The first foundation, led by Mother M. Cecilia Maher, was from Carlow to Cheadle in Staffordshire, England, in 1849. She was the Superior in Carlow at the time and didn't stay long in Cheadle.

Mother M. Cecilia Maher is best known as the Foundress of the Sisters of Mercy in Auckland, the first Mercy foundation in New Zealand.

Cecilia was 41 years old when she was professed in Carlow, considered elderly by the standards of that time.

She travelled to New Zealand in 1850 with six other Carlow sisters, a postulant from Dublin, and a member of the community from Sydney.

The Bishop of Auckland requested assistance for the Maori people. The Sisters of Mercy answered the call and established a wide range of works of Mercy.

Ellen Maher was born in Freshford, Kilkenny, in 1799. Her father, John Maher, was a prosperous farmer. Her mother died when she was young. After her father remarried, Ellen sacrificed her dream of becoming a religious sister to help raise her five siblings.

Ellen entered the Carlow community and was professed in 1840 at the age of 41. During this time, Frances Warde, a friend and confidante of Catherine McAuley, served as the Superior at Carlow.

Ellen came under Frances' influence and became Superior in Carlow in 1843.

Having entered the Convent of Mercy in Carlow with Frances Warde as Superior, Cecilia would have been well-grounded in the spirit of Catherine McAuley. In addition, Catherine McAuley was acquainted with her and appreciated her talents.

In Auckland, the Sisters responded to the needs of the Maori people and also established educational and other ministries to serve the people of Auckland.

Early in her religious life, Cecilia was given responsibilities because she was already a mature and educated woman.

She was fifty when she felt the call to go to Auckland to establish the foundation there.

Mother M. Cecilia Maher had to learn the Maori language and work with people from diverse cultural backgrounds while in Auckland.

Mother M. Cecilia Maher founded the Auckland Congregation, which grew to be a strong and sizeable community. Healthcare was one of the many works of Mercy that the community developed.

Cecilia sent Sisters from Auckland to make a Mercy Foundation in Wellington. Both congregations would eventually become part of the Nga Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand.

In 2023, the New Zealand Sisters of Mercy launched Whānau Mercy Ministries, which is a Ministerial Public Juridic Person (MPJP) of Pontifical Right that will own and oversee incorporated ministries established by the Sisters of Mercy in New Zealand over the last 150 years.

“Auckland 1850: A Voyage Made ‘Only for God’”, Nga Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand, accessed 10 May 2024. https://www.sistersofmercy.org.nz/ko-wai-matou-who-we-are/our-founding-stories/auckland-1850/