Wesley College, Dublin

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This article is about Wesley College in Dublin, Ireland. See Wesley College (disambiguation) for articles on other institutions named "Wesley College".

Wesley College is a fee-paying coeducational secondary school for day-pupils and boarders in Dublin, Ireland. Wesley College is under the control of a Board of Governors, appointed each year by the Methodist Church in Ireland.

Wesley College was founded in 1845 and has built up a hugely impressive reputation. Strong emphasis is put on religious education for all denominations and sport plays an important part in this school. The College offers pupils an opportunity to explore the humanities, sciences, technology, business studies and the arts. Wesley College offers a range of extra-curricular and sporting activities in the belief that these assist a sound general education and contribute to the whole person.

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[edit] History

On 16 May 1844, a gathering of 'Ministers and Gentlemen' met in Belfast and agreed to form a Wesleyan Proprietary Grammar School in Ireland "for the purpose of affording a thorough literary, scientific and commercial education, with a sound, religious, and moral training, in strict accordance with the principles of Wesleyan Methodism".

The committee originally proposed a boarding and day school for boys, in the vicinity of Belfast but later decided that the Wesleyan Connexional School should be established in Dublin which was the hub of Ireland's transport system and had a far greater population. A large dilapidated dwelling house, No. 79 St. Stephen's Green, sited on what is now part of the Department of Foreign Affairs, was leased from the trustees of The Kings Hospital.

The Wesleyan Connexional School was founded in 1845 in Saint Stephen's Green, Dublin by a group of Methodist Ministers and gentlemen for the Methodist Community in Ireland. In 1879 the Methodist Conference granted the request of the School's Trustees that it would be named Wesley College.

In June 1911 the Wesley College Trustees put the following proposal to the Methodist Conference, "This committee, having had the fact brought under their notice that at the present time there is no school in the three southern provinces under the Methodist Management offering to girls the advantages of an Intermediate education, suggests to the Conference that the present is a suitable occasion for opening Wesley College to girls who desire to secure such training as will fit them for professional and business careers". The Conference responded favourably and the Trustees purchased No. 110 St. Stephen's Green as a girls' hostel. It had formerly been known as "The Epworth Club", a boarding house for young Epworth business men coming to Dublin, which had ceased to serve its purposes. The hostel was called Epworth House.

Six boarder girls and fifteen day-girls, together with the new boys, joined the 175 (approximately) boys already in the College in September 1911.

Right up to the 1940s co-education was narrowly interpreted and strictly supervised. The boys were always called by their surnames, while the girls had their surnames prefixed by "Miss". Casual conversation between the boys and girls was discouraged and they did not have meals together until the 1950s.

In 1969 Wesley College moved to its present fifty-acre (202,323 m² ) site in Ballinteer, a suburb of Dublin, at the foothills of the Dublin mountains.

The final school activity on the old College site was the end-of-year service in the Large Schoolroom on 14 June 1969, followed by a celebration of Holy Communion in the Chapel. The official opening and dedication of the new buildings at Ludford Park took place at 3.00 p.m. on Saturday, 7 June 1969, opened by Éamon de Valera, President of Ireland.

The 1969 campus was added to in 1980, 1987, 1991, a state of the art library and Information Technology building was added in 1999 and a brand new modern music and arts centre as well as a Materials Technology suite were opened in 2005. The College now has a comprehensive range of educational and recreational facilities second to none in the country.

[edit] School Coat of Arms

The Wesley College Coat of Arms.
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The Wesley College Coat of Arms.

In 1959 the College obtained from the Chief Herald an official grant of arms, which replaced the former school crest. The upper part of the shield has a red ground, and bears the Bible, surmounted by a Maltese Cross, an old Wesley College symbol. To the right is an escallop shell from the arms of John Wesley's family. The lower part of the shield has a blue ground and on it a flaming castle from the Dublin City arms. The scroll below the shield contains the College motto in Greek, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (I Thessalonians 5.21)

[edit] Extracurricular

Wesley College students roofing in Beuis, Romania/
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Wesley College students roofing in Beuis, Romania/

The College has always placed a great emphasis on the entirety of education. As a result an emphasis is placed on the involvement of all students in activities and pursuits outside the classroom as well as inside. These activities include sports, music (for which Wesley is most famous), drama, debating, Amnesty International, Christian Union, and a host of others. Such emphasis has resulted in numerous famous past pupils for the College including George Bernard Shaw and more recently rugby international Eric Miller as well as international tenors James Nelson and Niall Morris of the internationally successful Celtic Tenors. Wesley has also has been extremely successful in hockey, winning the All Ireland hockey trophy. Wesley not only places an emphasis on activities which solely help students themselves but also outreach to others. Students in Transition year are able to reach out in various ways such as classroom assistance, helping children with special needs and music teaching. In recent years a team from Wesley's Transition year has embarked on a Habitat for Humanity house building trip annually.

