Colonel Vandeleur donated a site for both Church and Convent in Kilrush and Mother Xavier felt that the Marquis of Conyngham, lanlord of much of Kilkee, would be equally generous. She wrote to him in May 1871, outlining her proposals for a convent and orphanage. Her choice of site was an area opposite the parochial house as this would be convenient to the parish church and the schools. The reply, through the agent, Marcus Keane, was favourable. He was willing to give a site provided the rights of his tenants were protected and he directed Mother Xavier to negotiate with his agent.

In the meantime both Fr. Cleary and the curate, Fr. Laurence Browne, were looking for a house which would serve as a temporary residence. By June there four houses on offer, for sale or on long-term lease. The sale price ranged from £750 for Desmond Villa to £1,250 for Castle Lloyd in Merton Square. It wad finally decided to to lease Castle Lloyd House from Joseph Fogerty of Limerick at a rent of £70 per annum. This was not available until the tourist season ended in late September.

Four Sisters had, by now, been selected for the foundation, Sr. Stanislaus Ham as superior, Srs Agustine Hardiman, Angele Spence and Anne Mc Namara. On 5 November 5 1871 they set out for the west accompanied by Rev. Mother Xavier Spain as well as Frs. Cleary and Browne who had brought the carriages for them. On arrival in Kilkee they were met by a large number of the residents who escorted them to Castle Lloyd House.

Within a short time the Sisters were visiting the sick and poor in their hones. They gave religious instruction in the national school and opened a pension or fee-paying school in the convent under the protection of St. Philomena. Here, in addition to the ordinary school subjects, the girls were taught drawing, intricate needlework and French. Piano lessons were given to those interested.

Donations and school fees in the following six months amounted to £18-11-10 while expenditure on furniture and upkeep was £50. May was fast approaching and the half-yearly rent of £35 would then be due. The Sisters were deeply troubled. Where were they to find the money? They made a decision to make a novena in honour of St. Joseph and on 18 March, the eve of his-feast day, they received a letter posted in England. To their great joy it contained a cheque for £35-10-0 just marginally more than they needed. St. Joseph had not let them down. However, they could not thank their benefactor as he did not give his name. Nor was it revealed some years later when they were informed of his death.

Kilkee, then as now, attracted many visitors during the summer, amung them the Lord Lieutenant and Lady Spencer who, together with their entourage, visited the convent on 25 May 1872. A short time later the Marquis and Marchioness of Conyngham called and showed great great interest in the work of the Sisters and their plan to extend their apostolate when the connvent would be built.

Charity sermons were a popular means of raising funds in the 1800s. To ensure a good a good attendance a well-known preacher was engaged and a collection was taken up. The first such charity sermon in aid of the recently the recently established convent was preached in Kilkee in July 1872 and afterwards the Sisters were given £116-2-6. In August of the same year the women of the town organised a bazzar or monster sale of work which netted £100. The account book records the receipt of this money and notes that £63 was spent on furnishing and necassary household utensils. Both the sermon and bazzar became annual events and provided essential funds when the income was meagre. The long negotiations for a site were finally concluded in November 1872. The two former tenants, Thomas Sheedy and Henry Keane, brother of Marcus, were given land in another area but, in adition, Keane demanded £60 disturbance money. Despite all the efforts of Rev. Mother Xavier Spain the Chief Secretary refused to sanction a boys' orphanage in Kilkee and Mr. Hennessy, a Limerick architect, was asked to draw up plans for a convent, chapel and national school only. With great forseight the plans included some extra rooms so that the Sisters in Kilrush could come on holiday. Thomas Forde of Kilrush secured the building contract, the estimated cost for the convent being £2,820.

The foundation stone was laid by Fr. Cleary on the feast of the Sacre Heart, 12 June 1874. The ceremony was attended by many of the inhabittants of the town, the Kilkee brass band and the pupils of both Kilrush and Kilkee convent schools who marched in procession to the site. Two years later, on 8 june 1876, the Sisters left Castle Llyod House and went to reside in Sacred Heart Convent. The construction of the chapel was then begun and on 20 July 1877 it was solemnly blessed and opened. A few months previously a statue of the Sacred Heart was placed on a pedestal over the front porch. With the finishing of the school in 1878 the four-year building programme came to an end.

