Planning application due for Limerick secondary school expansion

A PLANNING application for a major extension at one of Limerick’s biggest secondary schools is expected to be lodged by the middle of this year.

Castletroy College, which has more than 1,200 students, is set for an expansion of 3,000 square metres.

The move represents a multi-million euro investment, and a second major increase in space at the school, which opened in the year 2000.

The extension is to feature a two classroom special educational needs facility and a number of general classrooms.

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A new science laboratory is planned, alongside a room for the teaching of design, communication and graphics.

Arts and crafts and home economics rooms will also be constructed as part of the massive scheme, approved by Education Minister Norma Foley in 2022.

A spokesperson for the school’s patrons, the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (ETB) confirmed a planning application is expected to be made to the local authority by the end of the second quarter of this year.

As a quarter refers to three months of any given year, it means that an application can be expected by the end of June.

The spokesperson confirmed that as a result of this expansion - the first since 2006/2007 - works to address the presence of “defective blocks” to the external facade of the school will take place.

“A detailed risk assessment has been undertaken, the matter is under constant review by the school’s engineers and the identified defect does not impinge on the structural integrity of the school building,” the ETB spokesperson added in response to a query from Limerick Live.

Castletroy College will mark its 25th anniversary this autumn, and its student numbers have steadily increased in line with the growth of its immediate surrounds.

It is one of the most in-demand secondary schools in Limerick.

In it’s relatively short history, it has produced a number of famous alumni.

Perhaps the most prominent of these are the brothers John and Patrick Collison, who together founded and developed the multi-billion euro payments firm Stripe.

In its early stages, the firm received financial backing from the world’s richest man Elon Musk.

During his days at Castletroy College, in 2005, Patrick, then 16, won the top prize at the 41st BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.