It’s Marguerite Time…

Climb any Margeurite 1JULY16

e were initially going to have a video chat, but Margeurite Fairclough reckoned that there was a very good chance that she might cry today…

For Friday, July 1st 2016 will see this much-loved teacher bid farewell to the little kids attending her Church Lane Montessori for the very last time.

Having first opened this happy little haven in the mews attached to the family home way back in September 1995, Marguerite has decided that it’s now time to move on.

“I absolutely love waking up every single morning knowing that this is what I’m going to do with my day,” she smiles. “And I’ve felt that way every single day from the very start. But I also realise that it’s always important to quit while you’re ahead. So, while I still have the energy for something new, that’s my next step. Find something new to do at this chapter in my life…”

Chances are, whatever Marguerite finds, she’ll be damn good at it. Having trained at UCD to be a radiographer, when four kids popped into the picture in rapid succession, the Faircloughs decided that one of them really would need to work at home. Smart move, as another kid popped along too.

Since the man of the house, Chris, was in the computer business, travelling to China, Taiwan and beyond on a regular basis, Marguerite took up the home not-alone challenge, attending St Nicholas Montessori College in Dun Laoghaire before opening up a small creche in the family’s Bray home back in 1990. A move to Church Lane in 1993 shifted this small operation up a gear or two, given that they suddenly had the sort of house and garden that Winnie The Pooh would happily get lost in.

Quickly, the Church Lane Montessori blossomed into one of the most coveted in the whole of Wicklow. And making my way through the trees around the side of the main house earlier today, it wasn’t difficult to see why. It took all my strength not to stay for the rest of the day.

Marguerite’s two happy assistants, Eileen Broughan and today’s unofficial party girl, Elaina O’Flaherty, were clearly getting emotional at the thought of saying goodbye for a final time. You could tell by the way they gulped back their Prosecco.

In those early years, it was local beauty queen Dee Brennan who first signed up as Marguerite’s assistant, and as we left this afternoon, we bumped into the lovely Dee as she headed down to her old boss with a bunch of flowers.

In truth, there were enough flowers at the Church Lane Montessori today to make Morrissey swoon.

Over the years, many of the children who have passed through the doors here have flown and grown. And this is where Margeurite just about breaks into tears.

“It was really so nice,” she says, her voice cracking a little. “A lovely guy, Dean Redmond – who’s 23 now, and a university graduate – he came to the door to wish me well. I’ve had so many cards and farewells from people in their 20s, and they were all part of this wonderful time we’ve had here. Just knowing that all these people took some important first steps here, when they’re so open to learning everything and anything about the world, that’s such a joyful thing. We’ve had two or three of the same household passing through too, and that makes you feel such a part of their family. Like a mad aunty!”

So, having taken that natural step from radiographer to montessori, who knows where Marguerite will go next. We reckon she’ll follow the typical radiographer-montessori teacher-exotic dancer path, but, hey, she might surprise us…

“I’m so lucky to have had this incredible life for the last 21 years,” she finishes, “and I just hope that I find something half as challenging and interesting as this. My late husband always said that we never stop learning in life, and so, I’m ready to rip it up and start again.

“I’ll just think of all these wonderful kids, and how they greet each day with such wide-eyed enthusiasm. That will always spur me on…”