Inside Ireland’s First Classical Academy

Founded by Cantillon-Murphy, his wife Grace, and other interested parents, Mater Dei opened in 2020 with 12 students. Today, some 60 students in secondary school, the equivalent of grades 7-12 in the United States, sit in its classrooms, where they receive lessons in the Catholic faith, Irish and the history and literature of Ireland, science and math, and a classical education. Additional students are enrolling in the school’s online and homeschooling courses or ordering its materials, which also cover the primary grades.