Neill O'Neill
AHEAD of the one hundredth anniversary of the commencement of education by the Sisters of Mercy in Louisburgh in 1919, staff and students at Sancta Maria College in the town are hoping to be settled in their multi-million euro new school after the sod on the 18 to 24 month project was turned last week.
There are currently 450 students and 32 teachers in Sancta Maria College – which has the distinction of being the first co-educational school for boys and girls in Ireland – but the existing buildings were designed for much fewer numbers. Last week’s sod turning ceremony was therefore a momentous occasion in the life of the school, and the €8 million renovation, extension and upgrade will see ten new classrooms and specialist rooms, a full size gymnasium and ancillary works transform Sancta Maria College ahead of its centenary.
Speaking at the sod turning on Friday, Principal Pauline Moran outlined a campaign going back 17 years – spearheaded originally by the Board of Management under principal Vincent O’Loughlin – to get funding for the new buildings.
“We hit a few stumbling blocks along the way, including a recession, but I recall being in the middle of an important meeting and Jim [Rocliffe] telling me there was a call for me. I couldn’t take it, I ignored it, but then Fionnoula, in her wisdom, stuck her head around the door and said Pauline you might want to take this call, it’s from Enda Kenny. It was Budget Day and the message was our school was getting the funding for the building project. So today is a sentimental moment and one to mark. That is why I have asked Sister Ann to do the honour of turning the sod, she was my principal that appointed me and was the person that was here through the last extension and also through the end of the Mercy Order at the school. I would like to thank everyone for coming and for all your support over the years.”
Progress
Turning the sod on the lawn, Sr Ann said she was delighted to be back at the school, and to see another ‘positive stage’ in the ongoing story of Sancta Maria College.
She outlined that in October 1919, two Mercy sisters left Tuam on a two-day journey to Louisburgh, arriving by horse and side cart.
“They started off in McDermott’s Hotel and the following September they opened a secondary. In 1925 the convent across the wall was built and two rooms given over to this school. Later when the Sisters had more resources they built more rooms and in 1960 the section of the school [at the main entrance that is due to be demolished] was built and the majority of the remainder followed in 1986 and now we are at the latest extension in 2017. It has taken a lot of hard work to get this far, I was here in the 1980s for the last extension and know of all the phone calls and letters to the Department of Education, the odd time we had to go up to the factory to send an urgent fax, but it took a lot of work to get the final signature to get the go ahead, but that is where we are now.”
Sr Ann congratulated Pauline Moran and all the staff, students Board members and everyone in the community who had worked to make the project a reality.
On behalf of the Board of Management, Andy Durkan, it’s longest serving member, spoke of his own memories of being in school at Sancta Maria, describing how ‘it takes a village to rear a child and community is very important’.
“For a community one of its most important parts is its school, and we are blessed with Sancta Maria, and it continues to go from strength to strength. Without this school and the investment in its future, the community here would be a lot worse off, but thank God there is confidence in our community, and this is a fantastic vote of confidence in our community.”
Fr Mattie Long, PP Louisburgh, then performed an official blessing of the school, site and project.