In that tine the total expenditure was £6,286. Of this, £916 was collected through charity sermons and bazaars while £4,580 was raised in loans. For the next thirty years the Sisters in Kilkee struggled to pay this deby. A legacy in 1908 enabled them to clear it. The acquisition of land on the Kilrush Road in the 1880s, presently the G.A.A. grounds, proved of inestimable benefit to the Sisters. A few cows kept in these fields and the tilling of the gardens arounnd the convent assured their self-sufficiency in milk, butter, potatoes, vegetables and fruit.

The opening of the West Clare Railway between Kilrush and Kilkee was hailed as a blessing by both commuities. It even merited a paragraph in the Kilrush Annals of 16 August 1892 when the names of the Sisters making their first train journey to kilkee are recorded. They were Mother Xavier Spain, Mother gabriel Histon, Srs. Xavier Curran, Dominic Donnellan, Ursula Culhane and Joseph Talty. For many years the West Clare Railway facilitated the Sisters as they exchanged houses for holidays and retreats. In 1878 the girls' national school opened in the new premises in the convent. The nunber on roll in 1879 was 173 but the average attendance was only 74. Seven years later 68 infant boys were enrolled bringing the total to 278 while there was an average attendance of 137.

The Sodality of the Children of Mary was established in Kilkee on 8 December 1879 when fourteen ladies were admitted. Through the sodality the spiritual life of the members was nurtured. The Little Office of Our Lady was recited daily. The members undertook weekly adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as well as an annual retreat. The sodalists in Kilkee engaged in many apostolic works, co-operated with the Vincent de Paul Society in helping the poor and established a fund to educate missionary students. They formed their own choir and had a lending library for the members. Their social life was well catered for as they produced concerts and plays, ran whist drives and dances with all the proceeds going to sharitable causes. In the tears after Vatican II numbers dwindled and to-day Children of Mary sodalities are but a memory

On leaving school in the 1800s and early 1900s there was liittle prospect of employment for women. To help remedy this situation the Sisres in Kilkee decided to provide training and employment for school leavers and for women of the town. A workroom was equipped, materials and were bought and in January 1891 the Industrial Department of the Kilkee Convent opened.

Under the Agricultural and Technical Act of 1889 managers of national schools who organised such classes received grants and a qualified teacher was paid by the Department. A report of the Commissioners of Education in 1896 describes the Kilkee venture:

The teacher is fully qualified to give instruction in dress making, shirt-making, knitting, crocheting, Mountmellick work, point lace, Honiton lace, crochet lace, silk embroidery and Macrame.

On the day of inspection there were 35 women on roll. The materials were supplied, partly by the community and partly by the pupils and were obtaind from Clerys and Switzers of Dublin and Wakefords of London. Much of the finished work was sold to visitors but private orders were also received. The women received payment for work done and on leaving were qualified to be gainfully employed. the workroom closed about 1930.

In 1943 the Sisters opened what what was then termed a secondary top. This was a continuation of the national school and the girls were eligible for the Certificate examinations. Three years later ten pupils were presented for the Intermediate Certificate. In 1960 it was recognised as a full secondary school. By then numbers had increased and the existing accommodation was insufficient.

The convent grounds became a building site in the early 1960s as three separate projects were undertaken. Classrooms for the secondary school were erected in 1960 by Banagher Tile Co. at a cost of £6,228, all of which was paid by the Sisters as there were no rants available then. Nearby the parish was rising steadily on a site, part of which was donated by the Sisters while £6,350 was spent on the renovation of the primary school in 1962. This was grant aided.

The introduction of free secondary education under the Education Act of 1967 led to further growth in numbers, necessitating the addition of several pre-fabs. By the late 1980s it was evident that a new school was needed. Department officials, however, suggested amalgamation with the Vocational School. At local level both teachers and parents discussed the proposition. Finally, in 1990, it was agreed to uite the two schools under the auspices of the Clare Vocational Education Committee. Three years later the students of the Convent Secondary School transferred to the new complex on the Carrigaholt Road, now known as Kilkee Community College.

A new primary school was also under consideration but the Department, in consultation with local interests, decided to amalgamate the boys' and girls' schools with the extra accommodation to be provided in the boys'school.