History of Holy Family Senior School
Compiled by Mr. Lynch ( School Historian)
Holy Family Senior School is an amalgamation of three schools in Portlaoise. They were St. Paul’s, Sacred Heart and Scoil Mhuire.
St Paul’s began as a Christian Brothers’ School set up during the Famine in 1847. The first school was started in Tower Hill. It was a mixture of primary and secondary schools. In 1906 a new building was opened on Tower Hill and its first students started in 1907. The primary school, which was then called St Mary’s, moved to the Borris Road in 1964. The last Christian Brother finished teaching there in 1994. Subsequently it was renamed St Paul’s.
Sacred Heart first opened its doors in 1826 as a Presentation Convent. It was located beside the old SS Peter and Paul’s Church. The church had cellars which were used as the first classrooms and 216 girls started on the first day. In 1844 the Church Avenue building was completed with an extension added in 1930. To cater for increased numbers Scoil Mhuire was built in 1955 adjacent to the Sacred Heart School.
In deference to our collective history and to honour the founders of the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Sisters the shared amenities between the junior and senior schools, namely the football pitch and the large hall have been named after Edmund Rice and Nano Nagle respectively.