Apple-distinguished school with Irish at it’s core

School profile: Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh Limerick

Gaelcholaiste Luimnigh students - L-R Órán Ó Morlaí, Adam Coll, Charlie Jane Ahern & Joe Tanner
Gaelcholaiste Luimnigh students - L-R Órán Ó Morlaí, Adam Coll, Charlie Jane Ahern & Joe Tanner

Principal: Donncha Ó Treasaigh Web: gcluimnigh.ie "We're a relatively new school – we opened in 2006 with 31 pupils and now we have 650 – it's an Irish co-ed school based in heart of Limerick city.

“We’re very innovative in terms of subject choice and lesson planning – we offer a broad array of subjects at senior cycle including the new politics and society course through Irish and the new leaving cert PE course through Irish,” says Ó Treasaigh.

The school is proud of its whole school evaluation in 2014 which was very positive about the school with its pastoral care, high quality teaching and learning and very good use of technology all noted.

Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh is an Apple-distinguished school which means the multinational tech company has recognised it as a school where technology is used in an innovative and transformative way to enrich learning in the classroom.

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“All students have iPads and we’re proud to be one of 400 schools it the world with Apple-distinguished status,” he says.

While all subjects are taught through Irish, Ó Treasaigh says the school attracts a mix of pupils from all-English primary schools and Gaelscoileanna (there are five Gaelscoileanna in the catchment area).

“There is significant demand around the country from parents of non-Gaelscoil children to attend Irish-medium schools and Limerick is no different,” he says.

“Students have 24-hour access to the answers they need; we have developed extremely effective workflows between teachers and pupils in terms of the learning cycle. Pupils are very much on task in terms of how to use technology for their learning,” he says.

The school is set to expand with new campus due in 2020 for 850 pupils in the centre in Limerick city.