Manor House School, Raheny

Manor House School is a large Roman Catholic second-level all-girls school in Raheny, Dublin, Ireland, attached to a convent, and with sporting facilities. The school had an enrolment of 773 in 2017.[1]

Location

Manor House occupies a complex of red-brick buildings on the road from North Bull Island to Raheny village centre, formerly the site of a "big house," which was demolished in the early days of the school. The school site is bounded by the Santry River and Watermill Road.

History

The Catholic Parish of Raheny asked religious order the Poor Servants of the Mother of God to open a convent and schools in 1952, and the order, having agreed, bought Manor House in March 1952. The first element, a girls' primary school (National School), opened in 1953, and a fee-charging secondary school began with the new school year in 1956. Although the economy was on the rise, many parents could not afford the bi-annual payment. The secondary school grew, and the school part of the complex of buildings was extended in 1964 and 1977. By contrast, the primary school was closed. In 1967, Manor House joined the free education scheme.

The Poor Servants of the Mother of God reduced their role in recent decades, and created a Board of Management in 1989, on which their appointees held four out of eight seats, with the school principal attending as Board secretary but not voting, and appointed the first lay principal in 1995.

In 2007, the school sold the most remote field of its sports grounds, and this has been developed with apartments. In 2009 the school was transferred to the Le Cheile Trust.[2]

Governance

The Le Cheile Trust, set up by a range of religious orders to oversee and act as trustee for their former schools, continues to operate with the order's ethos. The Board of Management is formally appointed by the Trust and operates within the framework set by the Trust. Several members are directly chosen by the Trust, others are nominated by parents and teachers, and the Principal is a non-voting attendee at Board meetings.

Reputation

This school has a reputation for excellent Leaving Certificate results and was ranked 112th in the Sunday Times list of the top 400 (out of over 700) secondary schools in Ireland in 2010.

Facilities

Manor House has several science laboratories. There is also a library, renewed in 2017 and opened by past pupil and author Alex Barclay.

Sport

The school also has a range of sports, with the volleyball team having reached their second All-Ireland, their Gaelic and camogie teams also reaching the All-Ireland often and their hockey team reaching a Leinster Final. .

In 2005, a Government-funded new gym hall was commenced, being opened by the Taoiseach on the 12th of February 2007.[3]

References and footnotes

1. The Irish Times - Feeder Schools - Manor House School, as retrieved 27 Feb 2018
2. "Le Cheile Newsletter, vol. 3, issue 1" (PDF). Le Cheile Trust. p. 1. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
3. Dublin, Ireland: Department of the Taoiseach: http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/index.asp?locID=558&docID=3221

External sources

• Dublin: Garrett, Arthur; 1990: Through Countless Ages