St Aloysius’ appoints new principal
Tadhg Óg Murphy has been appointed as the new principal of a historic city centre school. It marks an exciting new chapter for St Aloysius’ School on Sharman Crawford Street.
Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1839, St Al’s has long been recognised across Cork for its commitment to academic excellence, compassionate values, and holistic development. The appointment of Tadhg Óg reaffirms the school’s ethos of balancing these rich traditions with forward-thinking educational practices. Tadhg Óg intends to develop this further.
“The first day I entered the building, it was clear how proud a tradition exists here and the legacy to Cork education is apparent right throughout the school and through the wider St Al’s community. The school have produced exceptional students academically and in an extra-curricular sense, none more so prominent than one of Cork's biggest sporting legends - 18 time All-Ireland winner Rena Buckley.
“Having been appointed as principal, I have been blown away by the well wishes of so many past pupils, and the pedigree of students that have walked the halls of St Aloysius is unreal.”
Bringing a wealth of leadership experience and a strong background in education and sports, Tadhg Óg will work closely alongside Deputy Principal Kathy McGlade and the dedicated staff. Mr Murphy has particular praise for Ms McGlade and former principal Alexander Savage and paid tribute to her own legacy.
“I am fortunate to have met with Ms Savage a couple of times in the last few weeks and the joy and passion she spoke of for the school, students, staff, parents and the wider community was inspirational. Alex and Kathy were pivotal in the development project in the school over the last 7 or 8 years and that is something I’m keen to develop further. Ms McGlade has been showing me the ins and outs of the school over the summer and her pride in the school has been infectious.”
On plans for the future, Tadhg Óg again leaned on the past to explain his own vision for the school. “St Aloysius has a long and distinguished history of inspiring young women to achieve their full potential, and empowering them to reach this by providing high level education embedded in the Mercy tradition. The retention rates for students going on to third level is very high and the school has been very pro-active in developing the curriculum plan to constantly ensure this.
“The recent results in the leaving cert were excellent, no doubt these were helped by the holistic approach to the young women’s development where growth in self-belief, wellbeing and inclusion is also forefront in the school's ethos and mission statement.”
The board of management, staff, and student body warmly welcome Mr Tadhg Óg Murphy to his new leadership position as he and Ms McGlade guide St Al’s into another successful academic year.