History

[historic photo] Students posing Our Lady of Mercy College Parramatta opened its doors to students for the first time on January 7 th 1889. A group of nine Sisters of Mercy from Callan Convent had arrived in Sydney from Ireland in November 1888 to establish a school for girls and found a convent in the Parramatta area. Sr. M. Clare Dunphy was the Superior of the group and Sr. M. Alacoque Kavanagh was the first Principal.

Within the first two years the school was extended along Villiers Street and three students sat for and passed the Civil Service Entrance Examination. OLMC's long tradition of excellence in Music can also be dated from this era. A student of the College was awarded the Trinity College Colony Medal for piano in 1894.

In 1892 the school accepted its first boarder and by 1889 a new wing had been built in order to accommodate the increasing number of classes and boarders. In 1911 there were 101 pupils enrolled at the College but by the mid 1920s this had almost trebled. Today the school population exceeds 1,000 students.

The physical size of the College has continued to expand as a result of a larger school population and changes to the types of courses being offered to the students. One of the greatest building programs occurred during the principalship of Sr. Edith Angel. Changes to education in the 1970s led to the eventual closure of the Boarding School.

[historic photo] Students posing OLMC has continued to keep pace with educational development. When the Education Reform Act (1990) mandated compulsory study in technology, OLMC reacted quickly by increasing the number of computers available for student use as well as building a Technology Block. In 2005 the College offered a total of 37 courses of study to its Year 12 students.

The history of OLMC Parramatta is unique in that for 115 years of its life it had seven women hold the position of Principal, all of whom being Sisters of Mercy. This has meant that the Mercy heritage and traditions are still very much part of the current school community and valued by all. The transfer of the day to day running of the College from the Sisters to the College Board and College Executive and the appointment of the first Lay Principal have been relatively seamless and although a new era has begun, the College still continues to be influenced and inspired by the values and traditions of Catherine McAuley and the Sisters who established this great school, Our Lady of Mercy College Parramatta.