School thrives after 60 years

One of Cork’s longest-running independent schools is celebrating its 60th year, but also the involvement of one of its founders who still plays an active role as she approaches her 88th birthday.

Mary O’Donovan grew up a few doors down from where she and Kathleen Cahill set up Scoil Mhuire at Wellington Road in the north inner city.

From the early days when a newspaper notice helped them open with 70 girls — a remarkable number in 1951, almost two decades before the introduction of universal free secondary education — the school has gone on to thrive with 450 students attending today.