Presentation College, Bray

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Presentation College
Coláiste na Toirbhirte
Laudete, Pueri, Dominum
Latin: Praise the Lord, boys
Address
Putland Road
Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland
Information
School type Catholic Voluntary Secondary School under trusteeship of the Presentation Brothers Schools Trust
Founded 1921
Principal Gerry Duffy
Vice principal Pat Gregory
Staff 55
Years taught First through sixth
Gender Male
Age range 12–19
Number of students 630
Colour(s) Red, black, yellow
Athletics Rugby, basketball, Karate
Feeder schools No official feeder schools
Website www.presbray.com

Presentation College (Irish: Coláiste na Toirbhirte; colloquially known as Pres Bray) is a Catholic secondary school established in 1921 by the Presentation Brothers in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland.

There are currently about 600 students in Presentation College. The school is housed in a modern building opened in late 2011, which replaced an older building constructed in the 1960s. Outdoor facilities include a floodlit grass rugby field, astro turf soccer pitch, a basketball court, and several other playing fields. The school is located on Putland Road just off the main Vevay Road, next to the Queen of Peace church. It is accessible via Dublin Bus routes 45, 84, 145 and 184.

History

The 1960s building from the front, at the senior rugby pitch

Presentation College Bray was established in 1921 by the Presentation Brothers. Pres Bray originally served as a primary and secondary school, but the primary school was closed in the late 1980s; the old school building is now the home of the Bray Adult Education Centre. Central to the school's history was its connections to the Presentation Brothers., however the last resident Brother left the school in 2003.

On 5 September 1921, the doors of Bray Head House were opened to admit 52 new students to The Presentation College. In 1924 outhouses at the back of the house were refurbished to provide extra classrooms and a science laboratory. In 1957 a new college building was opened. In 1971 this was replaced with a new Secondary School with a swimming pool and the 1957 building became the Junior School. In 1983 the Edmund Rice Building was opened. It includes a Science Laboratory, Geography Room, Career's Suite and other specialist rooms. In the late 1980s the Junior School closed, this was the last arm of the fee paying aspect of the College, the school was now a wholly publically funded secondary school. The last Brother left in 2002 after the Brothers closed the monastery at the school.

In 2010, the Presentation Schools Trust took over trusteeship of the school from the Presentation Brothers. In August 2011, staff and students (600) moved the short distance to the new Presentation College building. The 1971 building was handed over to the builders in June for demolition to provide the site for a new Sports Hall.

School Buildings

Having worked on the project for over ten years the Board of Management of Presentation College Bray was given authorisation in January 2009 to proceed to seek tenders for construction of a new school. The builders came on site in early January 2010 and had the entire project substantially completed by February 2012. The work was done in four phases, the new school, demolition of the 1971 building, building a new sports hall and refurbishment of the Edmund Rice Building. The new building has 16 classrooms, 8 specialist rooms, administration, assembly areas, a library and a staff room. It is a state of the art educational facility. The contract cost was in excess of €5 millions plus VAT.

Sports

The availability of extra-curricular activities is dependant on the goodwill and generosity of teachers and past pupils who give their time freely to provide a broad learning experience for the students of the College. The College is privileged to have so many in the community who are willing to volunteer their time.

Sports and other extra curricular activities are an important part of the holistic approach to education offered in the College; Pres Bray particularly excel in rugby and basketball. In Rugby they have won the Leinster Schools Junior Cup on five occasions, making the school the fifth most successful in the competition's history. Their most recent cup success was in 1990, although they reached the final again in 2004. In 2010, the school's junior squad won the Fr. Godfrey Cup, following the 2009 Junior League success. The predominant colours of the school's sports teams are black, red and yellow. The rugby jerseys and shorts are white, while rugby socks are coloured black. Pres is the only non-fee paying school still regularly competing at the top level in Leinster Schools Competition. In 2011 the SCT and JCT both reached quarter finals in their respective Leinster Cups losing to the eventual winners in both.

The Pres Bray school basketball teams compete at schools "A" Level basketball in 4 categories, 1st year boys, 2nd year boys, U 16 Boys and U 19 Boys with over 60 players training and playing with the school teams. The school basketball jerseys are Black for home matches and Red for away matches. The school has made great strides in recent years going from 'C' standard in 2006 all the way to 'A' standard from 2008 on and has had several players selected on the Leinster provincial academy squads and also at U16 and U18 International levels.

In 2010 the Pres Bray U16 Basketball team won several local and national awards following their 51 – 47 U16 All-Ireland Schools Cup Victory over St. Fintan's, Sutton. The awards included the Evening Herald School Team of the Year, Bray Chamber of Commerce Sporting Achievement of the Year and East Coast FM Sports Star Award for January. On 9 July 2010 Basketball Ireland awarded its annual award winners to Presentation College Bray. The school team won all 3 Boys' School categories (See Basketball Ireland Awards 2010 Table below).

