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About

Liz Donlan (nee Balley)Liz Bailey (now Donlan) was at St Elphin’s from 1967 to 1973 (Upper III to Lower VI inclusive).

"I was in Gresford House for the first three years and Powys House for the latter three as the, then, Head Mistress, Miss Robinson, wanted to keep a better eye on me!

The above photo of me at school isn't the best as I'm still trying to find a decent one which I can enlarge and which is better quality. The one to the right was taken of me in November 2019 at the age of 63.

On leaving school, with only 2 ‘O’ levels, I went to secretarial college and then spent 17 years working for the NHS on the secretarial, financial and administration sides. Since then I have published magazines, owned a retail aquatic store and now have a small company designing and publishing websites.

I also make handmade cards and also photographic cards using photographs taken by myself, my husband or members of my family (plus a few from a friend). I sell them, either through my website (details can be found on the links page) or at craft fairs.

Mike and I celebrated our pearl wedding anniversary in October 2015 and don't have any children - through choice. We lived in Simister, Haslingen and Dukinfield in the UK and, at the end of April 2019, we moved to the Republic of Ireland. Initially we lived in temporary accomodation and then moved into our new home on 29 June, 2019 in Kilcommon, nr Thurles, Co Tippeary.

At the tender age of 52 I started studying with the Open University and was very proud when I successfully gained a Certificate in Business Studies.

The Website!
The idea of a website about the school had previously been muted but had never materialised. In view of my experience of publishing websites it wasn't long before the idea went full speed ahead and this website was launched on Christmas Eve in 2010.

Gill Prescott-Haywood was invaluable with the website for the first couple of years providing information and checking all the pages. Since then I have continued with the site on my own.

The website has grown much more than I ever anticipated and it never ceases to amaze me how much information has come forward. Indeed, the information still floods in and I am extremely grateful to both old girls and staff for contacting me with information, photos, magazines, etc. Keep them all coming – please!

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