Loreto Abbey Boarding School
In 1821, Mother Teresa Ball and two other sisters came to Rathfarnham, in South Dublin. In 1822 they established the school, and it began on November 4th of that year after they transferred from Harold’s Cross. The law had changed since the penal days and Catholics were eager to establish and support their own schools. Loreto Abbey consisted of the boarding school, convent and farm. The school was known as “The Abbey” to many generations of students and sisters ever since.
Original Licence to keep the school
I do hereby certify that I do believe Mrs Frances Ball, Mrs Anne Therry and Mrs Frances Ellen Arthur, residing in the Parish of Rathfarnham, to be fully competent to keep school. Given under my hand this 16th day of June 1823
Henry MacLean L. Curate, Thomas Jones
Church Warden.
Education
There was no official curriculum back then and schools were free to draw up their own programmes. In 1822 the subjects taught were: French, Italian, Spanish, English, writing, History, Geography, the use of globes, writing, arithmetic, Heraldry, needlework, painting on velvet, satin and wood, drawing and music (harp, piano, voice). There were thirty-five pupils by the end of the year. The school grew in reputation and the sisters engaged the very best educators and professors that were available in Dublin at the time.
School Development and changing time.
The National school system did not begin until 1831, however Sister Teresa Ball had opened a “poor school” beside the Abbey which eventually grew to 100 pupils, opening education to the children of the area. Eventually, Sister Teresa applied to the school to be incorporated into the new system with governmental support of £20 per annum. The school flourished and is still there to this day on Grange Road! Thank you, Sister Teresa! By 1844 the boarding school had become so renowned that Daniel O’Connell enrolled his two daughters in the school. The aim of The Abbey education was “to cultivate the mind by a knowledge of truth, to inflame the will by a love of what is good”. What a beautiful intention! In its prime the boarding-school housed up to 200 pupils. In the early days of the school, central heating or electricity were not available. But from humble beginnings the Abbey was eventually praised and reported on for its excellence in education and the standards if the facilities. Sister Teresa wanted to teach the pupils through love, not fear, and corporal punishment was not to be used. Rather a system of positive reinforcement was preferred. The pupils were to be seen as individuals and their parents had great input in their education. Public examinations were introduced in 1878 to some push back from the sisters as the exams did not align with some of their principals including the “cramming” of topics, the publishing of results, the lack of oral testing and exclusion of the examination of more natural sciences (practical subjects). The opening up the free secondary education and the free transport system, made more schools available around the country. This eventually impinged on The Abbey. As numbers decreased, the subjects that were to be offered were affected. Large day schools became more attractive to parents. The sisters themselves were also in demand around the country is their different schools which also resulted in reducing pupil numbers further. In 1996 the school began to phase out boardings. It remained as a boarding school and convent until 1999 when the last leaving certificate student left, after 247 years of educating young women. One student reminisced about their time as a boarder in Loreto boarding school: “On my first night in the Abbey in St. Anne’s Dormitory I was too scared even to leave my cubicle, I asked the girl in the next bed if she was ok and we had a whispered chat. I have lots of memories such as Sr. Maxentia’s cure-all midnight feasts and music practice each evening”. The Abbey spirit and legacy lives on in many past pupils of the school. It was a true centre of educational excellence.
