Our Lady of Lourdes was one of the only schools in England to be run by the Religious Sisters of Charity or Irish Sisters of Charity between 1959 and 1990.

In 1956 the Parish Priest of Our Lady and St Hugh  went to Ireland to ask for Sisters help to teach in the parish school and work among the people in the area. The parish was in a new part of Witney with many young families and no Catholic school. Five Sisters came, three to teach and two to work in the parish. The Sisters also collected children from outlying areas to take them to school. Some of the Sisters taught catechism to the children in the R.A.F Base in Brize Norton and later a Sister worked full time at the Base with the service men and their families. The sisters left Witney in 1990 due to shortage of personnel.

Today, the school continues its mission set by the sisters to teach and  support children and their families in the parishes of Witney and Eynsham. 

ON JANUARY 19, 1787, MARY AIKENHEAD, FOUNDER OF THE IRISH SISTERS OF CHARITY AND ST. VINCENT’S HOSPITAL DUBLIN, WAS BORN.

She founded the Religious Sisters of Charity in 1815 to help “the suffering poor.” Mary  was one of seven people to be declared venerable at the Vatican in March 2015. Pope Francis declared Mary Aikenhead venerable, putting the founder of the Religious Sisters of Charity one step closer to sainthood. 

Mary Aikenhead was a woman of great faith, a visionary whose dream was to give to people who were poor, what people who had money could buy.

Today, the Religious Sisters of Charity continue to follow her dream in Ireland, England, Scotland, Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi, California, and Australia.

FREE MOBILE APP "WALKING WITH MARY AIKENHEAD"

The free mobile App “Walking with Mary Aikenhead” is available from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The App features an interactive walking trail for both Cork and Dublin where you can follow in the footsteps of Mary Aikenhead and learn more about her life and the development of the Congregation.

Download it by clicking HERE for the App Store or HERE for the Google Play Store.