SISTERS of Mercy have worked in Abingdon for the last 151 years.

But they will no longer have a presence as of today as Sister Monica and Sister Helen leave the town after 50 years.

Monica and Helen Sheehy, who are also siblings, are the only Sistters left since two members of the order founded the Our Lady’s Convent school in 1860.

At its peak there were 30 Sisters at the school in Oxford Road before they downsized to St John’s Road in 1999.

Our Lady’s Abingdon became independent of the Sisters in 2007, but the Sisters continued to serve as governors and provide spiritual support to the school community.

But now Sister Monica has been called to a community in Derby and Sister Helen to one in Alnwick, Northumberland.

Sister Monica was headmistress at Our Lady’s for about 16 years until she retired in the mid-90s.

She was the last Sister to head the senior school and has recently worked as a community leader and a school governor.

Sister Helen is also a nursing sister and has worked as a school nurse for the last eight years.

There was a reunion of the school staff and a party for the sisters at St Ethelwold’s House in East St Helen’s Street last Wednesday.

There was also a special Mass at St Edmund’s Church on Friday, September 9, followed by a buffet at Our Lady’s Abingdon.

Sister Monica said: “I am leaving with great reluctance, sadness and many happy memories.

“We have loved Abingdon and I think my heart will be in Abingdon forever.

“But things are changing and the world is changing and one has to move on.”

She added: “We have had the presence of the sisters here for 151 years and eight months. It is the end of an era.”

Sister Monica said it had been “wonderful” working alongside her sister for so long, adding: “We are great friends and we get on very well.

“We will miss each other but it’s not the end of the road and we will meet up and plan our holidays together.”

Sister Helen had a 20-year break from Abingdon when she worked as a nurse in hospitals and care homes in Sheffield and Leeds.

Our Lady’s headteacher Lynne Renwick said: “Our Lady’s Abingdon owes a great deal to the work of Sister Monica and Sister Helen, and they will be very sorely missed.

“We give thanks for all the work they have done for the school and all the support they have given pupils, teachers and parents in the community.”

Members of the order live and actively serve in the community, as opposed to a religious nun, who lives a reclusive life of prayer and meditation.