The Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, known too by the acronym R.S.C.J. Religeuse du Sacre Coeur, founded in France in 1800, was established in Ireland in 1842.
The current leadership group consists of two Irish people and one Scottish person. Dairne McHenry is, in accordance with Canon Law, the canonical leader. The other Irish person is Carmel Flynn. The third person of the Province Leadership Group is Mary Cavanagh who lives in Scotland.
The RSCJ Finance Office in Ireland is in
Mount Anville House, Goatstown , Co. Dublin.
D 14 KX80
Jacqui Walsh
Secretariat and communications office is located at
76 Home Farm Road, Dubln 9.
D09 R903
Orla O’Hanlon – Executive Officer
Helen Mulholland – Secretary
Scotland’s administration is dealt with in
27 Park Road, Dalkeith,
EH22 3DH
The staff of the office in Scotland
AnnMarie Meikle – Operations and Finance Manager
The congregation originally founded in France by Madeleine Sophie Barat in 1800 provided educational opportunities for girls at a time when this was rare. The first school was in Amiens. She sought a simple lifestyle for the religious without the prescribed austerities of older orders as these would be incompatible with the work of a school. In some locations the religious were responsible for one school but in many places there were at least two schools, a boarding school, a school for poor children and a night school for those who had not had opportunities at an earlier age. Formal approbation of the congregation, known as the Society of the Sacred Heart, was received in 1826 from Pope Leo XII. Expansion within Europe occurred quickly and in 1818 Rose Philippine Duchesne and companions sailed to America and established a free school in St. Charles, Missouri. Up to 1865, when she died, Madeleine Sophie Barat, was the Superior General.
