St Catherine’s New Home Purchased

The new location

t’s been a long and winding road, but St Catherine’s Special School have finally gotten the official stamp for their new state-of-the-art premises.

Just today, the Department Of Education have confirmed the purchase of the 5.2 acre Old Convent site in Kilcoole for a new split-level, two storey building.

With two previous Kilcoole locations having gone through the appraisal and valuation process, the earmarking of the new site beside Daraghville House (once home to Luisne) in 2020 ended a long and winding 20-year search for St Catherine’s.

A non-profit organisation which provides education, training, healthcare and residential-respite care to clients who have intellectual and other disabilities, St Catherine’s are now naturally keen for their new school to be built.

In a statement to the Guide in 2020, Principal Brigeeta Mulvihill said the school is “delighted to have acquired an accessible, centrally located site in Kilcoole. This fantastic site was identified in 2019 by The Board Of Management of St Catherine’s Special School as well as its patron. 

And speaking of today’s purchasing of the site by the Department of Education, Ms Mulvihill commented, “The whole school community is absolutely thrilled and ecstatic to receive such confirmation for a stand-along, state-of-the-art premises on a greenfield site in Kilcoole.”

The planning application reads: New St. Catherines’s Special School provided in a split-level two storey building arranged as 2 linked blocks, including two vehicular entrances onto the proposed new access road to be constructed for St. Catherine’s Association Day Care & Respite Centre (ABP-311747-21). The proposed building will contain 25 classrooms, a hydrotherapy pool, associated clinician and educational support rooms and ancillary spaces with total floor area of circa 6252sqm serving approx. 158 pupils. Proposed site works to include the construction of new play areas, including junior soft play area, ball court, multisensory garden with all associated paths and paving, 102 no. car-parking spaces, 8 no. minibus set-down bays (4 no. covered) and queuing spaces, together with boundary treatments, 10 no. bicycle stands, external store, ancillary infrastructure works and landscaping.

“It’s an exciting time for our school community, parents, pupils and staff,” finished Mulvihill, “and we are thrilled that once the school is built, we will have increased capacity to educate pupils…”