Mard Ward was a remarkable woman who pioneered the higher education of Catholic women.
Loreto Secondary School Balbriggan, founded in 1857, is a Catholic Voluntary Secondary School for girls under the trusteeship of the Loreto Education Trust. The school is part of the network of Loreto schools in Ireland and continues the educational tradition inspired by Venerable Mary Ward (1585–1645), who founded her first community in 1609.
Mary Ward’s vision was deeply rooted in Ignatian spirituality and was influenced by the educational tradition of the Society of Jesus. Her approach to education drew on the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum, adapting aspects of this tradition to provide a broad and rigorous education for girls.
Today, Loreto Secondary School Balbriggan continues this educational tradition, guided by the distinctive values and ethos of Loreto education and by Mary Ward’s vision of an education that enables young people to develop their gifts and use them in the service of others.
The Irish branch of the Institute was founded in 1821 by Frances Ball, a native of Dublin. Her first foundation was at Rathfarnham and was called Loreto Abbey, from which title the members became known as Loreto Sisters and all subsequent foundations at home and abroad were called Loreto.
Presentation on Mary Ward, the founder in 1609, of the first groups of active religious women in the Church, the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in Ireland and throughout the world as Loreto Sisters.
The Loreto community has schools around the world. We have particularly strong links with our sister schools in Kolkata, India.
Continuing the Journey outlines the guiding philosophy for all Loreto Schools.
No one school is like another – and yet, we are one coherent network of Mary Ward schools. The Schools Compass outlines the ethos that binds us together.