What We Do
Good Shepherd Ireland (GSI) was created as a structure to support and coordinate the ministries of the Irish Province.
It took shape through broad consultation with sisters, mission partners and other stakeholders.
Good Shepherd Ireland works with people affected by poverty, violence and discrimination. At Good Shepherd Ireland we believe no-one should be left behind. Together we work with communities in Ireland and internationally to tackle poverty and inequality.
Good Shepherd Sisters St. Mary’s Waterford
Good Shepherd Sisters St. Mary’s (St. Mary’s) was created as a voluntary housing association in 1994.
Its aim is to provide a high quality, person-centred service for vulnerable female adults based on the principles of commitment, excellence, accountability and respect, providing support and care for residents for the remainder of their lives.
This is achieved through:
- The provision of safe, secure, quality accommodation for independent supported living
- Encouraging residents to maintain regular contact with family members as far as possible
- Encouraging residents to socialise and engage with the local community
- Involving service users in event planning
- Collaboration with service users in the local community
- Ongoing support for former residents who require nursing care which St Mary’s can no longer provide
- Encouraging and supporting ongoing professional development for staff.
Staff have responded to the needs of the residents particularly while Covid-19 restrictions have been in place. A variety of activities has continued to be offered and residents have been facilitated in keeping in contact with relatives by phone and video calls when visits in person have not been possible.
Beechlawn House Nursing Home
Beechlawn House Nursing Home provides a continuum of social and medical care designed to support the needs of its residents, many of whom are living with chronic health problems that affect their ability to perform everyday activities.
Its design is dementia friendly and it has a bed capacity of 57: 41 single and 8 twin bedrooms. Throughout the building a bright colourful décor creates a sense of warmth and homeliness.
The multiple challenged created by COVIC-19 have been unprecedented. These challenges included: infection prevention and controls; staff shortages due to COVID-19 related absenteeism; COVID-19 outbreaks; finding creative means of communication between residents and loved ones; the physical and mental wellbeing of residents and staff working through a pandemic.
Beechlawn House Nursing Home has had regular inspections by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), most recently in November 2020. This short notice announced inspection awarded Beechlawn 100% compliance with HIQA regulations.
We were created with a vocation to work…
Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth…
Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs.
The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work.
LAUDATO SI’ 128
Sharing Fair was established in the Irish Province in 2005, as part of an international Good Shepherd network, to facilitate training of women in the production and sales of handcrafts. Many volunteers supported the sisters by bringing goods for sale throughout the island of Ireland. Since 2005, Sharing Fair in Ireland has supported hundreds of women in more than 40 centres in 20 countries. Many positive narratives have confirmed that the lives of individuals and families, and even small communities, have been transformed through the support of Sharing Fair. We are profoundly grateful to all those who gave their time and energy to contribute to this project.
It has become clear that this model is not sustainable. Sharing Fair Belfast no longer runs sales of work. However, Sharing Fair in Belfast will continue to focus on fundraising for Good Shepherd initiatives in low and middle-income countries. We look forward to continuing our support in the coming years as new needs are presented.
Justice Peace
“Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world
fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel,
or, in other words, of the Church's mission for the redemption of the human race
and its liberation from every oppressive situation.”
(Justice in the World: Synod of Catholic Bishops, 1971. No 6)
The Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd was granted special consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1996. The current NGO Main Representative and Director of the Good Shepherd International Justice Peace Office (GSIJPO) in New York is Sr. Winifred Doherty from Ireland. Sr. Winifred heads a team of international NGO representatives based in New York, Switzerland (Geneva), Madagascar, Brazil and Beirut. To read more about the GSIJPO click the button below:
Good Shepherd Position Papers
In 2011, the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd published a set of Good Shepherd Position Papers to serve as a tool toward relevant development of programmes, policy, and advocacy.
This 2018 Position Papers update encompasses the Congregational Chapter Direction statement of 2015. It integrates insights of Catholic Social Teaching, including teaching of our current Pope Francis; it draws on the international work of our Congregational Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) representative at the United Nations (UN), including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To read more about the Position Papers, click here:
To access the Good Shepherd Position Papers on Migration, Economic Justice, Girl Child, Trafficking, Prostitution, and Integral Ecology, click here: