Beyond local borders.

In February 1867, Father Woods became Director of Catholic Education in Adelaide. After devising a draft set of rules for the new and revolutionary Institute of St Joseph, he needed Mary MacKillop to give it some practical credibility.

On 22 June 1867, she boarded the steamship SS Penola at Port MacDonnell jetty for the journey to Adelaide, where she went on to establish the Cathedral Hall School. The Institute expanded at a rapid rate, and after taking her final vows in 1869, Mary embarked on a life of travel. Her journeys took her from small towns like Robe, which established a Josephites school in the Star of the Sea Church, to faraway places like Rome.

Mary MacKillop never forgot this south-eastern corner of Australia which inspired and influenced her life's work, and returned to the region at every opportunity. As a consequence, the collective townships which feature in this brochure are enormously proud to not only have played a part in the journey of this extraordinary Australian, but to have provided a pathway on her overall road to sainthood.