Mission Statement

Our vision is that of a compassionate and just society inspired by Catherine McAuley, who founded the Mercy Order, and the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Accordingly, the provision of education at Sancta Maria College is committed to the full development and the achievement of the potential of each student, particularly those who are disadvantaged or marginalised and is conducted in an atmosphere of care, respect and enjoyment. The College offers a unique educational experience that combines academic excellence with faith, compassion and service.

Catholic education has been at the heart of the Church’s mission since Jesus Christ urged his disciples to ‘go teach all nations’. Down through the ages, religious men and women have sought to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and bring education to people of all over the world. Congregations of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Ireland, for example, the Sisters of Mercy, sought to bring Catholic education to those who were the poor, the excluded, and the marginalised at that time. While maintaining a strong Catholic tradition and ethos, Sancta Maria College today welcomes students of every religious tradition as well as students with no religious tradition. We have students of various nationalities, believing that all are enriched by the experience and culture of their fellow human beings.

Today, education is readily accessible to all. However, the twenty-first century has brought new challenges which necessitated the creation of new structures to ensure that Catholic secondary education is a viable option in a pluralist Ireland. For this reason five religious orders, the Sisters of Mercy, the Presentation Sisters, the Sisters of the Christian Retreat, the Daughters of Charity and the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, have come together to form a designated organisation that will be faithful to the founding intention, hold our traditions and enable our schools to navigate, true to their identity, the next phase of their life journey.

This new organisation is called CEIST – Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust.

• Promoting Spiritual and Human Development
• Achieving Quality in Teaching and Learning
• Showing Respect for Every Person
• Creating Community and
• Being Just and Responsible

are the values enunciated in the CEIST Charter, the values that create a common bond between all CEIST schools, and they are the standards by which we, at Sancta Maria College, measure our mission, performance and priorities. These are the values that inform practice and characterise life at Sancta Maria College and, guided by these principles, we strive to respect the rights of all members of the college community and meet our responsibilities in a manner that promotes the spiritual development of each person, achieves quality in teaching and learning, shows respect for every person, creates a sense of community and is founded on compassion and justice.

As a Catholic school we pursue excellence in an inclusive, caring and respectful environment.

School History

St Mary’s Convent, Ballyroan, formerly the home of Sr Mary of the Sacred Heart McCabe, who’s family had gifted their home and lands to the Mercy Sisters in 1932, was established as a school by the Sisters of Mercy in 1960.  Initially, the Sisters used the house as a holiday home for business girls but by 1942 tuberculosis was prevalent in Ireland and the house was converted into a preventorium for the treatment of children who were at risk of contracting the disease.

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