School History

Our Lady of Lourdes Secondary School, Roberson, was founded by The Holy Faith Sisters in 1924, at the invitation of the Bishop of Ossory. A lodge at the gate of the convent (formerly a fever hospital) served as a school for the first year. The following year, a purpose-built all-girls school was opened. The first boarders were accommodated at Our Lady of Lourdes in 1948; a facility which the Holy Faith Sisters offered to students until the phased closure of the boarding school began in 1995. The introduction of Free Education in 1967 resulted in vigorous growth in pupil numbers during the seventies and eighties and necessitated several phases of extensions. In 1997, Bishop Forristal announced that the Diocese of Ossory was to take over responsibility for the Trusteeship of the School l from the Holy Faith Sisters. In 1998, Our Lady of Lourdes set up its first Board of Management and appointed its first lay Principal.