Love the children … and make a great effort to improve their education
and raise it to as high a degree as possible. Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey

160 Years Anniversary

Mount Sackville celebrates 160 years of Cluny Education in Ireland

Mount Sackville Secondary School is celebrating a momentous occasion - 160 years of providing Cluny education.

To mark this special milestone, we host a series of events throughout the year to highlight the ethos, music, art and the amazing achievements of Mount Sackville past pupils.

Liturgy

This very special school year started with the mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Dublin. It was a time for reflection, gratitude, and celebration of the rich history and legacy of Mount Sackville Secondary School. We all came together as a community and gave thanks for all the blessings we had received over the years.

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The Greatest of These

Hymn "The Greatest of These" was commissioned for the 160th anniversary celebration and performed by the whole school during the 160th Celebratory Mass on 20th September 2024.

Christmas Concert

Mount Sackville Secondary School's Christmas Concert was held at the beautiful Christ Church Cathedral. The evening was the most memorable occasion, featuring a variety of performances by our talented students, including choral pieces, instrumental solos, and contributions from Past Pupils. Our concert not only celebrated Christmas but also honoured the legacy of music education that has flourished at Mount Sackville over the past century and a half. From its beginnings, Music has been to the forefront of our curriculum. Almost all past pupils single out their involvement in music or singing as one of the highlights of their time in the school. Many names are associated with music down through the years, such as Sister Berchmans and Sr Colm Keane, amongst others. Music in Mount Sackville has gained much National recognition under the guidance Sr Eugene Mc Cabe, Sr Peter Cronin, Ms Aideen Lane and in recent years under the amazing MsJudith Gannon, Ms Áine Mulvey and the present Music Department at Mount Sackville.

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Mount Sackville - History

As part of our 160th anniversary celebrations, we are compiling the book of the history of Mount Sackville. This comprehensive publication captures the stories, milestones, and cherished memories of our school community over the past 160 years. It will be available early in the spring and offers a wonderful opportunity to delve deeper into the rich legacy of Mount Sackville. It will be a treasured addition to your bookshelves.

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Gala Dinner

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How It All Began

a story recalled by Ms Delaney

On the 12th of December, 1860 three French nuns of whom Mother Callixte Pichet was leader arrived in Dublin. This resulted from an invitation issued by Dr Cullen, the Archbishop of Dublin, to the Cluny Mother House in Paris. It seems that Archbishop Cullen was encouraged or perhaps persuaded to issue this invitation by a Fr Pére Jules Leman, who founded Blackrock College (formerly Castledawson House)the same year.

Mother Callixte Pichet was born in Cluny in 1823 and was professed at a very young age. She began her missionary vocation at the age of eighteen, when she was sent to island of Martinique in the Caribbean where she worked until 1852. On her return to France she worked in many prestigious educational establishments. A few years later she was posted to Reunion in the Indian Ocean. From here she was sent to Dublin via Paris where she would collect two other sisters. Sister Bernadine Dumont and Sister Lazare Lefrancois.

Their journey to Ireland was not a pleasant one, given the time of year and the unfavorable weather conditions; they travelled the turbulent waters of the English Channel and the Irish Sea. It is fair to assume, that these three gallant women were relieved to arrive safely on Irish soil. They arrived in Dun Laoghaire Port at 8am on the 12th of December 1860 where they were met by a Fr Holley, who took them to the newly founded Blackrock college for tea and refreshments hosted by Fr Leman.

Fr Holley later accompanied the sisters to their new home in Blanchardstown. The house had previously been occupied by Fr Leman and the Holy Ghost fathers who had set up a seminary there with view to finding vocations for the missions. Prior to this, the house was a Carmelite convent.

Mother Pichet described their arrival in Blanchardstown, “when we arrived a considerable crowd of little boys followed our carriage, but they looked more happy than curious. We wanted to make a visit to the church, even before entering the house, but the parish priest who had been notified of our arrival, came to meet us and took us to the Parochial House so as to avoid the crowd. On either side women and children were running about the village”.

While Mother Pichet seemed in awe of the reception they received in Blanchardstown she was less impressed with the condition of her new residence. The house was very bare of furniture and fittings. The furniture consisted of four beds, one deal table and some chairs.

The chapel had an old wooden altar but nothing else. She wrote the following to her superior in Paris. “ With the exception of a wooden altar, no statues nor tabernacle here, no altar stone, nothing”.

With help from Fr Leman and the Holy Ghost fathers as well as support from the Mother House, Mother Pichet, being the formidable woman she was, acting as manager, architect, accountant and educator, she soon had the convent up and running. Given the extreme, poverty that reigned in Blanchardstown at the time and although the sisters spoke no English, twenty three Irish girls joined their community within the first year. The community continued to flourish with requests for admissions arriving daily. The premises in Blanchardstown was unsuitable for a larger congregation. With view to opening a girls’ secondary school, Mother Pichet began looking for a more suitable premises. Having first considered a site in Monkstown, the more suitable and attractive demesne of Mount Sackville came up for sale.

After much persuasive letter writing to her superiors to extract both permission and the money to buy it, Mount Sackville became the property of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny in January 1864 for a sum of 70,000 francs, €10,000 in today’s money. Mother Pichet was more than happy with her new premises and by June of that year she describes Mount Sackville as “Heaven on earth- in this world’s language it does express the beauty of the place.”

She was a remarkable woman with unbounded organizational skills, and straight away set about reshaping and extending Mount Sackville. Under her energetic supervision, cloisters, dormitories and an infirmary were built. A shed was converted into a recreational hall for boarders. A large and beautiful chapel was built in 1877. She soon employed, teachers of French, English, German, Music and Art as well as employing a teacher of what she called “fancy needlework”. Both the school and convent continued to expand under her leadership. She continued as Mother Superior until 1888 when she was recalled to the mother house in Paris.

Cluny Community

The community of the sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny continued to expand both nationally, establishing a congregation in Ferbane, Co. Offaly in 1896 and in Killiney in 1956 and internationally with sisters travelling from Mount Sackville to set up communities worldwide.

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Feb
13 2025
6th Year Trip to Rome
Feb
17 2025
Midterm Break
Feb
23 2025
Junior Choir Workshop
Feb
25 2025
Senior Cycle Information Evening
Contact
Mount Sackville Secondary School,
Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny,
Chapelizod,
Dublin 20,
D20 WP68

01 821 3317
01 821 4061


Location
© 2025 Mount Sackville Secondary School