First published in 2009 by

Messenger Publications, 37 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2www.messenger.ie

Printed in Ireland by Watermans Ltd

ISBN 978-1-872245-67-6

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Contents~ 5 ~

Preface: John Dardis SJ, Provincial

~ 7 ~Foreword: Nicholas Cuddihy, Headmaster

~ 9 ~Introduction: Anthony White, Editor

~ 12 ~A la Récherche du Temps Perdu: Patrick Glynn

~ 18 ~Crescent College in Context 1858~1971: Matthew Potter

~ 32 ~Fifteen Years of Immersion: Desmond O’Malley

~ 36 ~Origins of the Jesuits in Limerick: Thomas Stack

~ 39 ~To Make Something of Myself: Myles O’Reilly SJ

~ 46 ~’Tis Nearly Fifty Years: Pádhraig Folan

~ 51 ~The Crescent Church: Bill Whelan

~ 54 ~The Jesuits in Limerick 1859~2009: Anthony White

~ 62 ~A.M.D.G.: Leonard Moloney SJ

~ 69 ~A Memorable Occasion: David O’Mahony

~ 72 ~The Transition Years 1965~1976: Thomas Morrissey SJ

~ 89 ~The Absolute Centre of Attention: Niamh O’Connor

~ 98 ~CCC: The Curriculum: Dermot Cowhey

~ 106 ~A School with an Umbrella over its Roof: Vincent Campbell

~ 110 ~A Land of Lost Content: Pat O’Connell

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~ 116 ~A School but not an Institution: Helen Kelly Holmes

~ 119 ~Macnamh an tSean-Mháistir: Daithí Ó Gadhra

~ 124 ~A Professional Actor Would Know His Lines: Paul Meade

~ 132 ~Jesuit Education: A Golden Thread: Derbhile de Paor

~ 135 ~A Place with Unsung Heroes: Dermot O’Connor SJ

~ 138 ~Drama at the Crescent: Karl Quinn

~ 140 ~Semper Fidelis: Denis Leonard

~ 152 ~Learning Something About Yourself: Simon Carswell

~ 156 ~Sport at Crescent College Comprehensive: Dermot Cowhey

~ 172 ~Peaking Too Early: Shane O’Neill

~ 175 ~From Crescent to Cuba: John Hurley

~ 182 ~Magis: Cian Browne

~ 187 ~Rugby Yes, Singing in Public No: Eoin Reddan

~ 190 ~A Retrospective from the Chair: John Harty

~ 194 ~No Airs or Graces: Jennifer Egan

~ 202 ~Old Crescent Rugby Football Club: Patrick Rickard

~ 216 ~The Cecilian Musical Society: Joe Donnellan

~ 231 ~Contributors

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Preface

This fine collection of reflections and reminiscences on the Crescent allows us to ‘reel back the years’ and recall with affection the many people and events that have made the College what it is. The book serves to remind us of the founding impulse – the Jesuit mission to ‘help souls’ – and to reflect how the Ignatian character of the school has, through the fifteen decades of its long life, been both changing and changeless at once.

The book outlines the significant stages of the College’s development, perhaps the most dramatic being the move to Dooradoyle. A number of the articles contained here chronicle the challenges that the move entailed as well as the difficulties that free education posed for the College.

The articles also reflect the myriad activities that the College engaged in on a daily basis, some of which survive to this day and others that are long gone. Each activity reflects the holistic nature of the education which the College provided for the past one hundred and fifty years.

Another notable feature of the college is the collaboration that existed between parents and teachers long before it was fashionable or, indeed, considered desirable.

How would the Jesuit fathers, who opened their doors on 10th March, 1859, regard the present school? I suspect that they would marvel at the extensive campus, the breadth of the curriculum that is now on offer and applaud the wisdom to educate both the sons and daughters of Limerick’s citizens. The fathers would be humbled by the knowledge that a project so modestly begun has flourished beyond all expectation; a sure sign that God’s grace has flowed in abundance on this ‘mission’.

