13/02/2026
Tributes have been paid to Sr Kathleen Quinlan, the former principal of St Brigid’s Presentation Secondary School in Killarney, who has passed away.
She was principal from 1982 to 1989, a period during which she touched the hearts of students, staff and families.
In a statement, the school said Sr Kathleen is remembered as a wonderful teacher and principal, a woman of deep faith and a committed Presentation Sister whose leadership and kindness left a lasting legacy.
“Her dedication to education and to the wellbeing of every child truly reflected the Presentation ethos she embodied,” the school added.
The chief celebrant at her funeral Mass on St Mary’s Cathedral this Friday was Killarney Parish Administrator Fr Kieran O’Brien and he was joined by Fr Seán Hanafin, Fr Denis O’Mahony, Fr Steven of the Polish community and Fr Seamus Linnane.
Fr O’Brien said Sr Kathleen was compassionate, caring and gentle and she created such a happy environment in the school when she was principal.
Ne noted that the fact that so many messages of condolences have been left by former students show just how popular she was and, he said, wherever they are in the world, many former students would be thinking of her.
St Kathleen (pictured) also served as principal in North Presentation Secondary in Cork City.
“She was well thought of and she taught very well,” Fr O’Brien said.
Sr Kathleen, a native of Waterville, was laid to rest in the Presentation plot in Aghadoe Cemetery.
