Muckross Park College () is a non fee paying

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

for

girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. ''daughter'' or ''girlfriend'' regardless of age, ...

, located in

Donnybrook, Dublin Donnybrook () is a district of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the southside (Dublin), southside of the city, in the Dublin 4 postal district. It is home to the Irish public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) and wa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It was founded in 1900 and is one of a number of Dominican schools in Ireland. As of 2021, it has a student body of 709. The school is active in many

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

and sports

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, including in

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. Some former students have gone on to play for Ireland at the international level. Academically, the school has achieved high results and ranked highly in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' list of feeder schools for 3rd level education in Ireland.

History

The

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

was founded in 1900 as St. Mary's University College, which was initially a third-level college for

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

studying for degrees awarded by the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

Junior and senior years

First, second and third years undertake the Junior Cycle curriculum in preparation for the Junior Certificate Examination. Transition year (TY) consists of organising work placements several times throughout the year, as well as much more such as a school trip abroad. Every week, TY students undertake

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

es at the nearby Independent Theatre Workshop studios. Other class modules include

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of Annual publication, a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually ...

film making Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screenwriti ...

, and fitness. Fifth year is spent preparing students for the Leaving Certificate Examinations. However, students also take part in a

ski Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...

trip as well as a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

with

Gonzaga College Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ir ...

. In Sixth Year, students do their Leaving Certificate Examinations. They may also take part in a pre- debs party, a mock party, and

graduation A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called Commencement speech, commencement, Congregation (university), congregation, Convocat ...

mass.

Clubs and events

There are many clubs and activities in the school, including a book club. There is also a school choir. Events during the school year include the opening of the school year mass which occurs in Donnybrook church. Other events include a Halloween dress-up day, and a sports day towards the end of the year. Every year gets a one or two full day retreat as well as day trips (Ferrycarrig, museums and galleries, the Gaisce hike and Carlingford for T.Y, Newgrange etc.) In previous years, transition year students at Muckross collaborated with transition year students of St. Michaels College in a charity fashion show. The show had different themes each year, and was a fundraiser for that year's chosen charity. The fashion show is no longer in action.

Sports

Muckross Park fields hockey teams at Minor, Junior and Senior levels, and has won many Leinster League titles. The Senior 1 team has also claimed the Senior Cup on several occasions. The senior basketball team, "The Cadettes", have also won multiple times. Other sports include cricket, handball, tennis, swimming, horse-riding and athletics.

Past Pupils' Union

The Past Pupils' Union (PPU) began in 1912, twelve years after the school was founded. This makes it the oldest all-girls Past Pupils Union in Ireland. The Muckross Adult Choir consists of past pupils, staff members and parents of current and past Muckross pupils. The Union also fundraises for its Benevolent Fund, which is used to grant financial assistance to those in need. The Muckross Park Past Pupils' Union Benevolent Fund was set-up during the tenure of the 1977/79 committee with the primary objective of helping past pupils who find themselves in financial difficulty. Over the years, the Fund has been used to support past pupils who have been impacted by serious illness, disability, bereavement, and unemployment. The Fund has also supported the education of students in need and other charitable causes deemed appropriate at the discretion of the committee, such as a Dominican early-learning programme in South Africa and a Dominican third-level project in Argentina. The fund is financed by way of an annual raffle and also through private donations.

Notable alumnae

* Anna O'Flanagan, Irish international hockey player * Beatrice Doran, former chief librarian at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland *

Dara Fitzpatrick Dara Fitzpatrick (15 October 1971 – 14 March 2017) was the Irish Coast Guard's most senior helicopter search and rescue pilot. As a Captain, she piloted the Dublin-based Rescue 116 helicopter. She was killed in the 2017 Irish Coast Guard Resc ...

, Irish Coastguard helicopter pilot *

Emma Donoghue Emma Donoghue (born October 1969) is an Irish Canadians, Irish Canadian novelist, screenwriter, playwright and literary historian. Her 2010 novel ''Room (novel), Room'' was a finalist for the Booker Prize and an international best-seller. Donog ...

, author of the book "Room", shortlisted for the Man-Booker prize *

Gemma O'Doherty Gemma O'Doherty (born 24 August 1968) is an Irish Far-right politics, far-right activist and conspiracy theorist. She began her career as a staff writer for the ''Irish Independent'', contributing articles on travel, the criminal justice system ...

, Far right activist and former Irish journalist * Mary Rose Gearty, judge of the Irish High Court *

Máire Ní Chinnéide Máire Ní Chinnéide (English ''Mary'' or ''Molly O'Kennedy'') (17 January 1879 – 25 May 1967) was an Irish language activist, playwright, first President of the Camogie Association and first woman president of Oireachtas na Gaeilge. Mái ...

Irish Language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

Activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, first president of the

Camogie Association The Camogie Association (, formerly ) organises and promotes the sport of camogie in Ireland and around the world. The association has close ties with the Gaelic Athletic Association, but is still a separate organisation. History The Camogie A ...

, and first female president of

Oireachtas na Gaeilge Oireachtas na Gaeilge (, "The Irish (language) Gathering") is an annual arts festival of Irish culture, which has run since the 1890s. Inspired by the Welsh eisteddfodau, the festival has included different events connected with Irish langua ...

* Nuala Carey, weather presenter on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

* Séana Ó Rodaigh, former mayor of

Fingal County Council Fingal County Council () is the local authority of the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on abolition on 1 January 1994 and is one of four local authorities in County ...

Síofra O'Leary Síofra O’Leary (born 20 September 1968) is an Irish lawyer and judge who served as president of the European Court of Human Rights from November 2022 to July 2024 and as a judge of the European Court of Human Rights since July 2015. She previo ...

, Judge at the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

References

External links

*
Muckross Park Past Pupils Union
{{Schools and colleges in County Dublin Girls' schools in the Republic of Ireland Secondary schools in Dublin (city) Catholic secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland Donnybrook, Dublin Dominican schools 1900 establishments in Ireland Educational institutions established in 1900