 Mount Saint Canice former convent, in 2010 | |
  Location within Tasmania | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Sisters of the Good Shepherd |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Established | 1893 |
| Disestablished | 1974 |
| Archdiocese | Hobart |
| Site | |
| Location | 15 Saint Canice Avenue, Sandy Bay, Hobart, Tasmania |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 42°54′47″S 147°21′01″E / 42.912941741813015°S 147.3502342392383°E |
| Website | scctas |
Mount Saint Canice was a Roman Catholic former convent that was located in Sandy Bay, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia and run by the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, commonly called the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, from 1893 to 1974.
In 1893, the sisters began to take in young women who were perceived to have fallen short of the morals and values of the times. The Mount Saint Canice convent was to become known as The Magdalene Laundry and was one of ten such laundries in operation throughout Australia.[1] They were based on existing Magdalene laundries in Ireland.[2] "The Magdalene Laundries were workhouses in which many Irish women and girls were effectively imprisoned because they were perceived to be a threat to the moral fiber of society."[3]
The convent closed after eight novices were killed in an explosion in 1974;[4] and the building is used as an aged care retirement home.
- ^ "Find & Connect | The Find & Connect web resource is for Forgotten Australians, Former Child Migrants and everyone with an interest in the history of out-of-home 'care' in Australia". Find & Connect.
- ^ Chynoweth, Adele (19 June 2013). "Good Shepherd Sisters denying history". onlineopinion.au.
- ^ Smith, James M. (28 September 2007). "Ireland's Magdalen Laundries and the Nation's Architecture of Containment". undpress.nd.edu.
- ^ "Mount St Canice explosion, 1974". Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub. 22 November 2011.