ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Gonzaga Barry's achievements in Australia, on behalf of the Loreto Order. Gonzaga Barry was the leader of the first group of Loreto Sisters (Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, IBVM) to come to Australia in 1875. The Loreto Sisters came to Australia from Ireland in response to a request from the newly appointed bishop of Ballarat, Dr Michael O'Connor, whose invitation focused clearly on the needs of the fledgling Ballarat diocese. In the context of Loreto Ballarat, however, Miss Bella Guerin appeared as the inaugural editor of the school magazine publication, Eucalyptus Blossoms. She put her name to the first editorial, offering her critique of 'Loreto education' as well as her own take on her employer: Both mind and heart can be thoroughly cultivated only by our own cooperation with the means so generously placed at our disposal by the religious of Loreto.
