146 Years.. And Counting!
Watch Highlights: Mercy Historical Centre Official Opening
On August 19, 2026 the Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, officially opened the Mercy Historical Centre at 26 South Camp Road. Watch highlights and explore the gallery below.
The Sisters of Mercy have a long history of ministry in Jamaica. The ministry began with a Jamaican woman of mixed heritage (French, Portuguese, and African)—Jessie Ripoll. Jessie used her money and contributions from friends to purchase 43 acres on which she establish Alpha Cottage which became the Alpha Boys School and today houses the Alpha School of Music and the Alpha Vocational Training Centre.
A decade after the opening of the first orphanage, appropriately called “Alpha”, the numbers of children increased such that the women needed some additional assistance. They invited the Sisters of Mercy from Bermondsey, England, to come to Jamaica to join them in their works of mercy. Four Sisters of Mercy arrived in December 1890, and a few months later Jessie and her two companions were received into the order.
Over the years, the Sisters of Mercy live and minister throughout the southern portion of Jamaica. The Alpha Campus site is a large complex that includes Alpha Infant School, Alpha Primary, Jessie Ripoll Primary, Convent of Mercy Girls Academy, Alpha School of Music, and Alpha Vocational. In addition to convent facilities and Christ the King Chapel, there are medical facilities and a corporate office.
Additional ministries of the Sisters of Mercy in Kingston Jamaica include the Laws Street Trade Training. The Laws Street Trade Training Centre trains economically disadvantaged adults in various skills including sewing, bakery, crafts, garments, home economics.
Outside the parish of Kingston, the Sisters of Mercy expanded the ministry. Mount St. Joseph Preparatory School was founded in 1934 in Manchester Jamaica. Today, the preparatory school is a there is highly sort. In the 1960s the Sisters of Mercy opened St. John Bosco to vulnerable young men. Today, Bosco is a vertically integrated trade training centre offering valuable skills training in the parish of Manchester.