[edit] Wartime Contribution

Wesley, like many other - especially Protestant - schools in Ireland made a significant contribution to the effort of both major world wars. Over 85 students of the college lost their lives in the First World War. Their names are listed on a grand memorial in the College concourse which reads "This building was erected to the honour of all old boys of this College who ventured their lives for defence of home and country in the Great War and especially in loving and grateful memory of those who fell". (The building mentioned was the old College Chapel, where the memorial was located before the move to Ballinteer.) 25 Students of Wesley died between 1939 and 1945 in the Second World War. These are also listed on a memorial in the main concourse.

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[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Cricket Internationals

  • 1903 - S.H Crawford
  • 1909-1925 - J.G Aston
  • 1947-59 - L.C Jacobson
  • 1947-61 - N.B Hool
  • 1953 - I.M Taffey
  • 1958 - 66 - K.W Hope
  • 1970-89 - Mike Haliday - Played 93 times for Ireland and was Captain 25 times.
  • 1991-95 - Eddie Moore (Played 25 times for Ireland)
  • 1999 – Duncan Symthe, Andrew O’Kane, Nikki Symmons and John Blakeney

[edit] Rugby Internationals

  • 1888 - Alfred Walpolf
  • 1893 - Fred Davies and Walter Brown
  • 1894 - Louis Mc Intosh
  • 1894-97 - T. Robinson
  • 1907 - William Hinton
  • 1908 - H.R Aston, G. Crawford, Jim Beckett and George Hamlett. George Hamlett was Captain 1910-11 and also played 30 times for Ireland.
  • 1913 - F. Bennett
  • 1939-46 - E.A Cairy
  • 1995 – Chris Pim was Captain of Leinster Inter-provincial Champion
  • 1997-06 - Eric Miller
  • 2006 - Mark Warburton and Kevin Corrigan (Amateur)

[edit] Show Jumping

  • David Foster was a boarder at Wesley College from 1967-1973. He was born in 1955 and died in 1998 following a horse riding accident.

-His achievements included 1984, 1988, 1996 World Championships. Also 3 European Gold team medals (1979) and over 100 three-day events, there was numerous winners and seven winners on the racecourse

[edit] Hockey

  • 1991 - David Henderson, Stephen Stuart and Roddy van der Lee were some of the pupils selected for the Irish schools.
  • 1993 – Jan Perrin Captain all Ireland Champions.
  • 1993 - Zanya Dahl, Irish Schools, Leinster Interprovincial, Current Irish International.
  • Current - Mitch Darling, Peter Blakeny, John Blakeny, Phelie Maguire & Nikki Simmons

[edit] Athletics and Other Sports

  • 1981 - Justin May and Carey May represented Ireland at the Orienteering Championships.
  • 1981 – C. May Athletics (Olympics 1984) and Orienteering.
  • 1984 - Carey May represented Irish schools in Hurdles and went on to represent Ireland in the marathon in the 1984 Olympic Games.
  • 1992, 1996, 2000 – Nick Sweeney Triple Olympian Discus.
  • 1995 - Justin May went to coach the Irish coaching team.
  • 1998 – Sylvia Gee Football
  • 2002 – Nicola Cinnamond Mountain Running.
  • David Wilkins competed in 5 Olympics in Sailing and won a silver medal in the Olympics.
  • Lyn Young (now Ms. McCrave) was a schools international under 23's and then senior international badminton player for Ireland.
  • Richard Franck represented Ireland in the World Youth Sailing Championships in 2001.
  • Mr. Ken Blackmore was Headmaster of Wesley, he captained YMCA, Trinity College, Leinster and Ireland at hockey over many years and his wife Joan, represented fencing and hockey for Ireland.
  • David Burrows represented Ireland sailing at the Sydney Olympics.
  • Scott Evans currently represents Ireland at Badminton

[edit] External links

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