An extraordinary young woman
Our professional nurses are part of a unique nursing tradition, which has been supporting people with physical and mental health problems in Sydney for well over a hundred years.
It began with Eileen O’Connor—an inspirational young Catholic—who co-founded Our Lady’s Nurses of the Poor with the help of Father Edward McGrath in 1913.
The pair were determined to support people living in difficult circumstances at a time when there was no government-funded healthcare or welfare.
Helping the community
The organisation began with just seven nurses in a house in Coogee. Over the years, it grew into a service with almost forty religious Sisters and Novices helping people throughout Sydney, Brisbane, Newcastle and Wollongong.
Dressed in distinctive brown cloaks and bonnets, they went into the community to help people who were unwell and living in poverty.
The Brown Nurses today
Our contemporary and professional nursing team is made up of registered and enrolled nurses recognisable now by their distinctive blue shirts rather than brown cloaks and bonnets, all carry on Eileen’s legacy through the delivery of compassionate person-centred care and advocacy for those we support.
Our Ladies Nurses for the Poor, all now retired, were the religious sisters who worked tirelessly in the community for decades, welcoming all those in need with warmth and generosity. They continue to provide their ongoing support and commitment to the Brown Nurses by funding the service. This commitment and the organisation’s mission and values reflect the social justice teachings of the Catholic Church, which emphasise the dignity of each individual and their right to a full life.
Eileen’s legacy
Eileen suffered from a severe curvature of the spine and could not stand or walk for much of her life. It is now known Eileen suffered from transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord.
Although she died when she was just 28 years old, her legacy ranks among the likes of Caroline Chisholm and Saint Mary MacKillop.
Eileen has long been considered a "saint in waiting” and the formal process for her beautification began in 2018.
To learn more about Eileen’s story and Our Lady’s Nurses for the Poor, click here.
