Where it all began!
The foundress of the Sisters Faithful Companions of Jesus, Marie Madeleine Victoire de Bonnault d’Houet was born in France in 1781. She was an apostolic woman who dedicated her life and resources to establishing the FCJ Society. Foremost among the tasks entrusted to her and through her to us, is the pastoral care and education of youth.
At the invitation of Brother Walsh, Superior of the Christian Brothers, the Foundress came to Limerick from Oughterard on the 5th. of September, 1844. With the Bishop’s permission, in the summer of 1845, she opened a day and boarding school in the property of Laurel Hill which she had purchased from the Newsom family. San bhliain 1935, nuair a bhí an Rialtas ag déanamh iarracht ár dteanga dúchais a fhorbairt, bunaíodh an ‘Scoil A’. Múintear na hábhair trí mheán na Gaeilge sa scoil seo.
Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJ, as we are now named, and Laurel Hill Secondary School entered the Free Education Scheme in 1967 and both schools expanded significantly. We no longer educate boarders since 1985. The FCJ sisters, the trustees of our school, have vested the management of the school in a Board of Management since 1997 and currently the teaching staff is entirely lay. September 2009 marks the beginning of another new era as the school enters the Le Chéile Trust.
Le Chéile: A Catholic School Trust
Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ)