This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Shaun Boylan. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Born: 26 June 1921, Ireland
Died: 6 April 1966
Country most active: Ireland
Also known as: NA
Veronica Ryan (1921–66), founder and headmistress of the Children’s House Montessori School, was born 26 June 1921 in Dublin. She was educated at the Sacred Heart Convent, Mount Anville, Co. Dublin, where her aunt, Alice Ryan, was reverend mother. While attending Mount Anville she came to share the interest of her aunt in the education of young children. Through her aunt she subsequently met and studied under Mother Veronica Power of the Sacred Heart School, Monkstown, who had a keen interest in the ideas of the pioneering educationalist Maria Montessori. Mother Power encouraged Veronica Ryan to travel to Italy to study under Montessori on the understanding that rooms would be made available for a new Montessori class at the Sacred Heart, Monkstown, on her return.
After spending a year (1947–8) under the tutelage of Montessori she returned to Ireland, where she ran (1948–50) a small Montessori establishment at the Sacred Heart School, Monkstown. Having decided to found an independent establishment, she was initially given the use of rooms (1950–52) at her father’s house, Thornhill, Kilmacud, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin. As the enterprise became a success and the number of pupils grew, the facilities became inadequate and she decided to found the first custom-built Montessori school in Ireland. She made a trip to the Netherlands to purchase the most sophisticated teaching equipment for the time and persuaded her father to donate part of the grounds attached to his house. The Children’s House Montessori School was thus completed in 1952 with Veronica Ryan as its first headmistress.
She later built a house, Homefield, beside the school, where she lived until her death. She never married and died of pneumonia 6 April 1966. After her death her brother, John Archibald Ryan, moved into Homefield.