“La petite école française”, The Little French School, first opened it doors in 1967 under the auspices of the then French Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency M. Roger Robert du Gardier.   The school was located in Clarinda Park, Dun Laoghaire in one of the premises, at the time, of the Alliance Française.

In 1970 the school officially became L’Ecole Franco Irlandaise, the French Irish School.

1971 saw the primary school move to Foxrock.

By 1986 the school had a total of 110 pupils on its roll.  These five classes were housed in prefabs in the grounds of St Patrick’s Girls National School, Hollypark.

The secondary school remained in Dun Laoghaire under the direction of the then headmaster, Mr Bertrand Cocq, and Michelle Maillet who recalls: “It was strange but pleasant to work in rooms with high ceilings, a fireplace and without the usual noise made by pupils playing the courtyard; we didn’t have one!  At break time, pupils and teachers gathered in the kitchen at basement level.”

In 1987 the foundations were laid for the new building in Foxrock and the secondary pupils left Dun Laoghaire for Foxrock for the start of a new chapter in the life of the school. 

As the years passed, our numbers grew and by 1998 more space was needed.  We had a total of 210 students in four kindergarten classes, five primary classes and four secondary classes.

Back to prefabs for the pupils while a new extension to the Foxrock campus was begun. HE Henri Benoît de Coignac laid the key stone and we saw the first pupils through the re-vamped doors in September 1999.  That same year, the Ecole Franco Irlandaise became Lycée Français d’Irlande but the story doesn’t stop there.  Space was still a problem with the growing pupil numbers.   

September 2002 saw the classes of 3eme, 2nde, 1ere and Terminale move to the St Kilian’s Deutsche Schule campus in Clonskeagh and prefabs featured once again in the life of the school.  This was also the year that the school was officially recognised as an exam centre for the Baccalaureate.  The 6eme, 5eme and 4eme pupils stayed in Foxrock until their move to Clonskeagh in September 2003.

The pages turned and a new chapter began in September 2005 – the integration of the Collège pupils with the Junior Cycle of the German School.   Our pupils began a programme that saw 50% of their classes in English with their German counterparts; the objective realised in June 2008 with the 3eme students sitting a Junior Certificate exam for the first time along with their Brevet.  

It is said that the only constant in life is change and in this instance, change for the better.

The integration programme saw the creation of the “Eurocampus” – a joint venture with St Kilian’s German School. The Eurocampus building was opened on the site of St. Kilian's in October 2008.

The Eurocampus is a unique educational opportunity for our children as well as an opportunity to develop their intercultural relations, standing side by side with children of many nationalities and cultural backgrounds.