About Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak

The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), more commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, was introduced into Australia in 1875. In response to the request for nuns by Dr O'Connor, first Bishop of Ballarat, Mother Gonzaga Barry came with a group of seven professed nuns and two postulants to Ballarat on 20 July 1875. They left Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, the main house of the Irish Branch of the Institute, in May that year.

The Loreto sisters established schools in Portland and South Melbourne (1880's); Sydney (1892); Perth (1897); Adelaide (1907); Toorak, Melbourne (1924); and Brisbane (1927). Mother Gonzaga Barry took over the parish schools of St Joseph's (1877) and St Aloysius (1882) Ballarat; and Saints Peter and Paul's (1891) South Melbourne. The order also took charge of St Mary's College at the University of Melbourne (1917). Their aim was always the pursuit of excellence in a spirit of freedom, justice and sincerity.