The school was instituted in 1792, with the aim of maintaining the daughters of indigent Freemasons, unable through death, illness, or incapacitation to support their families.

In 1788 Bartholomew Ruspini and nine fellow Freemasons met in London to discuss plans for establishing a charitable institution for the daughters of Masons who had fallen on hard times or whose death had meant hardship for their families.

In 1792, a small house, affording accommodation for twenty girls, was taken in Dublin where the pupils were boarded, clothed and educated until such a time as they could earn their own living.

[3] On 16 May 1892 the Masonic Centenary five-day Bazaar opened at the Royal Dublin Society grounds, adjacent to the school.

Among the highlights were reconstructions of historic Dublin buildings, a human chess game, and landscaped gardens.