Sister Mary Irene Fitzgibbon (1823-1896)

birth name: Catherine Rosamund FitzGibbon

birth place: London, England

death place: New York City, New York, United States

death cause: heart disease

SISTER MARY IRENE DEAD; THE FOUNDER OF THE FOUNDLING ASYLUM. An Institution Which Has Cared for Thousands of Abandoned Children — The Dead Woman a Skillful Ennager — Through Her Efforts Seton Hospital Was Also Established — Great Success in Caring for the Little Ones…. Sister Mary Irene, who for twenty-seven years was at the head of the work of saving the lives of homeless infants in New-York City, is dead. The malady from which she had patiently suffered for forty years, and which ended her life at 7:30 o’clock yesterday morning, was heart disease, but the primary cause of her death was the heat. New York Times 15 August 1896

resting place: Sisters’ Cemetery, College of Mount Saint Vincent, Bronx, New York

known for:  Founder of New York Foundling Hospital

occupation:  Sisters of Charity, Roman Catholic religious sister, orphanage director, teacher

On October 11, 1869 Sister Mary Irene Fitzgibbon and two other Sisters of Charity welcomed their first abandoned infant to their brownstone on East 12th street
	Silver Jubilee of the Foundling 1894 (click to enlarge)