For Children with Impaired Hearing

In 1846 our Irish Sisters in Cabra, Dublin took up the challenge to work with young deaf girls.

Sister M. Gabriel Hogan OP

Around 1872, the Bishop of Bathurst, Matthew Quinn, approached M. M. Agnes and the Dominican Sisters in Maitland to take care of the religious education of a young girl, Catherine Sullivan of Rock Forest, in his diocese. The Sisters agreed to educate Catherine until such time as they could obtain the assistance of a trained teacher of the deaf from the Cabra school.

In 1875 at the request of Bishop Murray and M. M. Agnes, one of the Cabra Sisters, Sr M. Gabriel Hogan, deaf herself, came to Australiato begin the first catholic school for children with impaired hearing in Australia and New Zealand. Sister began her work in a small cottage on the "Star of the Sea" property, Newcastle. Her first pupils were Catherine Sullivan and Elizabeth Ruwald.

Soon this premises was too small for the number of students, and after much fundraising, and with the full support of the Australian Bishops, the Sisters were able to build what became known as "The Institution for the Deaf and Dumb", later "Rosary Convent, School for Deaf Girls", at Waratah Newcastle, in 1888.

Because of the great changes in methods of teaching deaf children and advances in technology,this school closed in 1993, and the now day students were relocated to St Dominic's Centre for Hearing Impaired Children, Mayfield, Newcastle, http://www.cecnsw.catholic.edu.au/special/dominics.htm. Today This school is administered from the Catholic Schools Office.

Another School, St Mary's Delgany, was opened in Portsea Victoria in 1948. This services of this school were relocated to St Mary's Wantirna. Today, together with the Archbishop of Melbourne, the Sisters sponsor
St Mary's School for Children with Impaired Hearing Wantirna
http://www.smydeaf.melb.catholic.edu.au/

The Congregation also sponsors
The Catholic Centre for Hearing-Impaired Children, Strathfield
- a family based early intervention program, dealing with children and their parents from the time of diagnosis to school age.
Tel: (02) 9746 6942
Fax: (02) 9764 4170
AH: 041 976 316
Email: opchn@netspace.net.au

The Sisters have continued to assist ex-students of these schools, and other adult Catholic deaf people in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra as well as in the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore.

For Children with Visual Impairment and other disabling conditions

At the request of Archbishop Kelly, the Dominican Sisters opened St Lucy's School for Blind Children was set up at Homebush Sydney in 1938. The Service moved to Prouille, Wahroonga in 1960. The School has adjusted its focus to assist children with other disabling conditions as well as those with impaired vision.www.stlucys.nsw.edu.au