In April 1965, Sheila Dillon, (now Mrs Sheila Fitzgerald) was appointed assistant teacher at Grange National School. After arriving in Grange, she was encouraged by Mrs Fraher to join the Bruff ICA Guild. After the closure of Grange School in 1967, she was asked by Sarah Walsh (a cousin of Annie O'Keeffe, Grange), Doon ICA Guild, if she would consider forming a guild in Grange. In 1968, permission was obtained from young Count John de Salis for a proposed Grange ICA Guild to use the schoolhouse to conduct its affairs, and the Grange Guild has used the building extensively over the intervening years.

 

In June 1968, following a local advertising campaign, a group of women from Grange met in the old schoolhouse and discussed the formation of a guild in Grange. Grange ICA Guild was formally registered at a national level on 18th September 1968, and its aim was to enhance the lives of the women of Grange and surrounding areas.

 

A total of forty ladies were enrolled on the opening night. The first officers of the Grange Guild were the following: President - Sheila Fitzgerald, Secretary - Peg Madden and Treasurer - Katherine Casey.

 

In the intervening years, Grange Guild ICA grew from strength to strength as an influential and important organisation in the locality.

 

The history of the Grange Guild is comprehensively articulated in an article written by Gretta Purcell, Secretary and PRO, which appears in the book, 'Grange Past and Present', which was published in  2015.