Information culture in the convent and the industrial school: a case study of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy in Ireland

This article explores the information culture that existed in the convents and industrial schools of one Irish religious congregation in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The research identifies the religious and official frameworks which guided the creation of records in the convents and in the residential schools run by the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy. The paper explores evidence for whether these frameworks were put into practice with reference to the surviving archives of a convent and a school in various parts of the south of Ireland. The research presents preliminary findings, which point towards the existence of an information culture in both the convent and school contexts. The study highlights the need for further research to explore the record creating discourse and information culture of these religious communities and institutions.