Blackrock College

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the rugby union club, see Blackrock College RFC.
Blackrock College
Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe
Crest of Blackrock College
Motto Fides et Robur
Latin for 'trustworthiness and
steadfastness' (faith and strength)
Established 1860
Location Blackrock, County Dublin,
Republic of Ireland
Students 1100
President
Principal		 Fr Cormac Ó Brolcháin, CSSp
Mr Alan MacGinty
Staff
Religious order		 75 full time, 25 part time
Holy Ghost Fathers
Homepage http://www.blackrockcollege.ie

Blackrock College (Irish: Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe) is a Catholic, voluntary, fee-paying secondary school for boys, located in Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland.

The College, set in 227,000 m² (56 acres) lies 6 kilometres from the city centre of Dublin. It is now run by the Congregation in close co-operation with a dedicated group of lay personnel [1]. It accommodates approximately 1000 day and boarding students (with a majority of day students). The annual fees in 2007/8 are €5,650 for day boys (Willow and Blackrock) and,€15,700 for boarders(Blackrock only). [2]

The College and its sister schools are now held in trust by the Des Places Educational Association [3]. As the College's Patron, the Association maintains the Spiritan ethos in all five schools – Blackrock, Rockwell, St. Mary's, St. Michael's and Templeogue – conducted by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit in Ireland.

Willow Park School, a private primary school that acts as the College's principal feeder, is also run by the Order and is situated on the same campus. Until the early 1970s, St. Michael's College in Ballsbridge was also a feeder school for Blackrock College, but St Michael's now has classes up to the Leaving Certificate.


Contents

[edit] History

The college was founded by the Roman Catholic Congregation of the Holy Ghost in 1860,the first of the Order's five schools in Ireland. The founder is listed as Fr Pere Jules Leman, a french missionary with the Holy Ghost Order. It was originally set up as training college for the civil service.

[edit] Academics

The curriculum offered is broad, covering all common subjects in the State Examinations including Latin, German, Art, Materials Technology, Chemistry and Economics. Leaving Cert scores are high and 20% of students score 500 points or more. Inspections by the Department of Education found exemplarly standards of teaching and learning [1].

[edit] Extra-curricular activities

[edit] Sport

Sport is viewed as an integral part of a boy's education and each pupil is expected to particpate in some activity. The principal sport in the college is rugby, with Blackrock having held the Leinster Schools Senior Cup 65 times, including the competition's inception in 1887. It has also won the Leinster Schools Junior Cup 45 times. Additionally, the school has simultaneously held both cups 23 times. Apart from the two cup teams, each form fields up to five teams in the various Leinster schoolboy leagues. Recently Gaelic Games have been played again, with the college fielding a successful under-16 team. Past pupil Mark Vaughan is a forward on the Dublin Gaelic football team. The school also plays other sports including table tennis, soccer, swimming, basketball, tennis, golf, athletics, and squash. Cricket, Judo and water polo are also played for recreation.

[edit] Culture

The school produces the annual Leman Festival Concert (presented by staff and students in the National Concert Hall in Dublin), regular choral and orchestral concerts and several annual dramatic productions.[2]

Each year an opera production is staged in conjunction with Mount Anville, a nearby girl's school.

The college also has a debating society, whose members have competed at national and international levels.[3] One of the college Alumni, Shane Murphy (now a Senior Counsel), won the 1985 World University Debating Championship at McGill University, representing the Honourable Society of the King's Inns.,[4]

A transition year program to set up and maintain a radio station, broadcasting to the surrounding south Dublin area, is undertaken annually. It is the only such project in the country. All of the administrative work, promotion and content-creation is the labour of transition year students. The station also allows programming submissions from other schools to be broadcast.[5] [6] [7]

[edit] Social work

The spiritual and missionary aspect of the school has been maintained, despite the worldwide decline of new clerics in the Catholic church. Many charitable causes are supported by the students; most notably the Transition year organises the annual St. Patrick's Day Badge appeal which raises large sums of money throughout Ireland for the Irish charities GOAL and Aidlink. The St. Patrick's Day project is estimated to have raised over € 5,000,000 for charity, raising over € 220,000 in 2005 alone.

The school also has a longstanding relationship with The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, contributing large sums of money raised through various projects. For example, the proceeds of the annual sale of Christmas Trees in the college are donated. In 2007, the Christmas Tree project raised € 93,000 and the total amount raised for the Society in that year is estimated to be in excess of € 150,000.

The College supports humanitarian projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, mainly through the college's cycling club, the Willow Wheelers. In 2006, their annual sponsored 160km (100 mi) cycle raised in excess of € 6,000. The club also annually sends a group of self-funded volunteers to help with humanitarian projects in Africa, most commonly: establishing clean water supplies for villages and constructing schoolhouses/infirmaries or similar institutions.

