Presentation schools say farewell to Ms Nally
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The whole school team at Presentation Junior saying goodbye to Dympna.Image 2 of 4
Dympna Nally, who has retired after 44 years as secretary at the Presentation Schools in Mullingar, with colleagues at Presentation Junior School.Image 3 of 4
Dympna Nally, who has retired after 44 years as secretary at the Presentation Schools in Mullingar, with colleagues at Presentation Senior School.Image 4 of 4
Dympna Nally with staff from Presentation Junior School, Alma Manny, deputy principal, Áine Killalea, and Natasha Miskell, principal.The Presentation schools in Mullingar bid a fond farewell to a long serving member of staff before Christmas.
Dympna Nally worked in the office at Presentation Junior and Senior schools for 44 years, and in that time dealt with 11 principals and many more members of staff.
Dympna is a native of Mullingar, and she and her husband Joe have a son Finian and a daughter Jennifer. They have three grandchildren – who Dympna will see lots more of in the future.
Dympna attended both Presentation Junior and Senior Schools as a child. Since she started working there in November 1978, she has been the face of both schools and has been a huge part of the Presentation family, helping to look out for the children of so many families.
Dympna is a lady of many talents, including performing as a majorette with Mullingar Town Band in her earlier years, and everyone at the Presentation school wishes her well as she begins the next chapter of her life, and hopes it is filled with lots of happy memories and adventure.
“Slán agus Beannacht Dympna – we will miss you so much,” said Natasha Miskell, principal of Presentation Junior School.
Declan Fry, principal at Presentation Senior School, said: “I had the pleasure of working with Dympna Nally for the last seven and a half years. Though I had never met Dympna before coming to the school and she had previously worked with 10 other principals before my time, I gained much more than a secretary when we were introduced.
“Dympna was more than her official position in the school. She was like an extra teacher. She was kind and caring towards all the children and their families and had fantastic patience and empathy for all. There is an old joke that if a principal or teacher are out sick, you can get a substitute, but if the secretary is out, you may close the school! While we can’t go that far, it does give an idea of how much Dympna will be missed by us all in Presentation Senior School.
“‘Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann’ is undoubtedly true in Dympna’s case. We were lucky to have her for as long as we did. In the words of one of our teachers, Mary Jo McDonnell, who I felt put it best: ‘Dympna was the rock on which we all stood.’
“Thank you Dympna. For everything.”