Mother Mary Gabriel Gill led a mission from Ireland to Dunedin in New Zealand in 1870 and 29 years later to the Goldfields of Western Australia after Bishop William Kelly, newly appointed Bishop of Geraldton, invited the Dominican Sisters from Dunedin to form a foundation in the recently formed Geraldton Diocese.
On 5th January 1899, Bishop Kelly provided a detailed description of the new mission and added: “I can put before you no inducement to come here, but for the love of God. If you can work for God’s sake and endure hard things and wait for better times, come along. Should you think the prospects too uninviting, I will not blame you. Are you willing to do for God what men will do for gold?”
We remained in the Geraldton Diocese until 2019 and over the years our schools across the goldfields gradually began to close as communities moved on and needs changed, with the last school closing in 1986. During the school holidays, Sisters staffed the “Bushie Schools” with Fr Spain for Catholic children in State schools and on remote farms and stations. This enabled many children to receive the sacraments. Such schools took place in Dongara, Leonora, Geraldton, Shark Bay, Morawa, Laverton and Exmouth, often residential for a week.
With the closure of some of the remote schools, in 1972, the Motor Missions were established in the Geraldton Diocese, to provided religious education to children and families in locations where there were no Catholic Schools. They operated out of Marian Convent Morawa and Three Springs Convent. Travelling many hundreds of miles each week, generally two sisters and then down to one sister, brought the ‘Good News’ to many communities. The Motor Missions continued for 12 years until the closure of the convents.
We were invited to the Archdiocese of Perth in 1942 and began to establish schools. Our two secondary school were amalgamated one with the Christian Brothers and the other with the Marist Brothers and ten primary schools established in Perth continue to flourish. They have all been transferred to other congregations or Catholic Education WA.
Left to Right: Bishop Kelly, Sister M. Bonaventure, Mother M. Gabriel Gill, Sister M. di Pazzi, Sister M. Dominica, Mother M. di Ricci, Kate Murphy (postulant) and Sister M Gonzales
The Dominican Order, ‘Order of ‘Preachers’, was founded by St Dominic de Guzman in the early 13th century. In response to several heresies in Cathar country in Southern France, Dominic wanted to be an itinerant preacher spreading the Gospel, so that he could meet people in their own environment. A house was established in Prouille in 1206, intended partly as a refuge for women who had previously lived in Cathar religious houses but had formally converted to Catholicism. In 1216 Dominic received permission to establish the Order of Preachers with a group of men who would be the first preachers.
The Dominican Sisters are part of a wider family of priests and brothers, contemplative nuns, active sisters and lay people within the Catholic Church who work together to carry out the Dominican mission of evangelising, teaching, and preaching.
The motto of all Dominicans is “Laudare, Benedicare Praedicare’ which means “To Praise to Bless, to Preach”, as seen on our Crest. This is our call to action, to ‘praise our Lord with our saints’, ‘lift our voice in song’ and witness ‘Your Word to the world’, as missioned by Dominic.
One key motto of the Order, to which we hold dearly, is:
77 Scarborough Beach Rd Scarborough WA 6019
© 2025 Dominican Sisters of Western Australia
