The civic reception was held to celebrate the Orders 175 years of service in Newry as well as the 800th anniversary of the Poor Clare Order.
Initially the Poor Clare's came to Ireland in 1629 and maintained their presence in the country despite penal times, expulsion and persecution.
For much of the 1800's there was much poverty and destitution in Newry and the then Bishop of Dromore Dr Thomas Kelly felt there was a greater need for an Institution of catholic education in the town.
With this in mind he approached the Poor Clare Sisters who were based in Dublin to come to Newry and set up a school there.
In 1827 Mother Abbess Mary Tracey accompanied by four Poor Clare sisters and a priest became the first religious to cross River Boyne since the Reformation when they arrived in Newry and within a year of their arrival they had set up a catholic school with an enrolment of over 400 pupils.
Among the visitors to the school in its early years was the founder of Catholic Emancipation in Ireland, Daniel O'Connell MP who later wrote, “I especially note the neatness and cleanliness of the children, their superior style of pronunciation, and through the understanding of what they read the proper application of emphasis and division of sentences in reading.”
Speaking at the civic reception Cllr McArdle said, “I am so honoured to be hosting this reception this evening as the outstanding work in the community by the Poor Clare Nuns should not go unrecognised. The nuns have taught generations of children in Newry and surrounding areas for many years. The debt of gratitude owed by the people of Newry and Mourne to the community of the Sisters is immense.”
He added, “The dedicated and relentless pursuit of the educational and religious welfare of the pupils in the care of the sisters and determination to provide them with the best possible skills for life is legendary.”
The Poor Clare Sisters are now based in Ashgrove in the city and the Sacred Heart Grammar school that the sisters run has one of the best academic records of achievement in Northern Ireland.