The first Sisters of Mercy were Irish sisters who came to Adelaide from Argentina in 1880, following unrest in Buenos Aires. The same year, the sisters purchased the large home of George Dutton Green in Angas Street, behind St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, and established a convent and school, St Angela's. Part of the order went to Mount Gambier. The original building was extended at various times, and the school was re-named St Aloysius in 1901. In 1920 Mother Cecilia Cunningham received a substantial inheritance from wealthy Argentinian relatives which was used to extend the convent buildings and to build the beautiful chapel. The sisters finally left Angas Street in 2005, at which time the school took control of the entire complex of buildings.

McLay, Anne. Women on the move: Mercy's triple spiral, a history of the Adelaide Sisters of Mercy, Ireland to Argentina 1856-1880 to South Australia 1880-, Adelaide: Sisters of Mercy, 1996