THE HISTORY OF MOUNT ANVILLE HOUSE
(Formerly known as Mount Anville Convent and Dargan House).
The mural on the wall in Croi na Scoile depicts the link that Mr William Dargan has with Mount Anville. The main house at Mount Anville was built in the 1700s, before being bought by Mr.Dargan around 1853. It is built in the style of an Italian Villa and has a square tower. Mr Dargan was an engineer. He was born in 1799 and died in 1867. He built the first railway in Ireland between Dublin and Dun Laoghaire which was opened in 1832-1834. From then he built most of the railways in Ireland.
The story is told that he first called this house Cedar Mount because of the lovely cedars around. Then, one day, the local blacksmith called. He wanted Mr. Dargan to give him a block of cedar wood to put under his anvil. A cedar tree had just been cut down. Mr Dargan asked why he needed the block to go under the anvil and the blacksmith explained that if there was wood under the anvil the metal anvil did not rebound when you struck it while forging the iron for the horses’ shoes. Mr Dargan gave him the block of wood and renamed his house Mount Anville. He realized that this would also be the case for the railway lines which he was building thus leading to the development of the idea of changing the sleepers under the railway tracks to wooden ones.
The Society bought the house from Dargan in 1865. The school began in Glasnevin in 1853 and transferred to Mt Anville in 1865.
1866
The Free School opened. The school was situated beside the farm, close to where the tennis courts in the secondary school are now located.
1869
Permission was given for a new building.
1870
The new building was opened and the "new" school was to be called Mount Anville National School.
1954
The Primary School on the Lower Kilmacud Road was built.
1955
It was opened by Archbishop Mc Quaid in July 1955.
PRINCIPALS OVER THE YEARS:
- 1952 - 1956 Sr Eileen O Donovan
- 1956 - 1962 Sr Clare Horan
- 1962 - 1987 Sr Rosemary O Brien
- 1987 - 1992 Sr Gillian Dempsey
- 1992 - 1994 Mrs Joan Winston (Acting Principal)
- 1994 - 1997 Sr Gillian Dempsey
- 1997 - 2021 Ms Gráine McGowan.
- 2021 -Present Ms Angela Munro