In 1962, the Sisters of Jesus and Mary decided to set up a special class in their national school, Scoil Íde, in Árd na Mara. This class was known as ‘secondary tops’ and was designed to move the girls into secondary level. On September 1, 1965, the nuns opened a new secondary school in a house named ‘Salerno’ on Revagh Road, Rockbarton. They had 65 pupils. The school grew in popularity, the population increased, and there was no room for expansion, so the nuns found a new site on Threadneedle Road and moved into a brand new building there in 1981.
They have since added a number of extensions, most recently a multi-purpose hall, and today the school has 675 pupils. Salerno has consistently appeared in the top 10 on the list of Ireland’s most successful schools in recent years.
U2’s ‘With or Without You’ was Number One in May 1987 when the girls in our photograph graduated from Salerno. Thirty years on, they are organising an evening with as many classmates as possible at a class reunion in O’Reilly’s Bar in Salthill on Saturday, September 23, at 8pm.
Back row l-r: Tracey Phelan, Michelle Concannon, Donna White, Carol Dunleavy, Joanne O’Connor, Yvonne Casey, Laura Molloy, Bronagh Smith, Fiona Blaney, Annemarie Duggan, Marion Ward, Eilish Hernon, Jennifer Greaney, Paula Dunleavy.
Second row l-r: Michaela Feely, Mary Brown, Sharon Mitchell, Niamh Thompson, Aida Greaney, Emer Cotter, Sheila Connolly, Debbie Mooney, Suzanne Butler, Amanda Mooney, Justine Heaslip, Deirdre McCormack, Margaret Gilligan, Maria Concannon, Caroline Ward.
Third row l-r: Grace O’Donnell, Fiona Naughten, Fiona Bohan, Niamh Byrne, Karen Kenny, Sheila Griffin, Jacqueline Conboy, Clodagh Cutler, Deirdre Lydon, Anne Mulhall, Niamh Imbush.
Fourth row l-r: Katherine Kissane, Laura Mongan, Reena McLoughlin, Amalee Meehan, Ann Murray, Mandy Walsh, Deirdre McSweeney, Hazel Elwood, Neasa McMahon, Fionnuala Forde, Roseanne McDaid, Ursula Ní Aonghusa, Sally Walsh, Eithne Moran, Ann McCormack.
Fifth row l-r: Claire Briscoe, Yvonne Hosty, Elinor Hutton, Sharon O’Flaherty, Sharon O’Grady, Louise Hayden, Orla McDonagh, Regina Cooke, Grace McMyler, Gráinne Warde, Linda Kelly, Sinéad Codyre, Rachael Doyle.
Front row l-r: Sharon McGee, Niamh McNamara, Christina Arnold, Mary Hynes, Sophie Hume, Gráinne O’Flaherty, Michelle Needham, Karen McElwee, Louise Duggan, Valerie Curran, Hilary Connolly.
Absent from photo: Deirdre McGarry, Maeve Healy .
So if you were in that class, please bring any school photographs or memorabilia you might have to O’Reilly’s and catch up with your old mates. No tickets required. Nostalgia guaranteed.
