Sister Irene Masterson (centre right) is celebrated by current-day Sisters of Mercy who visited the Cooktown Museum to mark her retirement. Photo: Supplied.
The Cooktown Catholic community came together recently to see off the last Sister of Mercy, whose retirement brings 135 years of the order’s history in south-east Cape York to an end.
After 22 years of service in Cooktown, Sister Irene Masterson made the difficult decision to relocate to Cairns after a break-in at her home left her too shaken to stay.
The Sisters of Mercy first arrived in Cooktown from Ireland in 1888, and set up the first convent at what is now the Cooktown Museum.
Cooktown Museum heritage site guide Veronica O’Brien said the retirement service celebrated Sister Irene and all Sisters of Mercy, past and present.
“It was a very special service, one which wouldn’t have been held here for a long time; we held it in the chapel, we sang a hymn, and it was just spectacular to hear it resonating through the building,” she said.
“It was also not just for [Sister Irene], but all the other Sisters of Mercy that came in 1888, as well as the ones that came after.
“It was a remembrance and thanksgiving to all of those nuns that contributed to the Christian community over the last 135 years.”
Ms O’Brien said losing the town’s last Sister of Mercy would leave a big hole in the community.
She explained a priest visited once a month for a Sunday service from Cairns, but that Sister Irene had been instrumental in leading services for the rest of the month.
“It’s like losing a leader,” she said.
“She opened the church up for mass on Sunday, and she was a representative of the Catholic community in Cooktown.”
“[Sisters of Mercy are] like the glue that holds the parish together; they can make decisions about the running of the parish.”
After more than a century of history, Ms O’Brien said it was sad to think it had come to an end.
“The Catholic representation here or churchgoers is actually really small,” she said.
“There’s a very small uptake of women joining the Sisters of Mercy, and there’s not enough to go around.
“A lot of the Sisters are elderly now and most of them are retired, so there’s no one to fill her place.”
The first Sisters of Mercy, who came to Cooktown from Ireland in 1888. Photo: Supplied.