This book has been written by many people whose loyalty and affection for the Crescent and the Jesuit tradition speaks for itself. It would not have been published, however, had it not been for the extraordinary commitment and co-ordination of Dr. Tony White. Himself a proud past pupil, he has been the engine driving this publication and ensuring that it arrived safely at its present destination. To him we owe a special debt of gratitude.

In conclusion I wish the reader well and hope you pass many happy hours with old friends and memories. An anniversary is a time to celebrate. A book such as this allows us to do so in style.

John Dardis SJ,Provincial, August 2009

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The Crescent (the word Crescent comes from the Latin crescere: to grow), like all great schools, has always been a place of growth. The story of this school is a story of a growth that is not a robotic, colourless or linear one. Guided by the courage and vision of different generations of Jesuits and others, this school has long been identified as a dynamic presence in Limerick. That this school has endured when others have not is a testament to the values, the convictions, the daring and the openness to change of those who have served, taught and managed in this school over a century and a half.

As you can see in this publication this school is all about its students, their laughter and song, their games and their studies, their acting and playing, their hopes, dreams and prayers. Every year we welcome a new group of first years into this school of growth. In the same breath we begin to prepare a new graduating class. That is the wonderful synchronicity of a school. Those of us who work in Crescent today are part of the latest phase of this growth.

We look back and celebrate our traditions and history and at the same time we are open to change and the newness of every school day. Far from ‘a heavy hand of history’ the story that this publication captures is a source of great support and encouragement for us as we take the baton. It is a reminder of the core values of Catholic education; the goodness and dignity of the person as preached in the Gospel by Jesus, and the commitment to growth in Him through all things.

Thank you to Dr. White and Mr. Cowhey and to all who have contributed to this publication. As one of the newest arrivals to the Crescent College story I am delighted that you have taken the time to make sure that this moment did not pass without a celebration of this growth. It is my hope and prayer that we will value this book and treasure it as a reminder of all that is great about Crescent College Comprehensive SJ.

Nicholas Cuddihy,Headmaster

June 2009

Foreword

Céad caoga bliain ag fás

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Pádraig Faulkner, T.D., Minister for Education, chatting with pupils after the formal opening of Crescent College Comprehensive in October 1972

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This is not a history of Crescent College. For that to have been ready for 2009 planning would have been needed five or more years ago. Crescent’s self –perception then as now was possibly too modest for the school to think that it should commission a history of itself. It is to be hoped that this jubilee will trigger the writing of such a study, because there is a good and interesting story to tell. Limerick is a complex place, and the religious, social, cultural and educational interaction of the Jesuits, the school and Limerick society is a potentially fascinating topic.

This then is a miscellany, not a history, some snapshots of Crescent past and present and some reflections on the experience of attending school there. Apart from teachers current and past, all the contributors are past pupils. Their span covers the period from the 1940s to the current decade. It had been the intention that the publication should allow the school to be portrayed ‘warts and all’. Neither instructions nor guidance were given to contributors, and in the main they have chosen to celebrate the

school’s achievements and strengths rather than probe for shortcomings. This publication is accordingly more eulogy than exposé. The skeletons will have to await a future historian.

The book does not cover all Crescent activity. There are omissions and lacunae. No reference is made to the school’s contribution in the area of adult education. Crescent College Comprehensive belongs to that elite band of schools that can boast a Young Scientist of the Year, but there is no treatment in these pages of its strength in the teaching of science and mathematics over many years. There is little reference to debating, an activity which is a characteristic of Jesuit schools, and which has a long tradition and a record of competitive success in Crescent. In considering the history of the Jesuits in Limerick only fleeting reference is made to nearby Mungret College, which operated as a boarding school and apostolic school (minor seminary) for the ninety two years from 1882 to 1974.

Unlike other Jesuit schools Crescent College

Introduction

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Comprehensive does not publish an Annual nor does it have a thriving past pupils union. Accordingly data on its past is elusive. Denis Leonard volunteered for the role of kamikaze pilot when agreeing to write an article on the school’s past pupils. Without a database any choice of what counts as special achievement has to have an element of the arbitrary. His suggestion for a roll of honour is a good one which could be pursued via the school’s website with a facility for past students to update their own entries.

