History of Holy Rosary School

Joseph Shanahan was born in 1871 in Ireland.  As an Irish missionary to Africa he was to become one of the greatest missionaries of modern times.

In 1920 he was ordained Bishop of Southern Nigeria.  He realised that he needed a community of Sisters and this led him to found the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary in 1924 in Killeshandra, Ireland.

In 1939 a request came from Father Standing, the Parish Priest of Edenvale, for the Holy Rosary Sisters to work there. Bishop Shanahan realised that education was the only way to equip young people to use their talents fully and so fulfil God's plan for their lives.

In 1940 the first five Sisters undertook the dangerous journey by boat from Ireland to Durban. The Holy Rosary School in Edenvale opened in 1940 and Bishop Shanahan visited it from Kenya that year.  Bishop Shanahan died after a long illness on Christmas Day 1943.

The Sisters are justly proud of the school's outstanding progress and attribute it, with gratitude, to the wonderful generosity of both parents and teachers over the years.  The hard work of everyone involved in the school community and the excellent spirit of service and co-operation have been an inspiration to them.