St. Mary's College, Arklow

History

The Sisters of Mercy came to Arklow from Rathdrum in 1881 and began an apostolate in education. In 1903 the Sisters opened a boarding school to facilitate students who lived great distances from the school. In the mid '50's the boarding school was extended and a new building, Maris Stella, was erected to provide day education for the local population. Assessing the trends of development in economic and population growth the Sisters perceived the way forward for Arklow was to facilitate the provision of increased day education and accordingly phased out the boarding school in the 1970's. Cluain Mhuire building was opened in 1985. The trusteeship of the College changed from the Sisters of Mercy to CEIST (Catholic Education Irish School Trust) in 2006.

The former Convent of Mercy