Denis’ article details the achievements of some of the school’s more distinguished past. What it cannot capture is the significant contribution made locally, nationally and internationally to workplaces, professions and a host of voluntary, religious and civic activities. The thousands of solid citizens who are and have been Crescent alumni and alumnae cannot be acknowledged individually, although they are more representative of what the school has achieved.

In the preparation of this book there are many to whom I am indebted. For photographic material, background information and other support I wish to acknowledge the contribution of Noel Barber SJ, Bevan Cantrell, Des Cross, Marie Cummins, Father Martin Daly, David Deighan, Deirbhile de Paor, Joe Donnellan, Jennifer Egan, Brian Flannery, Ronan Geary SJ, Noel Harris, Fiona Hurley, John and Terri Hurley, Kelvin Leahy, Denis Leonard, John Leonard, Ivan Morris, John O’Brien, Eddie O’Donnell SJ, Daithí Ó Gadhra, David O’Mahony, Don Reddan, Pat Rickard, Jim Roche, Monsignor Tom Stack, Brendan Staunton SJ and Michael Wallace.

Damien Burke at the Jesuit archives in Leeson Street was especially helpful, as were Mary Glennon and her staff at the library of Milltown Institute. Bruce Bradley SJ, Patrick Claffey, Jim Corkery SJ, Amanda Dillon, Martin Foley, Peter Fuller, John Harty, John Hayden, Daniel Maddox, Jim Moran SJ and Marian White read some or all of the material and made many helpful comments. They bear no responsibility for the end

product or the editorial judgments, but their advice and assistance is most gratefully acknowledged.

At Crescent College Comprehensive I wish to thank the Board of Management who commissioned the work and, most particularly, the chairman, Richard Leonard, whose wisdom and support has been invaluable and unflagging. My thanks also go to headmaster Nicholas Cuddihy, Chris Cullinan, Dudley Herbert, Diarmuid Mullins, Máire Murphy, Sean O’Callaghan and librarian Mary Lynch. A most profound debt of thanks is owed to Dermot Cowhey, who has been the school’s liaison with the project. Apart from his own written contribution to this publication, he identified potential scribes and provided much of the background information and photographic material. Without him quite simply there would have been no book.

Paula Nolan and Tríona McKee at the Messenger Office have been the guiding hands in bringing the book to production, with Paula’s design skills being largely responsible for this being such an attractive publication. They have been a pleasure to work closely with, and their professionalism has contributed hugely to the quality of the end product. I am profoundly grateful to my wife, Marian, and my daughters, Barbara and Philippa, for being so tolerant, patient, kind and helpful while the editorial process overwhelmed various aspects of family life.

Gratitude goes above all to the contributors. For some it came easily, for others the birth pangs were painful. Sincere thanks to each one for their valuable reflection and output. If I am to single out an article, it is that of Father Morrissey, the longest in the book.

In the past forty years the momentous happening in the life of the school has been the transition from Sacred Heart College to Crescent College Comprehensive. This was a major challenge for the Jesuits and particularly Tom Morrissey, who as headmaster from 1970 to 1982 led from the front in this great experiment. At this stage it is fair to judge

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that the grafting of the enormously rich and expansive tradition of Jesuit education on the comprehensive ideal has been a success.

Many of the contributions here testify to this; there is an affection and enthusiasm for Crescent College Comprehensive which, if anything, is even more effusive than what existed at the old Crescent. This achievement is something of which Tom and his Jesuit confreres can feel very proud. Getting there was not a matter of straight linear progression, as his article testifies. For his input alone this publication will have to be revisited by any future historian. For his quite extraordinary contribution to his old school, we can only express our profound thanks and admiration. Exegi monumentum aere perennius.

More than two million students attend Jesuit schools and universities in over seventy countries annually. Crescent pupils belong to a culturally rich and potent international operation and tradition. The Jesuits have a secure place in the history of Western education. The strength of the method and operation of Jesuit education is acknowledged even by those who have no sympathy with the Society’s mission and apostolate.

