Muckross Park College

Muckross Park College is a non-fee paying Catholic all-girls secondary school located in Donnybrook, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1901, the curriculum is traditional, with a broad general programme of subjects and a compulsory Transition year programme. Muckross is one of a number of Dominican schools in Ireland.^[1] It has a student body of approx 700.

It has a strong reputation as a sporting school, especially in hockey, tennis and basketball. Many former students have gone on to play for Ireland at the international level.

Likewise, academically the school achieves exceptionally high results with regular high rankings in The Irish Times list of feeder schools for 3rd level education in Ireland.

Fashion show

In previous years the transition year students of Muckross collaborated with the Transition year students of St.Michaels College in a charity fashion show. Each year the show had a different theme and was a substantial fund-raiser for that year's chosen charity.

The fashion show is no longer in action.

Junior and senior years

First, second and third years work hard towards achieving good results in their Junior Certificate Examination. Each year brings something new however it is the senior years that bring more activity and not just simply work.

Transition year is a year to de-stress after the Junior Certificate Examination. It consists of organising work placements several times throughout the year (some of which include the filming of an RTÉ documentary in China and working at Milan Fashion Week) as well as much more such as a school trip abroad for roughly a week. Past destinations have included Munich, Italy and Spain. Every week the students walk down to the nearby Independent Theatre Workshop studios (renowned for being one of the best in Ireland) for an hour of dance and drama classes. This is just one of many class modules (there is also cooking, horticulture, yearbook, film making, fitness and many more).

Fifth year is a year for knuckling down for the Leaving Certificate Examinations. However, there is also the ski trip as well as the musical with Gonzaga College.

In sixth year the pupils have much study to do, however they can also take part in the pre-debs party, mock party, graduation mass and last day celebration.

Clubs

There are many clubs and activities in the school such as book club where students discuss their book of the week. There is also the choir who perform at the opening of the school year mass and various other occasions such as the Christmas evening before the school closes for Christmas. Glee club has been introduced in the last few years. It entails singing popular songs, old and new, with fresh harmonies and mash-ups.

Events

Events during the school year include the opening of the school year mass which occurs in the beautiful Donnybrook church. The Halloween dress-up day is a fun day for all, the sports day at the end of the year is also a great day with many different sports stations to choose from. Every year gets a one- or two-day retreat as well as many more exciting things such as day trips (Ferrycarrig, museums and galleries, the Gaisce hike and Carlingford for T.Y, Newgrange etc.)

Sports

Muckross has a very high standard when it comes to sports teams, especially in hockey. Minor, Junior and Senior hockey teams have won many Leinster League titles. The Senior 1 team has also claimed the Senior Cup on numerous occasions. The senior basketball team "The Cadettes" are also high achievers on the competitive circuit. Other sports include cricket, handball, tennis, swimming, horse riding and athletics, all of which Muckross consistently perform well in.

Past Pupils Union

The Past Pupils Union began twelve years after the school was founded, making it the oldest girl's past pupils union in Ireland. The aim of the Union is to encourage and help past pupils to remain in contact with the school and with each other. They do this mainly through their yearly newsletter – the Muckross Mail – which was started in the early 1970s and by a number of social events such as an Annual Dinner, Bridge morning and lunch, monthly Mass, golf outing and trips abroad. The other major activity the union is involved in is fund raising for the Union's Benevolent Fund which is used to give financial assistance to the Etafeni Playgroup Project in Cape Town (established in 1983 by a group of local women in Nyanga who came together out of concern for children who were deprived of healthy development). They do so through annual subscriptions and from the proceeds of our various functions. The school's past pupils form a large cross section of Irish women who have fulfilled many and varied roles throughout the years.

Notable alumnae

• Nuala Carey, weather presenter on RTÉ 1 and Network 2^[2]
• Margaret 'Rita' Childers, wife of president Erskine Childers and advocate of communities and democracy^[3]
• Emma Donoghue, author of the book "Room", shortlisted for the Man-Booker prize^[4]

References

1. ↑ Department of Education and Science, Subject Inspection of History, 2006
2. ↑ Nuala Cary biography, RTE website
3. ↑
4. ↑

External links

• School website
• Muckross Park Past Pupils Union