As teachers go, Sacred Heart Primary School principal Marett Smith has been nothing short of a colossus for the profession. The north Longford town school’s flagbearer for the past 30 years, Marett, or Ms Smith as she was more affectionately known last week called time on a career that was not just ahead of its time but effective in delivering a school that has fast become the envy of villages and towns countywide. READ MORE BELOW PHOTO Last Thursday marked the culmination of those exploits as pupils, parents and staff paid tribute to their long serving principal with a special ceremony inside the school’s state of the art assembly hall. “Today we salute you,” said Deputy Principal and the man chosen to fill her head teacher’s shoes, Francis Gray. “You are the primary reason that ordinary students down through the years have dreamed to do extraordinary things.” Mr Gray said his outgoing colleague’s hard work, dedication and loyalty to a profession she has dedicated over four decades to provided the backdrop for scores of pupils under her tutelage to “dream big to surpass their wildest dreams”. The high-reaching beliefs Marett passed down to the hundreds of pupils who filed through the doors of Sacred Heart Primary School were values the woman at the centre of last week’s celebration upheld closely throughout her distinguished career. Having graduated from Our Lady of Mercy College, Carysfort, Marett’s first teaching post would arrive in September 1981 at Mullahoran NS. Subsequent propitious spells at Killoe NS and Bunlahy NS would follow before she would settle in Granard and in so doing become the first female principal of a boys school in Co Longford. In 1999, a decision to amalgamate the school with Granard Convent Girls' School coincided in another piece of history, this time with Marett becoming the first lay principal of an educational facility she has remained front and centre of ever since. In laying claim to Marett’s involvement in the roll out of Cumann na mBunscol inplaceholder image
As teachers go, Sacred Heart Primary School principal Marett Smith has been nothing short of a colossus for the profession. The north Longford town school’s flagbearer for the past 30 years, Marett, or Ms Smith as she was more affectionately known last week called time on a career that was not just ahead of its time but effective in delivering a school that has fast become the envy of villages and towns countywide. READ MORE BELOW PHOTO Last Thursday marked the culmination of those exploits as pupils, parents and staff paid tribute to their long serving principal with a special ceremony inside the school’s state of the art assembly hall. “Today we salute you,” said Deputy Principal and the man chosen to fill her head teacher’s shoes, Francis Gray. “You are the primary reason that ordinary students down through the years have dreamed to do extraordinary things.” Mr Gray said his outgoing colleague’s hard work, dedication and loyalty to a profession she has dedicated over four decades to provided the backdrop for scores of pupils under her tutelage to “dream big to surpass their wildest dreams”. The high-reaching beliefs Marett passed down to the hundreds of pupils who filed through the doors of Sacred Heart Primary School were values the woman at the centre of last week’s celebration upheld closely throughout her distinguished career. Having graduated from Our Lady of Mercy College, Carysfort, Marett’s first teaching post would arrive in September 1981 at Mullahoran NS. Subsequent propitious spells at Killoe NS and Bunlahy NS would follow before she would settle in Granard and in so doing become the first female principal of a boys school in Co Longford. In 1999, a decision to amalgamate the school with Granard Convent Girls' School coincided in another piece of history, this time with Marett becoming the first lay principal of an educational facility she has remained front and centre of ever since. In laying claim to Marett’s involvement in the roll out of Cumann na mBunscol in

PICTURES | Longford school bids emotional farewell to ‘extraordinary’ long-serving principal

By Liam Cosgrove
Published 13th Oct 2022, 08:00 GMT

Caption: Retired principal of the Sacred Heart Primary School, Granard Marett Smith accepting a bouquet of flowers from Gabrielle Doroz Picture: Shelley Corcoran

5.

Caption: Retired principal of the Sacred Heart Primary School, Granard Marett Smith accepting a bouquet of flowers from Gabrielle Doroz Picture: Shelley Corcoran

Caption: Marett with her family: CJ Sheils, Lorna Sheils, Ciarán Sheils, Shane Smith, Odhran Smith, Madeleine Smith, Melanie Smith, Mel Smith, Marett Smith, Seán Smith, Thalia Smith, Mark Smith, Marzena Sac and Wiktoria Sac. Picture: Shelley Corcoran 

6.

Caption: Marett with her family: CJ Sheils, Lorna Sheils, Ciarán Sheils, Shane Smith, Odhran Smith, Madeleine Smith, Melanie Smith, Mel Smith, Marett Smith, Seán Smith, Thalia Smith, Mark Smith, Marzena Sac and Wiktoria Sac. Picture: Shelley Corcoran 

Caption: Staff Photograph at Sensory Garden: Francis Gray, Grace McGauran, Bernie Donohoe, Anne English, Donal McElligott, Melanie Smith, Sarah Rabbitte, Ursula Donohoe, Ruth O’ Reilly, Áine Timmins Sabrina Kelly, Áine McKiernan, Sinéad Smith , Sinéad Condron, Eimear Gallagher, Mel Smith, Mary Reilly, Rayna Koleva, Annette Drake, Ciara Kelly, Tara Hogan, Marett Smith , Deirdre O’ Farrell, Martine Hynes, Carmel Shaughnessy McKeon, Lorna Sheils, Rebecca Small, Johannna O’Hara, Caitriona Lynch, Fidelma Gorman, Mary Sheridan, Julie Harper, Lesia Shafarenko and Mary Shaughnessy Picture: Shelley Corcoran

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Caption: Staff Photograph at Sensory Garden: Francis Gray, Grace McGauran, Bernie Donohoe, Anne English, Donal McElligott, Melanie Smith, Sarah Rabbitte, Ursula Donohoe, Ruth O’ Reilly, Áine Timmins Sabrina Kelly, Áine McKiernan, Sinéad Smith , Sinéad Condron, Eimear Gallagher, Mel Smith, Mary Reilly, Rayna Koleva, Annette Drake, Ciara Kelly, Tara Hogan, Marett Smith , Deirdre O’ Farrell, Martine Hynes, Carmel Shaughnessy McKeon, Lorna Sheils, Rebecca Small, Johannna O’Hara, Caitriona Lynch, Fidelma Gorman, Mary Sheridan, Julie Harper, Lesia Shafarenko and Mary Shaughnessy Picture: Shelley Corcoran

Caption: Retiring Principal at the Sacred Heart Primary School, Granard Marett Smith pictured with Cora O’Hanlon, Saoirse O’Donnell, Inessa Bahurevica, Nicole Sheridan, Jack Flood, Thalia Smith, Alice Nannery, Mia Lukawska, Ollie O’Hanlon, Amelia Clarke, Jacob Keyes Moran, Darragh Hopkins, Robyn Foley and Alex Gill Picture: Shelley Corcoran

8.

Caption: Retiring Principal at the Sacred Heart Primary School, Granard Marett Smith pictured with Cora O’Hanlon, Saoirse O’Donnell, Inessa Bahurevica, Nicole Sheridan, Jack Flood, Thalia Smith, Alice Nannery, Mia Lukawska, Ollie O’Hanlon, Amelia Clarke, Jacob Keyes Moran, Darragh Hopkins, Robyn Foley and Alex Gill Picture: Shelley Corcoran

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