CALLING ALL SALERNO GIRLS

by Tom Kenny

The words of the late John O’Donohue: “The beginning often holds the clue to everything that follows,” could be said to be prophetic if applied to the date of May 1^st, 1952 in Salthill. On that day, the courageous Sisters of Jesus and Mary opened a National school in what had been a small hotel known as Dalysfort House or Allen’s Hotel in Árd na Mara. They called it Scoil Íde and had 43 pupils. I don’t know if the teachers, Sisters Immaculata and Celine had any idea of what kind of impact that beginning would make on education and social life in Galway, but if they had, it would have been beyond their wildest dreams.

 The student numbers grew very quickly and within a relatively short space of time, they had to demolish the school building and replace it with a new one which had ten classrooms and an auditorium. While it was being built, they held classes in the Hangar and Seapoint ballrooms. Their new school opened on July 2^nd, 1962.  They had by now decided that there was a need for a new secondary girls school in Salthill so that same year, they set up a ‘Secondary Top’, a secondary school class of 8 pupils, housed in Scoil Íde. By 1964, they had three such classes, so they bought Young’s house on Revagh Road which was called Salerno and set up a second level school there in 1965 with 65 pupils. Some rooms seemed posh with carpets and brocade curtains, other parts were damp and rat infested, but this building too quickly became too small.

The bishop gave them some land on Threadneedle Road and they build a state-of-the-art school there which opened in 1981 having retained the name Salerno. Since then, they have extended it a few times and today, it is one of the most up-to-date schools in the country, but their ethos has not changed. They place a stress on the importance of preparing the girls for life, of making them feel important and worthwhile. Salerno is noted for high academic standards while at the same time, paying  attention to drama, music, art and sport. An important aspect has been education for justice and peace through various activities and projects giving the girls an awareness of local/world poverty and need.

As the school approaches its sixtieth birthday next year, they are inviting all past pupils and alumni to get in touch with the school with their contact details. They are not looking for money, they want to develop a network of alumni so that they can build connections, share updates and news from the school and re-ignite old friendships.

Our photograph today is of the Leaving Cert Class who became alumni in 1971. They are, front row, L-R; Grace Timlin, Maeve Egan, Noelle Egan, Joan Glynn Carlos, Ursula McMorrow, Mairéad Watters, Myra Maher and Oonagh Lysaght. Middle row; Mary Larkin, Emer Heery, Anne Burke, Mary Pat O’Beirne, Denise Murphy, Cliona Murphy, Loretta McKeon and Noreen O’Meara. Back row; Margaret Coll, Mary Casey and Maura Sugrue.