‘Inspirational’ Sacred Heart teacher retires after 38 years

A SYMBOLIC bell rang out last week as past and present students and staff of Sacred Heart College (SHC) gathered to celebrate the 38-year-long career of Celia McGinn.

The popular teacher started off in the Home Economics (HE) department of St Brigid’s High School in 1983.

She worked within HE department for the next four decades, but her impact in school life was felt far beyond the confines of the classroom.

Mrs McGinn played an integral role in bringing about the smooth transition when the girls of St Brigid’s and boys of St Patrick’s were brought into the same school, forming Sacred Heart College in 2000. Unsurprisingly, Mrs McGinn became head of the HE department.

She was also a crucial spark in the early development of the technology and design department in St Brigid’s in the early 1990s.

Mrs McGinn’s dedication, clear-headedness and leadership skills seen her appointed as vice principal in 2007.

Past colleague and lifelong friend, Joan Conaghan, described Mrs McGinn as ‘a dedicated teacher, a friend and adviser’.

She continued, “The students knew Celia always had their interests at heart.

“They trusted her, sought advice from her and felt equally comfortable discussing personal difficulties and academic issues with her.”

Mrs McGinn stepped in as acting principal at the end of 2020 in the midst of the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Not only did she lead the college through one of the most challenging periods in local education, Mrs McGinn also inspired a visionary response to the challenges being faced by the most vulnerable at the school with programmes of support and intervention. In a tribute, Sacred Heart College said Mrs McGinn’s ‘contribution to the betterment of the pupils will be her lasting legacy; a legacy that will inspire our staff to be the best they can be for all Sacred Heart pupils’.

Fr Chris McDermott also led a thanksgiving Mass in honour of the ‘highly respected and inspirational teacher’.

Mrs McGinn will now look forward to a well-deserved retirement, no doubt to spend time with her beloved family, husband Ian, sons Eoin, Niall, Rory, Liam and daughters Lucy and Catherine.