Alexandra College was founded by Ann Jellicoe, a Quaker educationist, in the name of furthering women's education.

As Alexandra settled into its role, Ann Jellicoe was convinced that a major obstacle to the liberal education of women was their exclusion from the university campus.

Patrick Pearse, the leader of the Easter Rising, was once employed as an Irish language teacher.

The students are addressed weekly by a female minister, and a school assembly is held daily at which Church of Ireland hymns are sung and which finish with the extended version of The Lord's Prayer.

The junior school is run in accordance with Froebelian principles, follows the national curriculum and provides a number of specialized subjects, such as art, French, individual music instrument lessons, speech and drama and a wide array of sports as part of its strong extra and co-curricular programme.

On 2 March 1896 the school also hosted the first ever women's international field hockey match when Ireland defeated England 2–0.

[7][8] When Ireland won the silver medal at the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup, the squad included three former Alexandra College pupils – Nicola Evans, Deirdre Duke and Emily Beatty.

Alexandra College are the competitions most successful team, winning the cup for the thirteenth time in 2016.

[26] The Guild was founded in 1897, not only to form a bond of union between past and present students and staff, and to keep them in touch with the College, but also to promote a spirit of service to the community and to undertake social and philanthropic work.