Introduction and Context:

The school was founded in 1996 and was initially located in a Scouts Den. The first pupils who attended were in Junior Infants, Senior Infants and First Class. As the number of pupils increased, prefabs were then installed on the site of the Scouts Den to accommodate them. Naíonra Chnoc Liamhna was on this site also. This site soon became too small to accommodate the number of pupils attending and the school moved to a larger site nearby. Housed in temporary prefabs on this site until our new, permanent building was completed in 2022.

The school was founded by a group of parents and teachers who sought education through Gaeilge for their children. There has always been excellent support and co-operation between parents, staff and Board of Management.

School demographic

The school is located in Knocklyon and from the beginning the pupils who attended came from the surrounding areas of Knocklyon, Rathfarnham, Firhouse and Tallaght. The focus has always been on fluency and love of the Irish language, academic achievement, a love of Irish music and dance, sports including Gaelic football, hurling and camogie, creativity through art, poetry workshops, the ‘Write a Book’ project.

Emphasis has always been placed on kindness and respect – respect for all members of the school community and especially those who have special needs and respect for the environment (the school has always been involved in the Green Schools initiative).

The school asks that artists who apply consider the following:

We are looking for artwork/ artworks that are permanent and created with involvement and engagement of all 216 students and colleagues.

The brief requests that you consider the following:

• Consider an artwork or artworks that are permanent in nature that mainly sit in the interior of the school but can travel to the exterior also of the new school building.
• Focus on concepts that tells the story of our school culture, Gaeilge (The Irish Language), our love of music, sport and the spirit of co-operation and respect between staff, pupils, parents and our community.
• Artworks that will bring engagement and delight to our community and the building.
• A process of engagement with all 216 students to develop and draw inspiration for the artworks.
• The school is inhabited since November 2022 close by to it’s original building which is now a scout den.
• Consider the artworks relevance to students and staff now but also in the future.

Please see commission document for full opportunity information and application instructions.