Second deputy principal as Kilbeggan school expands

By Shane King

Mercy Secondary School Kilbeggan have announced the appointment of a second deputy principal to their management team. Garth Donnelly took up the role in August at the start of the new academic year.

The school, which opened a new building last September, was granted a second deputy principal this year due to a rise in the number of students attending the school, which now exceeds 700.

Mr Donnelly will work alongside the principal Garrett Farrell and deputy principal Bernadette Gallen. The Dublin native joined the school in 2014, with a short term contract to cover maternity leave, and was offered a full-time position the following year.

“I came to Kilbeggan in December 2014 and was here on a six-month contract. I never thought that I would see beyond that, to be honest with you, and I am still here today and as a deputy principal now. It is unbelievable.

“This role is a fantastic opportunity for me to work alongside Mr Farrell, Ms Gallen and the brilliant staff here at Mercy Secondary School, Kilbeggan. It is a dream come true, to be honest,” he said.

Garth has been primarily teaching History over the last few years as well as CSPE and the Leaving Cert Vocational Programme (LCVP). He was also actively involved in various extra-curricular activities, especially passing on his passion for soccer to the students.

His experience in school leadership and management is extensive, having been appointed coordinator of the special educational needs classes ‘Asgard’ in 2019.

“I was fortunate to take the job in Asgard in 2019 and absolutely fell in love with it,” he said.”It wasn’t my background initially to work in additional needs education, but as soon as I stepped in to the role, I just loved it. There is a huge amount of work that goes into it – however, it prepared me well for the transition into the role that I’m in now in terms of leading a group of people,” Garth said. Looking forward to his new role, Garth said: “I am starting to find my feet in transitioning into the new job and learning the ropes behind the scenes. I have two experts in their field working alongside me in Mr Farrell and Ms Gallen and I could not ask for two better people to work with in terms of their incredible knowledge.

“All of the staff have been so receptive to me. I have received a huge amount of text messages, well wishes and handshakes. You know that those people have your back and that they are going to work with you. I have also received great support from the students and the school families, everybody has been so positive.

“I am really looking forward to the task ahead and continuing to make Mercy Kilbeggan a fantastic place to go to school,” he concluded.