Irelands Premier Training Academy for Massage Therapists

Academy Management

The Irish Academy of massage and beauty training, consists of seven family members, with a variety of management and business skills among them.

Most of the staff are also qualified in many of the disciplines that are offered on their curriculum.

The Academy was started almost 12 years ago by college principal Derek O Kelly, who in recent years has been joined by his two daughters Michelle and Natasha , his two sisters Breda and Teresa and his fiancée Veronica Clinton and her brother Ray. They now offer one of the most comprehensive cirriculums in part time massage and beauty therapy courses.

We are a family company, with family values, and place a high emphasis on treating our customers with care and respect; just as we would like our family members to be treated. This ethos is instilled from the top down and is expected of anyone who works and teaches with us. This has resulted in us attracting some of the best trainers in the country and producing the best results, with some of the departments achieving 100%, and 98.5% pass rates.

The base line criteria for working with our company is that our employees care about their duties and the services they deliver.

Our aim is to be the best at what we do, and produce an environment that people enjoy working and learning in.

Indications are that the family approach is working, as people travel from around Ireland to study at the Academy.

The Irish Academy conduct part time programmes all year round and are currently enrolling for courses in massage, beauty therapy, make-up, teacher training, gel nails and spray tanning.
Most of their certificate and diploma programmes are validated by ITEC, an international awards council.

A comprehensive list of the academies programmes can be viewed at www.academy.ie

Visitors and enquiries, are also welcome from Monday to Friday between 9 and 5pm, to The Irish Academy Of Training, Waverley Business Park, Old Nass Road, D12. (view website for location).Or for more information contact 01 4089769

About Us - A Brief History

The Irish Academy was established in 1998 and specialised in the delivery of massage programmes under the ITEC awards system. The Irish Academy progressed over the years and by the year 2002 were one of the biggest providers of massage programmes in the country with five training centres in Dublin and surrounding areas. Throughout this growth we focused on quality training and customer support. We were the first college in Ireland to provide students with dvds, cds and support outside of course hours and have become synomous with quality programmes and tuition ( This year we had 98.5% pass rate on our beauty diploma and 98% pass rate on our massage diploma ).

Our policy has been to continually invest in research and development to provide the best service possible. In 2003 we started a research process analysing training standards in the beauty industry. Following this research process we invested in new premises, staff and equipment, and in 2005 launched our first BEAUTICIAN TRAINING programme under the ITEC awards system. The company now consists of 7 staff members dedicated to customer support, curriculum development and research. Our new state of the art training facility on the Naas Road Dublin 12 has enabled us to reach new levels of quality with a variety of beautician and massage related programmes on our curriculum.

In March 2007 we reached another milestone with the addition of the ITEC teaching diploma at our college (first ITEC college in the world). This will enable us to conduct our own in house teacher training and produce quality teachers for the industry. We are also be the first college in Ireland to produce make-up, massage and skincare dvds for our students.

Due to the phenomenal demand for our beautician and massage programmes we will also be extending our training facilities in the coming months. This will enable us to provide a wider variety of programmes and launch a sister company, BEAUTYME to meet the demand for products and other related services. We will initially supply a range of cosmetics, make-up brushes, beauty related dvds and free beauty and health tips through the BEAUTYME company and website.

Make-up Book For Charity

It has always been our companies policy to "give something back " and commit to a fundraising event each year. This years fundraiser will be our biggest undertaking to date, with myself and make-up artist Rhona Cullinan (IBPA AWARD WINNER 2008 FOR BEST PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP ARTIST), writing a book on make-up titled "Simply Make-up". Proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Marie Keating Foundation. A launch date of April 2008 has been set.

Rapid Growth

Our company has experienced rapid growth in the past 3 years with three related businesses operating under the banner of the Irish Academy. In 2007 we will add another company, Beautyme, to cater for products and other related services and will also be entering the publishing arena with the publication of dvds, home study materials and make-up books. We are also committed to our Internet strategy with 4 websites catering for our different services and have initiated a process to source and brand our own product range. Our fundraising efforts will continue this year with proceeds from the sale of the make-up book we publish being donated to the Marie Keating Foundation.

Why Us

We pride ourselves on conducting our business in the most professional manner possible while also providing quality services. After ten years in business, I can say with confidence, that no other college in the country offers the quality of service, which we do.

Getting the proper qualifications and training is vital for pursuing a career in the beauty industry.That is why when you choose to train with us you are guaranteed quality training with our ITEC qualifications recognised throughout the beauty industry. ITEC qualifications are also recognised in many countries around the world allowing you the flexibility to mix career and travel. Our reputation is synonymous with quality training and learner support and you may choose from a variety of beautician courses at evenings, weekends or daytime. We provide a pathway of education from introductory programmes through to teaching qualifications.

Our Standards

We have excellent pass rates ( This year we had 98.5% pass rate on our beauty diploma and 98% pass rate on our massage diploma ).

We provide top class tuition.

Our qualifications are recognised internationally (ITEC WEBSITE).

We provide dedicated support staff to help you through your studies.

We provide extra tuition were needed.

Our fees are extremely competitive.

We accept fees by instalments.

We provide assistance to employment.

We are the only college in Ireland to provide multi media learning recourses such as DVDs and CDs.

The standards adhered to in our college are of the highest quality. We are regulated and monitored by ITEC, the largest international examination board of its kind.

ITEC assessors visit our college twice a year to conduct examinations and ensure we are complying with their international standards.

The ITEC standards are recognised worldwide (almost 600 colleges at time of writing) and accepted by employers and insurers. More recently, the ITEC standard has been accepted in the United States of America.

Our internal standards are also of the highest quality, with curriculum development and teaching practices continually under review.

We have progressed to leaders in our industry, with competitors replicating some of our innovations and practices.

We were the first college in the massage and beauty industry to supply our students with audio and visual aids for home study, and to also offer students support outside of course hours.

No other college in he county has committed the resources which we have, to ensure the delivery of quality standards and programmes.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I look forward to keeping you updated with developments at our company throughout the year.

image of director

Derek O Kelly
Director & Principal