Our School
History of Cnoc Mhuire
In Brief
Cnoc Mhuire Secondary School was established in 1947 by the Sisters of Mercy, opening its doors to the girls of the surrounding area. The school enrolled boarders in 1947 and continued to do so until 1987. In 1959, Cnoc Mhuire became a co-educational school when 12 boys enrolled out of a first year enrolment of 41. From its inception the school members gradually grew until 1968 when the introduction of free education led to a surge in numbers. To cater for this, a 20 classroom block was built in 1970. In 1983, a two-storey block containing classrooms and specialist rooms was added. In that year, a sportshall was also built.
In 1987, both the Principal and Manager were members of the Sisters of Mercy. In that year, a Board of Management replaced the Manager and in 1996, the first lay Principal was appointed.
The Sisters of Mercy, Western Province were trustees of the school at that stage.
In 2006, the Sisters of Mercy joined 4 other congregations Daughters of Charity, Presentation Sisters, Sisters of the Christian Retreat, Sisters of Mercy and Missionaries of the Sacred Heart – to establish a trust to run their schools -CEIST -Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust. These are the trustees of our school today.
The catchment area is a 9 mile radius around Granard town. From small beginnings the school has grown and expanded to its present population of 449 students and 40 staff, comprised of teaching, administrative and maintenance personnel.
For the 1997 Jubilee Year of the School a special magazine was produced which can be downloaded on the Magazine page. This gives a very detailed history of the school including images from as far back as 1947.
The Mercy Congregation
Writing an account of Cnoc Mhuire, its beginning, its growth and development would be incomplete without reference to the Mercy Order and the coming of the Sisters of Mercy to Granard. Catherine McAuley, who founded the Sisters of Mercy, was born in Dublin in 1778, a city of Grattan’s Parliament, but also a city where the vast majority lived in destitution. Unemployment and destitution were harsh facts of life. She, as a wealthy heiress could have turned her back on the abject squalor and poverty around her, but she, as a lay woman, in 1827 established a House of Mercy in Baggot Street, where she and her companions provided clothing, care, shelter and education for many of Dublin’s poor, sick and orphaned people. In response to God’s call she became a religious sister and on the 12th of December 1831 she laid the foundations of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, with the house in Baggot Street as its first convent. Since then thousands of women have been drawn to this Mercy way of life and have gone as Mercy sisters to the four corners of the globe, as well as to all parts of Ireland. In 1861 the Sisters of Mercy first carne to the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois.
Presentation Sisters – 1861
The history of education in Granard is interwoven with the history of religious sisters who called to make their home in the town.
As early as 1861 the Presentation Sisters had come from George’s Hill Convent in Dublin and resided in Springlawn House, formerly owned by Pettits. The outhouses attached to the dwelling house were converted into school rooms where the sisters taught until 1881 when they left and went to Portadown, Co. Armagh.
Sisters of Mercy come to Granard – 1882
In 1881 the then Parish Priest of Granard. Dean 0′ Flanagan, asked the sisters in Newtownforbes to send some sisters to Granard. At that time there was a Workhouse in Granard which was established in 1842 to relieve the poverty of the people, but like so many similar ones in the country it brought only endless suffering and misery. The records of 1850 show that there were 269 males and 417 females enrolled, a total of 686 pupils with one male and one female teacher. It was to this workhouse on 2nd of February 1882, one hundred and fifteen years ago (115), that six sisters were sent to Granard from Newtowntorbes three to nurse in the Workhouse Infirmary and three to teach in the Workhouse schools. Later on, these sisters moved into Springlawn and taught boys and girls in makeshift classrooms. Later lace making and domestic skills were taught to older girls. The sisters, were very poor, at times scarcely having enough to eat, but they were supported by the generosity and kindness of the people of Granard.
In 1891 with the generous co-operation of the priests and people of Granard, who organised bazaars, concerts, etc. the Convent Primary School was built on a the spacious site. It was here that the sisters taught all the years. They still continue to serve the educational needs of the town in a modern building, which was erected in 1977.