of an accident and emergency department, a conference on best practice in nursing, the publication of a contemporary hospital history and the launch of the MUH Charitable Foundation.

Mr Ahern said he was honoured to host, on behalf of the city, a reception to mark the role of the Mercy in the life of Cork over the last century and a half.

“The Mercy is part of the fabric of our city and has contributed in no small way to the quality of life of tens of thousands of Corkonians over the years,” he said.

The hospital opened its doors to the sick in one of the oldest parts of Cork’s inner city as a 40-bed institution on March 17, 1857.

Today, it is a major 350-bed teaching hospital with almost 1,200 staff.

Sr Laurentia Roche, who devoted her working life to caring for the sick, was the last Mercy Sister to be matron of the hospital.

Although officially retired, she still visits and talks with patients on a daily basis. She is one of just seven nuns in the small hospital community who are “not on active service anymore”.

However, there are still two Mercy Sisters in full-time work at the hospital and she said that link should continue.

“I would hope that the order would continue to keep that old connection — caring for all those who come to the Mercy for healing,” she said last night.

The celebrations started at the weekend with a Mass and multi-denominational blessing at the MUH chapel organised by hospital chaplain, Fr Michael Regan.