Mary Martin on boarding school life in Blackrock — and sneaking out to the cinema

Mary, whose husband is Taoiseach Micheál Martin, boarded at Ursuline College in Cork 50 years ago. She headed back to her 'home away from home' as the school celebrates 200 years

Mary Martin at the Ursulines Secondary School, Blackrock, Cork. Picture Dan Linehan

If you'd been in the environs of Cork's Ursuline College Blackrock on a Saturday evening around 1980, you might have spotted a young Mary Martin walking down the avenue, ostensibly to visit her godmother but really heading to the cinema.

“I remember this sneaking into town. There were always girls who had to go down that avenue, and get back again without being caught, after being at the cinema.