Awards ceremony for St Mary’s girls
THE annual awards ceremony at St. Mary’s Secondary School took place before a packed assembly hall at the school on last Wednesday when the students who had excelled in academia, at entrepreneurship and business and at sport over the past year were honoured.
The event also marked the final time that Principal Ms Ann Doherty would address the students as principal as she is standing down at the end of the school year after serving in that capacity for the past 11 years.
Ms Doherty will resume at the school as a member of the teaching staff next September.
When she was appointed principal of St. Mary’s School in 2003 Ms Doherty was the second lay principal at the school as she took over from acting principal John Boyd, who has since retired from teaching.
A native of Belmullet, Co. Mayo, Ms Doherty attended Our Lady’s Convent of Mercy School in Belmullet, prior to studying for a Bachelor of Commerce Degree at University College Galway, where she also completed the Higher Diploma in Education.
Her first permanent teaching post was at the Nagle Community School at Mahon, Cork.
While there she also took a Diploma in Education and Administration from UCC in 2000 and in that same year she was appointed to the post of Deputy Principal at the Nagle Community School and was in that post up to the time of her appointment as Principal of St. Mary’s Charleville.
Ms Doherty said she was delighted to continue on the teaching staff at St. Mary’s where they had a fantastic school community with highly motivated students and one of the most dedicated teaching staffs in Ireland.