Caroline Garrett has been principal of Oatlands College, Mount Merrion, Dublin, since 2011, having been the school’s first woman deputy principal before that.
“The principalship was received very well, because I was already in the building. The deputy principalship, however, I had come from outside and I was also a female. In the main it was received well. But there would have been some people who would have challenged me. And I don’t mean in a verbal sense. They would have certainly tested me to see if I was fit for the position,” she says.
She felt that was coming from some “staff more than anything”, she clarifies. “But that was the culture here at the time. It has changed hugely.
“I think I was just dogged in my approach. I proved to them that I was very capable of the job.” Coming from an Education and Training Board [ETB] background, Garrett says, “I had been exposed, before I ever became a deputy principal, to management roles. As a result I was able to very seamlessly move into the position. And also I had the huge support of my principal at the time.”
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The boys at the school were “hugely respectful” and “adjusted very quickly”.
“I would have a good relationship with teenage boys anyway. I think I get them ... I have a great interest in sport of all types and they saw that quite quickly. When I started, I also taught a couple of classes so they saw me not just in the management position, but also as a teacher ... They would have seen me dealing with any problems or issues in a very fair and consistent way. Boys love clarity, fairness and consistency.”
She’s conscious “of the changing role in society of young males”, she says.
“With the increase in the roles that women are taking on, for example principal of an all-boys school, I’m always very conscious that we have to be increasingly aware of the changing roles of women in society. And that ultimately has a knock-on effect on the changing roles of men in society, and the boys don’t see that as their role being diminished, but rather as being changed.”
“I’m really conscious ... that they don’t think that they are less important. They are equally [important] ... if not even more important in many ways than they used to be. But just because women are doing jobs that were traditionally men’s positions, that doesn’t mean that we are undermining men.”
Having a male deputy principal helps in this regard, Garrett says, “because they see us working as a team”.
“Social media, and the misogyny, the Andrew Tates and the people like that are making their money out of trying to sow this misogynistic seed in young men’s heads that men should be the commanders of women. Negative social media is creating a huge problem for young men,” she observes.
She feels she can react differently to situations that arise. “We [women] just see things slightly differently. And sometimes we can just bring a slightly different approach to an issue or a problem. That may not be the right one, but nevertheless it’s an alternative.”
A woman principal in a boys’ school can “soften the atmosphere”, she adds. “I think also it’s fantastic for the boys to work with a female in a managerial role. It creates an equality which is very advantageous for young men to see. When they go out to the world of work their boss could be a female. They need to be able to deal with that.”
Tania Rosser became head coach of the Gonzaga College Senior Cup Team in July 2025.
“I 100 per cent didn’t think I would get the role, to be honest. It’s dominated by men”, she says.
People reacted well to her appointment, Rosser says. “A lot of people messaged me saying ‘congrats’. A few people said it was about time that a female coach was being put in place.” Her rugby director, she says, “is fantastic”.
Rosser met the boys early. “I went through who I was ... and I said to them ‘who here, when they heard that they had a female coach were like, what the hell’s going on?’ A couple of the boys put their hands up and I said, ‘Of course you did. Because it wouldn’t mean anything if you weren’t questioning what was going on.’ And then once one or two did, a few more put their hands up.
“One or two spoke to me and it was, ‘We haven’t had a female coach before,’ and that was the main thing. A few of them didn’t really know who I was. There’s one ... that actually went off ... and researched. He came up to me and said, ‘Oh, you played for the Irish women’s team. You played in so many World Cups ... He was already on board, which was quite nice.
“They took a while to warm to me, which was probably expected, and it took them a couple of games to go, ‘Oh actually, this is working.’
“One of the comments was, ‘Oh, we need a coach to scream and yell at us, be aggressive.’ [I said] ‘I’m not going to be that coach.’ If they need to be screamed at and yelled at to play a rugby match, then they’re in the wrong environment,” Rosser says.