Those of us who were through it were fortunate to be exposed to a system where the quest for quality and excellence was part of the DNA. Ultimately it

was rooted in the Ignatian spirituality of finding God in the world. Today the Society’s thinkers have formulated the purpose of the educational enterprise as one which aims to enable students to become men and women of competence, conscience and compassion.

The Jesuits are the largest religious order in the world. Their growth in this generation however has not been in economically advanced Western countries. Their numbers are dwindling there. As Leonard Moloney mentions in his article, the last Jesuit vocations from Crescent were Peter Walpole and Leonard himself from the class of 1973. Since the time of Pedro Arrupe as General the Society has increasingly faced the issue of how it can transfer its unique and valuable educational tradition to lay hands.

This is now the challenge facing Crescent College Comprehensive. To date the evidence is that it has been met successfully. It has to be our prayer that the school will continue to be successful in promoting this rich and powerful tradition among future generations. It is to be hoped that this book will give some flavour of how that quest has been pursued to date in our city and county of Limerick.

Anthony White August 2009

Bishop Henry Murphy leaves Sacred Heart Church after Pontifical Mass, Centenary Thanksgiving Day, March, 1959

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A la récherche du temps perduPatrick Glynn

I was a Crescent man in every sense of the word. I lived in the Crescent across the road from the church and college for about forty years, and I was in Crescent College for the years 1941 to 1950 inclusive. When I went to the Crescent I had already done a year at the Model School, and therefore started in Bun Rang a Dó, which was also known in those days as “Rudiments”.

I suppose that we all think that the years when we were at school were the golden years, and anything I have to say therefore cannot be taken as being totally objective. I think, however, that the 40s and early 50s were golden years for a number of reasons. During my time at the Crescent there was a marvellous cross-section of people, from the sporting to the intellectual.

I would think it fair to say that the sporting was the most remarkable, as during the late 40s and early 50s the school won three Munster Senior, and a Munster Junior, Schools Cups. This was remarkable in the sense that these achievements were a first in the history of

the college. The decade produced several prominent rugby internationals, such as Paddy Reid (who was a member of the Grand Slam winning team of 1948), Paddy Berkery and Gordon Wood among others.

During my time I appeared in school productions (not in any kind of a leading role) when Dickie Harris and Terry Wogan were also in the cast. I have one very funny memory of the school production of Maritana by Vincent Wallace. In those days, Laurel Hill was both a day school and a boarding school, and for some reason we were invited to bring Maritana for a performance for the edification of the young lady boarders in Laurel Hill. The hit tune in Maritana was a song called “Scenes that are Brightest” which was sung by our leading voice, that of the late Frank Lawlor.

By an extraordinary coincidence or whatever, as Frank Lawlor was just beginning the second verse of “Scenes that are Brightest”, suddenly, by accident or design, all the lights in Laurel Hill, or certainly the

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Back R

ow, L

~R: L

ouis Nestor, D

es White, Ivan H

arris, Tom M

orrissey, Goff Spillane, Tom

Hayes, M

ichael Collins, Jim

Roche

Seated, L~R

: Gerard Pow

er, Michael Fitzgerald, Paddy B

erkery, Derm

ot Moloney, M

ichael Keane

Ground, L

~R: R

ichard Harris, John L

eahy

13

ones in the theatre, went out. I need hardly tell you that it was a scene of total confusion, as naturally the good nuns were very worried about the safety of their boarders, particularly when you had the likes of Harris and Wood and several other similar worthies up on stage. The lighting was eventually restored, while the young ladies were safely shepherded into some kind of preserved enclosure.

I had a lot of connections with the Jesuit Church, because being one of the nearest pupils I was always a Mass server. I remember that at one time there were seven confession boxes in the church, and at Easter and other important times all were occupied and did very brisk business. I was one of the few pupils who had breakfast in the refectory at the Crescent. There used to be a Forty Hours devotion at which Mass was said at 2.00 a.m., and all the mass servers were given some breakfast before they went home to bed. In the late 1940s this was quite something.

