From little acorns...

Our Lady's began life as a very little acorn on 21st November 1887 when 9 girls began their education in a room in the Convent of Mercy, Newry. The Reverend Mother of the convent, Mother Emmanuel Russell (in whose memory the beautiful chapel pictured here is named) opened the school in response to a request from Most Reverend Thomas McGivern, Coadjutor Bishop of Dromore,for a School of Higher Education for the Catholic girls of Newry.

As numbers grew,the convent rooms became too small and in 1895, the school moved to the premises in Canal Street which were to be home to Our Lady's for almost a century. A boarding school was opened in 1918 and girls from South Armagh and South Down, and much farther afield, boarded there until its closure in 1971.

In 1992 a new era began with the move from Canal Street to the new, modern building on Chequer Hill which is now Our Lady's.

Mercy Traditions

We value our Mercy tradition which is reflected in many of our significant school occasions:

- Opening of Year Mass on September 24th,feast day of Our Lady of Mercy

- First Friday Devotions - a long-­established practice in which the entire school community comes together in prayer on the First Friday of every month

- 21st November Mass and Concert, recalling the founding of the school on November 21st, 1887

- Nativity Play and Carol Service

- May Procession in the grounds of the Mercy Convent in early May

A school where...
... we are proud of our history
... we value our Catholic ethos
... we care for our students
... relationships are positive and affirming
... we are innovative and forward -thinking
... we set high standards and have high expectations
... we offer a broad, balanced curriculum
... we prepare our students for the future
... we encourage strong links with the wider community
... we place an emphasis on the development of the whole student
... the spiritual, physical, emotional and educational welfare of our students is the basis of all we do