Bob Geldof, initiator of the Band Aid and Live Aid movements for famine relief in the 1980s, was a student at the college. Frank Duff, the founder of the Legion of Mary, the Catholic lay movement, is also a past pupil.

[edit] Facilities

There are extensive sporting and teaching facilities. The campus is 63 acres and contains eleven rugby pitches, a cricket lawn, an athletics track, an indoor swimming pool, a gym and indoor halls. Apart from classrooms and study halls, there are nine science laboratories, a woodwork room, a multimedia LCVP room and a home economics kitchen to facilitate teaching. The Boarding school is in Williamstown Castle, containing twin rooms for boarders. There is also a refectory, chapel, lecture halls and stage which hosts student run dramatic productions.

The current refurbishment programme will signicantly extend and modernise teaching facilities.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Literary

[edit] Journalism

[edit] Business

[edit] Politics and government

[edit] Legal

[edit] Humanitarian

[edit] Academic

[edit] Arts

[edit] Clergy

[edit] Sport

[edit] Entertainment

[edit] References

  1. ^ ireland.com - The Irish Times - Tue, May 23, 2000 - The Blackrock College Story
  2. ^ "Full listing of Ireland's fee-paying schools", The Sunday Business Post, 2005-05-29. Retrieved on 2007-06-15. 
  3. ^ Des Places Educational Association
  4. ^ | British Debate | Universities | Hall of Fame | International Tournaments
  5. ^ ireland.com - The Irish Times - Wed, Nov 14, 2007 - Get an earful of this
  6. ^ Blackrock College Transition Year | BCR (Blackrock College Radio) 2006
  7. ^ BCI: Licensing: Radio: Successful applicants for Temporary services
  8. ^ Taaffe, Carol (2002-09-20). "Flann O'Brien". The Literary Encyclopedia. Ed. Robert Clark. The Literary Dictionary Company. Retrieved on 2007-03-16. 
  9. ^ "O'Conaire seventy-five years dead on Monday", Galway Advertiser, Advertiser Group, 2003-10-02. Retrieved on 2007-03-16. 
  10. ^ "Man of Aran", Time, Time, 1956-06-04. Retrieved on 2007-03-16. 
  11. ^ "editor of the Irish Press newspaper from 1968 to 1987".. 
  12. ^ a b c Byrne, Anne. "The Blackrock College story", The Irish Times - Education & Living, Irish Times Trust, 2000-05-23. Retrieved on 2007-03-16. 
  13. ^ Leahy, Pat. "Life experience is the best qualification", The Sunday Business Post, Thomas Crosbie Holdings, 2002-08-18. Retrieved on 2007-03-15. 
  14. ^ An Ceann Comhairle - CV. Government of Ireland. Retrieved on 2007-03-15.
  15. ^ Councillor and former mayor for Galway West ward. Politician - CV. Niall O'Brolchain. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
  16. ^ Looney, Fiona. "Fr. Niall O'Brien" (reprint), Sunday Tribune, Tribune Newspapers, 2003-05-02. Retrieved on 2007-03-16. 
  17. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named philanthropy
  18. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Halmahera
  19. ^ Obituary, The Times, 3 May 1954
  20. ^ Nolan, Paul. "David McWilliams: the interview", Hot Press, 2004-02-02. Retrieved on 2007-03-15. 
  21. ^ Gray, Penny (2002). irish edge. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
  22. ^ Craig, Millicent V. (March 2006). "John Cardinal D'Alton, The 100th Successor to St. Patrick". Daltons in History 9 (3). The Dalton Genealogical Society. 
  23. ^ "Dream Team with budding superstar on subs' bench", Irish Independent, Independent News and Media, 2003-01-29. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. 
  24. ^ "Shane Byrne", Irish Independent, Independent News and Media, 2003-03-29. Retrieved on 2007-03-15. 
  25. ^ "Victor Costello", Irish Independent, Independent News and Media, 2003-03-29. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. 
  26. ^ a b c McCormack, Declan. "There's more to the Rock than rugby", Sunday Independent, Independent News and Media, 2002-05-05. Retrieved on 2007-03-15. 
  27. ^ "Celtic League can lead to new rugby frontiers", Irish Independent, Independent News and Media, 2000-09-19. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. 
  28. ^ Melville, Nigel. "O'Sullivan builds a side to last as old ground awaits the wrecking ball", Guardian Unlimited, Guardian Media Group, 2006-11-24. Retrieved on 2007-03-15. 
  29. ^ Blake, Katherine. "Did you hear the one about Des Bishop?", Irish Examiner, Thomas Crosbie Holdings, 1999-10-05. Retrieved on 2007-03-15. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Spiritan secondary schools in Ireland
Languages