Mother Mary Gonzaga Barry IBVM, the Irish religious sister who introduced the Loreto order to Australia 150 years ago, has been named a Trailblazer on the 2025 Victorian Honour Roll of Women for her contribution to education.
This honour comes in the milestone year marking 150 years since the Loreto Sisters first arrived in Australia.
The award was presented at a ceremony held at Arts Centre Melbourne on Tuesday, where Victorian Minister for Women Natalie Hutchins formally inducted Mother Gonzaga Barry and 23 other women.
Loreto College Ballarat director of mission Felicity Knobel and Loreto Toorak director of mission and leadership Michelle McCarty received the award. Mother Gonzaga was symbolically represented by Eva Cummins, a Year 9 student from Loreto College Ballarat.
One of four inductees in the Trailblazer category, Mother Gonzaga Barry was truly ahead of her time.
She led the first group of Loreto Sisters who arrived in Australia from Ireland in 1875. From Ballarat, her work expanded through Victoria with schools in Portland and Melbourne, ultimately inspiring the establishment of Loreto schools across Australia.
In Victoria, Loreto College Ballarat and Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak, together with Loreto Kirribilli and Loreto Normanhurst in New South Wales, Loreto College Marryatville in South Australia, and Loreto College Coorparoo in Queensland, stand as enduring testimony to her vision for the education of girls.
Several current parish primary schools in Ballarat also trace their foundations to her initiative.
As she herself once wrote: “There is no subject of greater, perhaps as great, importance to a nation as that of its women’s education.”
“Mother Gonzaga Barry’s courage and leadership transformed the educational landscape for women in this country,” said Sr Wendy Hildebrand, Loreto Australia and South East Asia Province Leader.
“Her induction into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women is not only a tribute to her life, but also to the thousands of women and men who continue her vision today in schools, ministries, and communities across Australia and beyond.”
The Victorian Honour Roll of Women honours women whose leadership, service, and innovation have made a lasting contribution to the state. This year’s inductees represent diverse fields of endeavour, and the Loreto Sisters are deeply proud to see one of their founders recognised among them.
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Loreto Founder Inducted 2025 Victorian Honour Roll of Women (Loreto)
