Colour: Red
Named for: Mother Columba Griffin

Mother Mary Columba Griffin, was one of the first Sisters of Mercy to come to Townsville. Mother Columba had joined the Sisters of Mercy in Athy (Ireland) in 1865, and subsequently volunteered for “the Queensland mission”. After a journey from Ireland to Brisbane on “The Golden Land”, she joined the Sisters of Mercy, All Hallows’ Convent, Brisbane, on 2nd January, 1868.

When the Sisters of St. Joseph withdrew from Townsville in March, 1878 the then Parish Priest of Townsville, Fr. William Mason Walsh, requested the Sisters of Mercy from All Hallow’s in Brisbane to come to Townsville in their place. St Patrick’s College Annual of 1968 records: “In 1968 Brisbane (Sisters of Mercy) established a branch Convent in Townsville to take the place of the Sisters of St. Joseph who were recalled to Sydney. Three Sisters, with Mother M. Columba Griffin in charge, arrived ….”

Mother Columba’s stay in Townsville was a short one, returning, it seems, to St. Vincent’s Home for Children at Nudgee, where she spent many years of her life. She died in Brisbane in 1919.