This study investigates the role that founding charisms play in Catholic Trust bodies in the Republic of Ireland. The deficit of research in this arena over previous decades, as evidenced by the gaps in the literature, has prompted the current research. When the Irish State was founded in 1922, an educational administration system was already in place, reinforcing the denominational character of schooling. When religious congregations established schools, they did so with a particular mission and/or founding intention. As founders of schools, they had distinctive responsibilities that had a legal as well as a moral basis. Dating back to 1999, religious congregations established lay Trust bodies to manage their schools, owing to societal change, including a fall in vocations of religious personnel. This qualitative case study, emerging from a constructivist-interpretive paradigm, seeks to explore the role of founding charisms from the perspective of the religious personnel and laity who were immersed in the establishment and operation of these lay Trusts. By employing semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis, this research aims to offer a voice to the participants. The Trust bodies examined in this research are charged with carrying out the Trust function of 66 per cent of Catholic voluntary secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland. All data were analysed using thematic analysis with the NVivo software package. The interview participants’ views on the current role and remit of Trusts add rich insight into the workings of Catholic Trust bodies for education. Findings indicate that the processes of discernment (rooted in Gospel values) entered into by some religious congregations were beneficial. The religious congregations discovered a commonality and a renewed focus on their role in Catholic education. The founding charisms of the religious congregations who set up the Catholic education Trusts are still germane. The relationship between Trusts and their schools has progressed, moving from a stance of suspicion and tension to one of confidence and hope in the future. This study has also shown that no consensus exists in relation to the emergence of a single Trust for Catholic schools in Ireland and the issue of funding Trusts will remain a challenge in the future.