There was a succession of priests during my term at the Crescent, and while many of them stand out I would certainly say that primus inter pares were Father Gerry Guinane and Father Frank Finegan, two whom I remember with a lot of affection. Father Guinane died during my time as President of Old Crescent Rugby Club, but Father Finegan, at the age of one hundred, is going strong and has still got his wonderful handwriting.

Recollections tend to become a bit jumbled, but I certainly remember during my time at the Crescent that the Jesuits had a Visitor. Anyone who has seen the play The Strong are Lonely, or the film The Mission, will understand what a Visitor from Rome is entitled to do; I suppose it would be equated to inspectors calling to a bank to check on the way that things were done.

I also recollect that the Provincial of the Jesuits in Ireland, at some stage during my involvement with the Crescent, was the Reverend Charles O’Conor, the O’Conor Don, who would have been a direct

descendant of the High Kings of Ireland, and I recall the Reverend Malachi Martin, one of a number of famous brothers; he eventually “leapt over the wall” and became an extremely controversial writer on the Catholic Church in the United States. I also have fond memories of Father Mortimer Glynn, who was extremely musical and whose main claim to fame, apart from his musical ability, was that he “dry smoked cigarettes”.

I had a quite lengthy connection with the Cecilian Musical Society during the early years after I left the Crescent; from the Cecilians, Fathers Bates, Kavanagh and MacMahon all contributed strongly to the musical life of Limerick in the 50s and 60s. I also recall Father Oliver O’Brien, who was unwise enough to form a multidenominational choir in Limerick at a time when it was neither fashionable nor acceptable. Naturally, the Jesuit establishment dispatched the poor man to Australia for his troubles, and Limerick suffered huge cultural loss. People who are used to the wonderful work being done by Father Peter McVerry and some of his other Jesuit colleagues would scarcely understand that this was the John Charles McQuaid era, when anything non-traditional was frowned upon throughout the establishment.

I had a great connection with the Crescent apart from being at school there, because my late mother had a shop around the corner in Hartstonge Street, which was the official catering establishment to my generation of pupils at the College. Going through some papers when she died in 1984, I found a red exercise book in which she recorded payments which were due for one and two cigarettes from all sorts of prominent Crescent pupils, among them Dickie Harris, Ted Curtin (subsequently a racehorse trainer), and several others whom I will not presume to mention.

She also supplied groceries to the Jesuit residence during the war. The older among you who read this will remember that this was a time of rationing, but

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Winners of Limerick City Senior Schools Cup and Limerick City Juvenile Cup 1943-44

Back Row, L~R: Don Reynolds, David Reynolds (Interpro), N McNeice, M Curtin, J Harris (Interpro), M Curtin, M Quaid Centre Row, L~R: J Healy, S O’Dea, G Keane (Vice Capt), T Manahan (Capt), E Hassett, W O’Neill, D WhiteFront Row, L~R: N O’Neill, B Fitzgerald, M O’Doherty, L Byrne

1949-50 Leaving Certificate ClassBack Row, L~R: R. Hurley, T. McRedmond, J. McNamara, M. O’Donnell, F. ColemanCentre Row, L~R: J. Geary, J. Ringrose, B. Gubbins, A. Piggott, T. Creagh, M. Spillane

Front Row, L~R: H. Hayes, M. Cunneen, L. O’Callaghan, T. O’Brien, O. Brawn, T. DundonOn Ground, L~R: N. O’Flynn, P. Glynn. Absent: J. Whelan

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Excursion of Altar Society to Killaloe ~ 1945Back Row, L~R: T. Curtin, J. Lloyd, P. O’Meara, A. Grant, B. Fitzgerald

Third Row, L~R: D. Reynolds, M. Larkin, B. Walsh, F. Moriarty, L. Nestor, J. Leahy, T. HayesSecond Row, L~R: D. Brilly, Rev. Patrick Cusack SJ, P. Berkery, L. McRedmond, P. Doherty, A. O’Halloran,

F. Donnellan, D. Moloney, R. O’Connell, G. Murphy, Rev. Richard Brenan SJ, A. O’Leary, Brother James Priest SJ Front Row, L~R: J. Ringrose, T. Lane, J. Flannery, J. McNamara, R. Crowne, J. McNamara

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my mother always managed to find something in the way of tea, or sugar etc., for the Jesuit community. I recall her getting a letter at the end of the War from Father Robert Stevenson, who was the Minister at the time, thanking her for her efforts at keeping the Jesuit community alive during that period, when even bread was rationed, as well as tea, sugar, butter and a lot of other food items.

