The Bloomfield House has a very colourful history, having originally been used as a romantic dower house to celebrate the marriage of Dora Bloomfield to George Rochfort, second Earl of Belvedere. In 1932, the Bloomfield property was donated to the Missionary Franciscan Nuns. The sisters accepted this gracious donation and set up a convent and school at Bloomfield, which they held until 1979.
The school was known as Our Lady of the Angels Secondary School which they governed themselves for 30 years, until in 1962 the Sisters adapted the school to the regulations of the Department of Education and Sr Patrick Heneghan became the principal of what became a secondary boarding school with about 60 boarders. Pupil numbers reached a maximum of 150 by the early 1970s. By 1973 however, there were very few novices entering the order and a feasibility study undertaken by the Sisters seemed to indicate that the school would not grow much more in the coming years, hence its sale to a local consortium who opened a new hotel on the premises in 1979.
A reunion for Bloomfield Convent School past pupils and teachers is planned for September 4 2010, and the organisers would love to hear from past pupils. To date the interest in the reunion shows pupils being reunited with their school pals, some of whom have not seen each other for over 40 years.
For more information email info@bloom fieldhouse.com, call (044 ) 9340894, or log on to www.bloomfieldhouse.com
