History
S.N. Réalt na Mara, Rosses Point opened in 1879 and was located adjacent to St. Columba's Catholic Church.
The first S.N. Réalt na Mara, located beside St. Columba's Church, Rosses Point.
The photo below is the earliest photo we have of a group of Réalt na Mara pupils with their teachers. The gentleman in the photo is Mr. Moffatt, Principal.
In September 1949, a new school opened on the current site. It was a two-teacher school. The principal was Mr. Michael Jordan, who later went on to lecture in St. Patrick's College of Education, Drumcondra, Dublin 9. The second teacher was Ms. Bea McTiernan.
Opening of S.N. Réalt na Mara, September 1949.
The closure of Seaview N.S. in the Lower Rosses in the nineteen sixties and the growth in the school-going population of Rosses Point and the surrounding townlands of Ballyweelin, Cregg and Ballincar necessitated the building of an extension to the school in the early nineteen seventies. The extension was built in 1976, but even before the new extension opened, it was quickly realised that the proposed five new classrooms would not cater adequately for the growing school-going population and a sixth classroom was added.
In 1994 a new football pitch was constructed at the rear of the school and is a very fine recreational space. The Board of Management and the local community provided the funding for this. In 1996, it was decided to utilise an empty classroom as a computer room. S.N. Réalt na Mara was one of the first primary schools to have a dedicated computer room. Over £10,000 was raised locally to purchase 10 IBM Aptiva computers - state of the art machines at the time.
In 1999 S.N. Réalt na Mara was awarded its first Green Flag and was the first school in Co. Sligo to be awarded a Green Flag.
Our school was extensively refurbished in 2002 - new mechanical heating and electrical systems were installed, windows and doors were replaced and all the sanitary fittings and associated pipe-work were replaced. The tarmac areas of the playground were resurfaced. These works cost in the region of €250,000, 70% of the funding was provided by the Department of Education and Science with the remainder coming from the local community.
The Board of Management have continued to make every effort to improve the facilities available at the school and in the recent years have laid new Marmoleum flooring throughout the school, installed new security cameras, erected fencing at the rear of the school and together with the Parents' Association have purchased an Interactive Whiteboard for the school. In 2009, all attic spaces and cavity walls have included the painting of theere insulated. The funding for this project came from the Department of Education and Science's Energy Efficiency Scheme 2009.
During the 2010/2011 school year, our application to the Department of Education and Skills for funding for Water Conservation Measures was successful. The following water conservation measures have been undertaken in our school: the fitting of push type percussion taps to wash-hand basins in cloakrooms, the fitting of thermostatic mixing valves and the installation of water-displacement devices to toilet cisterns.
The Board of Management had all Venetian blinds in the school replaced with fire-retardant, black-out blinds. Each classroom was fitted with a digital projector, laptop, wireless keyboard and mouse through funding received from the Dept. of Education & Skills.
The Board of Mamangement is committed to upgrading and maintaining faciliities at the school.