I have always felt that there is an extraordinary love-hate relationship between the Jesuit fathers and their students. Current and past Jesuit pupils always considered themselves entitled to be extremely critical of the Jesuits but, once any outsider tried to do the same, the ranks were closed and the questioner was summarily dispatched without the necessity of a trial. Somebody reputedly once commented to the late William Binchy, who was a Barrister at Law and father of author Maeve Binchy, “William, I believe you were educated in Clongowes”. Binchy’s acid reply was “Oh no, I went to school at Clongowes and I educated myself ”. Nonetheless, I witnessed another occasion when somebody began to be critical of the Jesuits in the late William Binchy’s presence. He dispatched the party with a rapier-like thrust, and the critic did not return to the attack.

I have not lived in the Crescent since the mid 1970s, but because of my professional connections with Limerick I pass through the Crescent at least two or three times a week. I find it extremely sad that the school and the church have both gone; the sight of the church and residence is extremely upsetting personally, as this was a special place which had so many happy memories for me. There are hardly any

residents in the Crescent now, but in my young days the Moloneys, the Corboys and the Tynans lived at my side of the Crescent; all has now changed, changed utterly.

It is also sad to see the theatre at the Crescent no longer in use; it was built during my time at the school. Apart from the Cecilian Musical Society there was also a flourishing drama group of past pupils, which produced two very interesting plays about the Jesuits, one being The First Legion, an American play, and the other The Strong are Lonely, a German play on which the film The Mission was based. I remember Tommy

O’Donnell, Gerry O’Brien (who was Kate O’Brien’s brother), Cyril Gallivan, Eoin O’Moore and many wonderful actors, a number of whom went on to star with the College Players, one of the foremost Irish amateur drama groups during the 50s and 60s.

The motto in my days at the Crescent was Quis Seperabit Nos (Who will separate us?), which is still an excellent motto. We are difficult to separate. When I was incoming President of the Law Society one of my duties was to say Grace at the annual conference dinner. My predecessor and successor in the office were likewise Jesuit

day pupils, both from Belvedere. When I got up to say Grace, I naturally decided to impress them with my knowledge of Latin and declaimed a high table Grace from Oxford. As I was coming down from the podium I heard a voice behind me remark:

“O Lord Jesus, not another one of those bloody Jesuit boys.”

I have great memories of being one of those “Bloody Jesuit Boys”.

Rev. Francis Finegan SJ

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Crescent College in Context: 1858~1971Matthew Potter

The foundations of the modern education system in Ireland at primary, secondary and tertiary levels were laid in the nineteenth century, a period which was characterised both by Ireland’s absorption into the United Kingdom (1800-1922) and the development of an Irish nation in the modern sense of the word, particularly after 1850.1 Contrary to the traditional view of Irish history, it was also a period of sustained progress and growing democratisation, which resulted in the gradual but continuous empowerment of the Irish people.

In contrast to the disastrous Famine decade of the 1840s, Ireland enjoyed a period of economic prosperity in the succeeding quarter century (1850-75), and participated in the economic boom that swept the Western world in these decades. Agricultural prices were very good, fuelled by the demand for Irish produce in an increasingly industrialised British economy. The reduction in population had resulted in a consolidation of agricultural holdings, and the

growth of a prosperous farming class. The cities and towns also benefited from the general economic upswing, and saw the rise to prominence of a middle class consisting of shopkeepers, and publicans, frequently and derisively known as the ‘shopocracy’. In turn, the children of this upwardly mobile and (outside of Ulster) overwhelmingly Catholic rural and urban bourgeoisie formed a new class of Catholic professionals, such as lawyers, doctors, priests, journalists, teachers, and bureaucrats.

