MOTHER Vincent Whitty, the founder of the Mercy Sisters’ Brisbane congregation, was remembered in a special way recently when Maura and Nicholas Whitty visited from Ireland.
Nicholas is from the same family line as Mother Whitty, who came to Brisbane in 1861 to establish the order’s presence in the settlement.
He and Maura, of Wexford, are the designated heads of the Whitty clan in Ireland.
They were visiting Australia for a gathering of the Australian branch of the clan.
While in Australia they took the chance to visit Brisbane and, on February 18, presented the Mercy Sisters with the shield of the Whitty clan.
The presentation was made at a function at All Hallows’ School, attended by the sisters’ Brisbane congregational leader Sr Pauline Burke and other members of the leadership team.