Sr Paul Quinlan

Following years of study and teaching, she was chosen to be the first principal (as they were then referred to) of the new training college. She spent time at the Notre Dame Training College at Mount Pleasant in Liverpool where she studied the organisational system of that establishment. Until the end of her life, Sr Paul maintained close contact with Mount Pleasant College and was ever mindful of the help received there, which was of the greatest service in the organisation of the new formed College.

On her return to Limerick in 1901, in time to welcome the 75 young women who were the first students of Mary Immaculate, the new principal found both buildings and domestic arrangements incomplete, but with new-found confidence she quickly overcame inconveniences and deficiencies. Her powers of organisation, her love of beauty, and the system of discipline tempered with kindness that she established all left a lasting imprint on the spirit of the College. Educating the students to high standards of idealism and conferring on them a rich Christian education were her main concerns. Those who came to know her well appreciated her sensitivity to student worries and her quiet sense of humour.

Sr Paul lived long enough not only to see the College firmly established but held in high esteem by the National Board of Education authorities and also by managers of schools staffed by past students who carried with them a recognisable “Mary Immaculate touch” in their work as educators. During the years of her principalship, she cooperated harmoniously with the strong-willed manager, Bishop O’Dwyer, and with the Commissioners of National Education. On her death in 1923, she bequeathed to the College, among other traits, a strong tradition of generous hospitality.

Passing on the Torch - a History of Mary Immaculate College 1898-1998 (Published 1998), pg 30.