Founded by the Holy Faith Sisters in 1890,[3] and originally providing both primary (mixed sex) and secondary education, it is since 2009 in the care of The Le Cheile Schools Trust.

[7] Four Holy Faith nuns were sent to establish a convent and private Catholic school for girls and boys in Clontarf in 1890, in response to an invitation from the parish priest.

The convent was named for Our Lady Star of the Sea, and the attached school opened for teaching on 22 September that year, with three girls and one boy.

The new building was formally blessed and launched by John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin, on October 2 1953.

[2] Holy Faith Clontarf was initially part-funded by fees, which apparently never came to a significant total.

[2] The secondary school had its first board of management appointed in 1985, and its first lay principal, Bertha McCullagh in 1987,[4][2] when 14 nuns remained in the convent.

[8] Fourth year is a mandatory Transition Year, with both basic subjects and a wide range of extra courses and workshops, as well as work experience, social initiatives and time to pursue the national Gaisce youth achievement awards.

[8] The school offers a range of sports, competing in camogie (since the 1940s), field hockey, basketball, badminton, ladies' Gaelic football, tennis (with Clontarf Tennis Club) and athletics (in cooperation with Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club).

[8] The school retains the ethos of the Holy Faith sisters, and this is elaborated into a mission statement.