Mother Bernard Garden became a member of the Sisters of Mercy (Liverpool) with the intention of going back to Scotland. Her plan was to return to Scotland once a foundation was established in Glasgow. Nevertheless, the Convent of Mercy in Limerick, not Liverpool, organised the foundation in Glasgow.

The story of this foundation and how Mother Bernard Garden is involved is quite complex. Despite the many challenges, Bernard Garden went on to be involved in taking Mercy to several locations in England, Scotland, and Wales. In 1852, she established a foundation in Pontypool, Monmouthshire, South Wales, from Liverpool.

Mother Bernard left Pontypool in 1870, perhaps with the whole community, to open Mercy houses in the Scottish Highlands. Bernard founded Dornie/Elgin in Scotland in 1871, and in the years that followed, she established the Sisters of Mercy in a number of locations in the northeast of the country.

Margaret Garden was born in Aberdeen in March 1824, the daughter of George and Christine Garden. At the age of 21, she entered the Convent of Mercy, St. Ethelburga's Liverpool, in October 1845, in order to serve in the Scottish Mission. She professed at Baggot Street in 1849.

Bernard Garden, like Catherine, is remembered as someone who travelled a great deal yet managed to establish a significant number of foundations. She had a nursing background and clearly excelled as an administrator. The sisters, who were part of the foundations she created, were involved in education. In addition, they also supported a wide range of projects related to the works of Mercy.

There are some gaps in the historical accounts of Mother Bernard. Certain relationships and timelines in the records are hard to decipher. But it is evident that Bernard Garden found herself caught between opposing viewpoints from leaders in Limerick, Baggot Street, and Liverpool.

Bernard must have been a highly determined individual to ignore these obstacles and carry on with her life's work of mercy. In Wales, there were serious difficulties with the bishop, which might explain the Sisters quick departure from Wales after making the foundation.

Dornie was the forerunner of Elgin, opened by Mother Bernard in 1871. It was founded as part of an effort to extend the Mercy Order into the Scottish Highlands. It became part of the Westminster Sisters of Mercy in 1958 and then the Union of the Sisters of Mercy of Great Britain in 1976. Mother M. Bernard Garden is largely responsible for the existence of Mercy in Scotland.