St Joseph’s Industrial School, Dundalk was an industrial school

Industrial school

In Ireland the Industrial Schools Act of 1868 established industrial schools to care for "neglected, orphaned and abandoned children". By 1884 there were 5,049 children in such institutions....

 in Dundalk

Dundalk

Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...

, County Louth

County Louth

County Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

.

It started as a school founded in 1847 during the Great Famine at the instigation of the parish priest and local residents. Five members of the Sisters of Mercy

Sisters of Mercy

The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....

order arrived from Dublin to start the school, which was based in Seamount Place.

It was first certified as an industrial school in 1881. It was a girls school until boys were first admitted in 1965, though formal admission was first given in 1971.

It closed in 1983.