Mary Mercer (b. Lancaster, England – d. 1735, Dublin, Ireland) moved to Dublin in 1663 when her father moved to study at Trinity College, where he subsequently became a fellow. In 1724, she leased an abandoned almshouse as a charity home for poor girls. In 1734, she converted it into a hospital for the poor suffering from ‘diseases of tedious and hazardous cure’. She died soon after, leaving most of her estate towards the funding of a charity school.
