 It was the choice of parents, pupils (270 at the time and increasing), the Irish community, Newbridge Town Council and Irish organisations that Gael-Choláiste would start immediately.The founders investigated alternative patronage and management structures in the pursuit of an all-Irish secondary education for our children and having done so adopted "An Foras Pátrúnachta" as the school's patron, it being the only patron who would guarantee the school's ethos and culture and so it also became part of the JMB structure.Within a year Gael-Choláiste Chill Dara welcomed its first group of students in September 2003.