ENTRANCE TO THE LIMERICK EDUCATE TOGETHER SECONDARY SCHOOL
I was aware of this Marian Grotto but could never find it until today when I came across it by accident when I noticed a lady bring some flowers up a narrow path.
It is located at the entrance to the Limerick Educate Together Secondary School on the North Circular Road. Initially I thought that it was on private property but there does appear to be separate public access.
The North Circular Road, often referred to as NCR, is a residential road on the northside of Limerick. Historically one of the more sought-after addresses in the city, house prices on the North Circular Road have declined since the Celtic Tiger though it remains one of the more prosperous areas of the city.
John F. Kennedy Memorial School, a primary school for boys, and Salesian Infant School Fernbank for girls are located on the east side of the North Circular Road, as is the large public secondary school for boys Ardscoil Rís. Salesian Secondary School was a public secondary school for girls previously situated on the North Circular Road. However, in 2015, Salesian merged with St Nessan’s Community College and formed Thomond Community College, based at St Nessan’s former location in Woodview, Caherdavin. The North Circular Road is also home to Villiers School, a private, Protestant secondary school.
Educate Together is an educational charity in Ireland which is the patron body to “equality-based, co-educational, child centred, and democratically run” schools. It was founded in 1984 to act as the patron body for the new multi-denominational schools that opened after the establishment of the Dalkey School Project. As of 2019, Educate Together is the patron of 90 national schools in Ireland. In 2014 three Educate Together Second Level Schools opened in Dublin 15, Drogheda and Lucan along with the first Educate Together school outside Ireland, in Bristol in the United Kingdom. In joint patronage with Kildare and Wicklow ETB, Educate Together opened another second-level school, Celbridge Community School, in 2015.
Limerick ETSS is Limerick’s newest Secondary School. The school opened its doors in August 2018 to its first cohort of 55 students and 12 staff. The school, based in Limerick City, is currently using the old Salesian’s Secondary School in Fernbank as a temporary home.
