Principal’s Welcome

Welcome to our school website.

Dominican College Muckross Park is a Catholic, private, voluntary secondary school for girls, with just over 700 students. It was founded by the Dominican sisters in 1900. The school is under the trusteeship of the Le Cheile Schools Trust.

On the 11 July 1900, a group of visionary Sisters moved to Muckross Park, the house and grounds that they bought from the Plunkett family. They opened the school on the 9th September that same year and began educating girls at primary, secondary and tertiary levels when formal education was not the norm for girls. Since then thousands of young women have received an education rooted in Dominican values, underpinned by the Dominican motto Veritas, meaning Truth. Muckross Park has a unique ethos that has been passed on through generations of Dominican sisters, staff members and students. We see this every day in the way we treat each other, how we live our lives, our values – respect, understanding, forgiveness, kindness, love, care, generosity, always encouraging, always searching for truth. We welcome and respect people of all backgrounds and beliefs. Dominican education is about developing a love of learning and knowledge where the emphasis is on the holistic development of each student. Each student is encouraged to strive to be and do their best, to achieve self-understanding and acceptance of their unique giftedness and an appreciation of the uniqueness of others.

In Muckross Park we are committed to educating the whole person in a setting that allows students to flourish into young people who are well-prepared for life beyond school. While we celebrate the excellent academic achievements of all of our students we equally celebrate and encourage their involvement and success in non-academic activities. We believe our academic and non-academic programmes complement each other. Each student is encouraged to do their best and to strive for excellence at their own level in everything that they do. You can read about the academic curriculum that we offer and also the many different co-curricular and extra-curricular activities in which our students have the opportunity to participate, ranging across many different disciplines. In an atmosphere of trust students are nurtured to be themselves, to be accepted as they are and to be happy.

We have a long tradition of providing an excellent education to our students and I am privileged to be a member of a very dedicated staff that is committed to making a positive difference in the lives of our students. Pastoral Care is very important and all staff members strive to create an environment which is caring, supportive, inclusive and safe. The students are supported by Year Heads and Class Tutors, a Guidance Counsellor and Learning Support Department, class teachers, non-teaching staff, as well as Deputy Principals and Principal.

Our students are highly motivated to do their best. Student voice and student leadership have always been very important and valued aspects of Dominican education and of life in Muckross Park. We have an active Student Council, Student Voice Team, Class Captains, Senior Student Leadership team, Head Girls and Sports Captains.

We also enjoy the support and encouragement of a parent body which is deeply committed to the school and its work in the education of their children.

We have a very strong and active past-pupils union with whom the school maintains very close links.

There are links to both of these on our website.

I hope you enjoy your virtual tour of our school and that it gives you an insight into Muckross Park and its community.

Anne Marie Mee

Principal