The emergence of this successful and ambitious Irish rural and urban middle class was a very important development, as its members posed a challenge to the old regime that was to prove more formidable than O’Connellism. They were to gain significant political power in the 1880s, when they fought the Land War against the old ruling elite, and provided the mass support for Parnell and his Home Rule Party. Essentially this resulted in their becoming the ruling class of Ireland outside Ulster in the 1880s when they

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Prep School, 1898

A Group, Crescent College 1876~1878Top Row: Dan Purcell, Dan Brown, Bill Quinlan, A O’Brien, Rev T A Finlay SJ, Ned Toomey, Vincent BourkeThird row: E. (“Tanty”) Baker, James Doyle, Jack Swanton, Tom O’Farrell, Tommy O’Regan, David Kennedy,

Andy Toomey, Willie Swanson, Ben Donovan, Henry Sexton, Joe RussellSecond Row: Dick Kennedy, Jack Ryan, Tom St, Jn. Gaffney, Jack Hastings, Michael Ryan, Charlie McDonnell,

Walter Raleigh~O’Dell, Jack Whelan, Paddy DonnellanFront Row: Atty Parker, Bob Baker, Charlie Doyle, Joe Perroli, Eddie Keyes, Frank Matthews (“Driggywigs”), Frank Gaffney

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established a total hegemony over parliamentary representation, took control of much of the local government system, and dismantled the position of the old landed elite.2

The Rise of the ChurchIn the same period the Catholic Church, which

drew the vast bulk of its personnel from the urban and rural middle classes, flourished and established an unparalleled authority over its flock. Its power rested on a number of foundations, most significantly its increasing association with nationalism from the 1820s onwards. Inevitably the Catholic Church played an immense role in Irish politics, both before and after independence, as a result of the control it exercised over public and private morals, education, charitable institutions, large areas of healthcare and public opinion.

In addition the increasingly tolerant laissez faire religious policy of the British state towards religion after the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1869 (which contrasted with the anti-clerical restrictions often placed on the Church in many traditionally Catholic countries in Europe and Latin America in the nineteenth century) resulted in the creation of a de facto Catholic state within a state in Ireland. This was manifest in the vast numbers of churches, convents, monasteries, schools, hospitals and charitable institutions built all over the country by the Church in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.3

In practice the nationalist political hegemony and the Catholic Church were closely allied and formed a sort of parallel regime which grew and flourished within the British state until it was able to cast off the latter in 1921-22, when the growth of their authority culminated in the establishment of the Irish Free State. Professor Emmet Larkin has described the Catholic/nationalist system established in the 1880s as a ‘de facto state’, and while it has been argued that

he exaggerated both the autonomy of this entity and the supposed weakness of the British administrative framework in its response to it, his theory helps to illuminate the general trend towards opposition to foreign rule in Ireland after 1870.4

The Church and EducationIn the area of Irish education, the role of the British

government was crucial in a number of different ways. Firstly it was considered important that the state should provide support to the primary sector, as it was thought that mass education was necessary to equip a modern country to compete in the technologically and economically expansive world of the Industrial Revolution. In Ireland, this resulted in the establishment of the National School system in 1831 under the auspices of the British government, though with a major input from the churches. State intervention was considered to be necessary because the mass of the population did not have the resources to obtain a basic level of education for their children.

Secondly, and by contrast, it was not considered necessary for the state to support secondary education, which was regarded as the preserve of the upper and middle classes, who were thought to be well able to provide it from their own resources. Thirdly, the Catholic community in Ireland was wary of state involvement, due to the pernicious legacy of the Penal Laws and Protestant Ascendancy and while they accepted it at primary level, as being a necessary evil, they opposed it at secondary level, as they wanted to retain control of their own schools. As a result, the state did not become involved in Irish secondary schools until 1879.5

It was these trends and developments that provided the background to the rapid development of secondary education in Ireland during the nineteenth century.6 The Protestant community was well equipped with a variety of secondary schools which had been established in the seventeenth and eighteenth

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