Our History

The campus at Saint Raphaela's was originally known as Wesbury House. It was a residence for the Pilkington Family, the famous glassmakers, and their coat of arms still adorns the staircase window of the main house where the sisters now live. The Pilkingtons sold their house to the Devlin family who in turn passed it on to the Daughters of Charity in the 1940's. They founded our school as a boarding school where the children went home only occasionally. The primary school was called at that time St. Philomena’s and the Secondary school was called Marillac.

In time, there was no longer as great a need for a boarding school and the Daughters of Charity felt called to the apostolate of children with special needs. When the Archbishop of Dublin heard that they were leaving St Philomena's and Marillac he invited another religious order, the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart, to come and help in the schools. They arrived in 1971 and later in 1977 when Raphaela Mary, the foundress of the Order, was canonised, it was decided to name the whole campus after her and thus the name Saint Raphaela's came into being.