The seeds of the foundation of the Sisters of St. John of God in Ireland began in Wexford. It was there Sr. Visitation Clancy (then a Bon Secours sister) met with Bishop Furlong of Ferns and told him that a number of Bon Secours Sisters would be prepared to accept his invitation to set up a new Religious Foundation of Nursing Sisters in Wexford.

On the 7th October 1871 four sisters came to Wexford. There was no fanfare. The sisters did not have a place to live and had one shilling and sixpence between them.

By 1873 the Sisters had taken up duty in Wexford Hospital which was then the Workhouse. Sisters were also sent to New Ross and the Workhouse in Enniscorthy. They commenced teaching in the Faythe School in 1875.

The Congregation continued to grow and spread throughout Ireland.

In 1895 a group of Sisters went to Australia at the invitation of Bishop Gibney. This was the beginning of what was later to become the Australian Province.

In the 1920s the Sisters moved to England, where their main concern was the provision of Catholic Education.

The mission in Nigeria was opened in 1960 and the Sisters remained there until deported at the end of the Biafran War. The Sisters later went to West Cameroon in 1974, where again they were engaged in Health Care, Education and Community and Faith Development until 2004. Our most recent mission is to South Africa where we work specifically with people with HIV/Aids, their families and home based carers.

Health Care and Education have been the primary ministries of the Congregation over the years. In more recent years we have been engaged in a variety of other ministries including Counselling, Psychotherapy, Social Work, Clinical Pastoral Care, Parish Work and care of the Elderly.

We continue to serve in Ireland, England and South Africa.