“Being a female, every environment I go in to, I have to break those barriers down again.” Rosser believes she has to prove her worth more. “When I go into a new environment I always have to do a better job than everyone else.”
She has found there’s a big difference between the sexes when coaching. “The women like to know why they’re doing things before they’ll do it ... boys tend to just get on and get it done. And I think females are more emotionally tied up in it, compared to what males would be.”
Speaking about women coaches, she says: “We’re really good with soft skills, so the emotional side of people ... I think we have good empathy and patience. I get a feeling when a player is off and I don’t mind asking him if everything is okay.
“I think that’s been really important for the boys to know that I’m there for that side of things as well. I care about their schooling ... I care about if something’s going on at home, can I help them? ... Also to do with the injuries and things like that, I’d be very on top of that and making sure that they’re being well looked after.”
She has introduced yoga to the team. “We do a recovery session after every single game. One, it’s for recovery but, two, it’s just to get them to slow down their minds and just relax and chill out.
“I think the mums would appreciate me. I hope the dads do.”
Elaine Kelly was appointed the first woman principal of St Vincent’s Castleknock College, Dublin in September this year.
Kelly says she was drawn to the job because of the school’s ethos. “It wasn’t necessarily taking up the challenge of being the only woman.” But, she adds, “obviously I’m very proud to be the first woman.
“It’s symbolic for the school, and Castleknock is an innovative place and it is about looking to the future now.”
Kelly says she has an “open door” policy. “That is the culture that I want. Where everybody is seen and heard and celebrated and encouraged.”
She thinks the boys “might be taken aback sometimes when I talk to them. Or even when you greet them on the corridor and you say hello and good morning, they’re maybe not expecting it. I think it is maybe a slow evolution.
“I’m certainly making a point that this is the atmosphere I want in the school.”
Kelly, who has taught in mixed and all-girls schools, notices a difference between managing boys and girls. “Boys need more encouragement. They require more structure. They require routine and they thrive in those conditions.
“Boys overall, I think everyone would agree, would have a much more relaxed nature. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have anxieties and worries. You tease that out in different ways with boys than you might with girls.”
Kelly says she is conscious that content seen on mobile phones can make boys “incredibly angry”, and speaks of the need in a boys’ school to promote “positive masculinity”.
She says she has noted an unexpected resurgence in faith and spirituality among some boys. “I’m actually struck here in the school by the strength of faith that I see amongst the young students in the school. I didn’t necessarily expect that, but they’re actually very confident, some of them, about their faith.
“Boys have plenty to say when you start mining for their thoughts and views on it. I think they just need the opportunity to express themselves.”
Kelly says she never saw herself “as being any different to any other principal. I have a set of skills. I have a vision for the school. I’m not sure that it’s about my gender, to be honest.”
[ A Dublin school making a woman principal should not be big news in 2025Opens in new window ]
Paul Crone, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), does not think the presence of a woman principal at all-boys school should be news. “The question is, why is it a big issue?
“There’s been a lot of research done on why males tend to go for leadership roles in schools earlier than females. And some of that is to do with confidence. And, I suppose, the expectations. Males are more likely to take a punt on it and see how it works out. Whereas females tend to be more cautious and wait until they feel they are ready,” Crone says.
“It’s great to see a huge increase in post-primary ... in female leaders in the last number of years,” he adds.
Crone says having women leaders in all-boys schools is “a positive” thing. “We speak about having positive role models, both male and female. And we need to create the expectation that it’s not about gender. It’s a level playing field. It’s fair and the best person will be the leader of the school. It’s great for boys to see a female principal in that position. And I would say vice versa in an all-girls school – it’s good for them to see a male principal.”
He doesn’t feel things are any more difficult for women leaders in boys’ schools than for male leaders. “If the person has met the competencies that the board have decided are necessary for that school, I don’t think they will have any particular additional difficulties, to be honest.”
