On Thursday 17th June the Cork local paper ‘The Echo’ had the following heading “Mayor salutes 140-year history of Marymount”. It was to this event that the Sisters of Charity were invited to honour them for their contribution to health care in Cork over the past 140 years.
The story of the Sisters in Cork really began many years prior to the building of St. Patrick’s Hospital/Marymount Hospice – During the Cholera outbreak of 1832 the Sisters of Charity set up a series of temporary hospitals in Dublin and Cork. It was at this time that Dr. Patrick Murphy observed the work of the sisters when they tended his father and sister on their deathbeds. On his death on 28th November 1867 he bequeathed all he possessed, except a few small legacies, to the Sisters of Charity on the condition of their having established within two years of his death, a hospital or room for cancer patients. Thus began the establishment of the present Hospital/Hospice on Wellington Road, Cork.
Work was started immediately and the hospital received its first patient on 14th September 1870. Since then we are reminded of all the people, who, over the years journeyed to this sacred place on the last stage of their pilgrimage in life together with the sisters and staff and their families who cared for them.
It was to this effect that the current Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Dara Murphy hosted a special reception in the City Hall for the Sisters of Charity to mark 140th anniversary of the foundation of St. Patrick’s/Marymount. The reception was attended by the sisters living in Cork and by those sisters who had served in the Hospital/Hospice down through the years. Representatives from the General and Provincial Leadership Teams were also in attendance together with the CEO of the Hospital, the Chairman and Board members and staff who had given over 25 years of service to the hospital. The Lord Mayor paid tribute to the Friends of the Hospital/Hospice, the Staff and the Sisters for their dedicated service over the years. Each person was presented with a little badge of the Cork Coat of Arms and the group were taken on a tour of the Lord Mayor’s Office. The event ended with light refreshments.
Sisters, Staff, Board Members and ‘Friends’ gather in the Lord Mayor’s Chamber.
