St Mac Dara's accommodates both Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate students. the school was ranked sixth in Ireland in terms of the number of students who progressed to third level and by the types of institution to which the students progressed. It has an optional Transition Year programme, usually restricted to one class with a maximum of 30 students per year. The school has a range of sporting and extra curricular activities including Gaelic football, hurling, soccer, rugby, basketball, golf and canoeing. St Mac Dara's made history in 2012 by winning both the Dublin and Leinster Senior Football Championships. There are nearly 1000 students in the school. The classes are named after Irish place names such as Ardagh, Dublin and Cashel.
Charity
The school has tradition of charity fundraising, and the college has been noted for its contributions to the Irish charity Trócaire. In 2010, the school raised more money than any other school in Ireland for Trócaire for the 10th year in a row. Annual fundraising activities undertaken by the college's students include a sponsored 24-hour fast, a table quiz, and a soccer marathon. A group of students traveled to Honduras/Nicaragua in 2005 as part of a charity project.
Facilities
St Mac Dara's has facilities including four science laboratories, three home economics classrooms with appliances, two art classrooms, two woodwork classrooms, two engineering classrooms, two technical graphics rooms and over 40 classrooms. The two computer classrooms contain over 30 broadband-enabled computers. There is also a physical education hall / gymnasium on the school grounds. The school was selected in 2010 as one of 100 schools to be part of the Government's 100mbits Broadband Initiative, and every classroom was fitted with a smartboard, projector and a 100Mbit/s broadband enabled laptop.
Organisations
The school has a Student Council, and voluntary organisations and societies, including a History Society, choir, orchestra, Gaeilge Society and an Amnesty International group, which organises an annual Fair Trade Fair and various other fundraisers throughout the year. St MacDara's presents a musical every year. On 10 March 2009, the St MacDara's choir participated in the V.E.C Festival of Music.
Popular media
In October 2006, St MacDara's was used to shoot a scene in the film Assault of Darkness starring Vinnie Jones. Some of the fourth and fifth year students were used as extras in the scene, which was filmed in one of the science rooms.
