Presentation Secondary School, Ballingarry

Mission Statement

The Presentation Secondary School Ballingarry is a rural co-educational school. It cherishes Christian Values and is committed to justice and answering the needs of our time.

Presentation Secondary School gives priority to:

Providing its students with education for life and living.

Sharing and celebrating the Christian Vision of life.

School History

When one looks back over the 140 year's history of the religious and educational establishment know affectionately as "The Convent" one realises the enormous contribution that the school has made to the local community since its foundation on 22nd August 1871. The school has developed from being an elementary school at the outset to a renowned boarding school throughout the 1900's and an ultra-modern voluntary secondary school of well over 300 pupils in the New Millennium.

The decrease in religious vocations has led to fewer nuns being available to dedicate themselves to teaching. The Presentation Sisters are no exception to this trend and the decline in their numbers has resulted in the closure and sale of the convent. Fortunately, they remain with us, living in the midst of the community in the villages of Ballingarry and the Commons.

On August 22nd 1871 Rev. Mother Aloysius Green accompanied by four members of the Thurles Community; Mother de Sales Ryan, Mother Regis Croke, Sister Patrick Butler and Sister Magdalene came to Ballingarry. These Sisters endured the trials and hardships of any religious foundation but were buoyed up by the fact that more than 100 children were enrolled for the Elementary/Primary School that they has established. The succeeding year brought developments and extensions to the Convent.

There was the building of the Primary School, the establishment of a Boarding School in 1887 and the erection of a Chapel, which was consecrated by Archbishop Harty in 1916. The Golden Jubilee in 1921 saw great celebrations of Thanksgiving for five decades of progress and expansion. The Golden Jubilee of the Boarding School in 1937 brough messages and greetings from parishioners and past pupils at home and abroad. In 1940 a substantial extension to the Convent resulted in the provision of classrooms, a study room and dormitories. In 1961 the first ever Pre-Fabricated school building in Ireland was erected. This is the present St. Patrick's Wing.

The other Pre-Fab wing of St. Joseph's and the old hall was added, by degrees, in the 1960s. The Old Hall was extensively refurbished to mark the 130th Anniversary. The 1960s also saw great change with the introduction of free education by Donagh O'Malley in 1967. The Presentation Sisters, encouraged by Canon Noonan, saw the growing need to consider co-education. This they embraced with great enthusiasm thus answering the needs of the time within the Community of Ballingarry and its environs.


The Centenary of the foundation was celebrated. His Grace Archbishop Thomas Morris concelebrated the Mass of Thanksgiving. The 1970s saw a further expansion and development culminated in the opening of the present school in 1983. In keeping with the Nano Nagle Vision of justice and sharing, education was democratised and made more accessible by the establishment of a Parent Council in the 1970s, a Board of Management in the 1980s and a Student Council in the 1990s. The contribution of all the people who give so freely of their time to these committees is immense and much appreciated.


In the 1990s further expansion took place particularly in Curriculum Development. New courses such as the Transition Year Programme and Leaving Certificate Applied were included. Plans are currently in progress for a new extension which will include specialist classrooms and a purpose built ultra modern gymnasium. On Friday March 28th 2008 our trusteeship was transferred to CEIST - Catholic Education – An Irish Schools Trust. This is a new and challenging time in the history of Presentation Education. However Catholic Education remains at the heart of our Mission Statement.

We are now part of a wider Community of over a hundred school linked to four other congregations, namely; Daughters of Charity, The Sisters of the Christian Retreat, The Sisters of Mercy and Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. We will still hold our traditions of Presentation Education going back to the founding of the Convent in 1871.
The School Community marches proudly into its Third Century serving the needs of the people of Slieveardagh. In the words of our most illustrious and much respected former teacher the late Sr. de Ricci "Ad multos Annos".


Address: 
Ballingarry, Thurles

Tel: 
052- 9154104

Fax: 
052- 9154766

Email: 
presballingarry@eircom.net

Website: 
http://www.presballingarry.ie

Principal: 
Ms. Angela Cahill

Deputy Principal: 
Mr. Ger Dowling