In Feb 2012, the Pres Bray U19 Basketball Team defeated St. Malachy's, Belfast 60 – 51 to win the U19 All-Ireland Schools Cup, the first U19 All-Ireland Schools title in the history of the school. Pres Bray player, Lorcan Murphy, earned the coveted Most Valuable Player Award after scoring 27pts in the final. Following their All-Ireland Schools Cup Triumph, The Pres Bray U19 Basketball Team was awarded the East Coast FM Sports Star Award for February. In Mar 2012, the Pres Bray U19 Basketball Team were denied an historic All-Ireland Schools Cup & League double when they were defeated 45 – 38 in the U19 All-Ireland Schools League Final by St. Fintan's Sutton. On 15 May 2012 Basketball Ireland announced its annual award winners, Pres Bray Player Lorcan Murphy won the Boys School Player of the Year award for the 2nd time(See Basketball Ireland Awards 2012 Table below).

In chess, Presentation Bray won the Leinster Schools Minor League in 2009 (Under 14). They followed this up by winning the Leinster Schools Junior League in 2010 (Under 16). Both were firsts for Pres Bray. They then went on to finish 2nd (2009 – U14) & 3rd (2010 – U16) in the All-Ireland Schools Chess Championships. Notable past chess players include: John Joyce – former Ireland U19 Chess Champion. Cormac Martin – former Leinster U16 player.

The College has a long and proud tradition in Debate. In 2000 a team led by David Hughes were Concern Debates national champions. The College teams compete regularly in local and national competition.

Pres GAA draws heavily on talent from among others Bray Emmets and Eire Og. The College won the Wicklow Schools A Championship twice in the period from 2000.

Soccer has produced its share of silverware for the College. Senior and U-16 teams are regular winners in Wicklow/Wexford Competitions.

Basketball Ireland Awards 2010
Boys School Player of the Year – Lorcan Murphy
Boys School Coach of the Year – Marie O'Toole
Boys School of the Year – Presentation College, Bray
Basketball Ireland Awards 2012
Boys School Player of the Year – Lorcan Murphy
Basketball Roll of Honour
All-Ireland League Winners U16 'C' – Mar 2003
All-Ireland Cup Winners U16 'C' – Feb 2006
Leinster League Winners U16 'B' – Dec 2007
All-Ireland Cup Runners-up U16 'B' – Jan 2008
Leinster League Winners 1st Year 'B' – Mar 2008
Leinster League Winners 2nd Year 'B' – Mar 2008
All-Ireland League Winners 1st Year 'B' – Apr 2008
Leinster League Winners 1st Year 'A' – Mar 2009
Leinster League Winners 2nd Year 'A' – Mar 2009
All-Ireland League Runners-up 1st Year 'A' – May 2009
All-Ireland League Winners 2nd Year 'A' – May 2009
Leinster League Winners U16 'A' – Dec 2009
Leinster League Runners-up U19 'A' – Dec 2009
All-Ireland Cup Winners U16 'A' – Jan 2010
Leinster League Winners 2nd Year 'A' – Mar 2010
All-Ireland League Runners-up U19 'A' – Mar 2010
Leinster League Winners U16 'A' – Dec 2010
Leinster League Runners-up Boys U19 'A' – Dec 2010
All-Ireland League Runners-up U16 'A' – Mar 2011
Leinster League Runners-up 2nd year 'A' – Mar 2011
All-Ireland Plate Winners 1st Year 'A' – May 2011
Leinster League Winners U19 'A' – Dec 2011
All-Ireland Cup Winners U19 'A' – Feb 2012
All-Ireland League Runners-up U19 'A' – Mar 2012
All-Ireland Plate Winners 1st Year 'A' – May 2012
Leinster League Runners-up Boys U19 'A' – Dec 2012
All-Ireland League Runners-up U19 'A' – Mar 2013
All-Ireland Plate Runners-up 1st Year 'A' – May 2013
Leinster League Runners-up Boys U19 'A' – Dec 2013
All-Ireland Cup Runners-up U19 'A' – Jan 2014

Current activities

Curricular studies

Boys at Pres Bray sit the Junior Certificate syllabus for their first three years at the school, and the Leaving Certificate syllabus for their last two. In between the two courses is an optional extra, Transition Year, affording students the opportunity to study subjects and topics not present on the exam syllabi. Subjects studied include:[1]

Junior Certificate

  • Irish
  • English
  • Maths
  • History
  • Geography
  • French
  • German
  • Science
  • Business
  • Art
  • Woodwork
  • [[Civic, Social and

Political education]]

  • Social, Personal and Health Education
  • Computer studies
  • Religion

Leaving Certificate

Notable past pupils

  • Reggie Corrigan, former Irish Rugby international and Leinster captain[2]
  • Tony Doyle, former Irish Rugby international and Leinster captain[2]
  • Seán FitzPatrick, former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank.
  • Ed Joyce, Irish cricketer (played for England and Middlesex).[3]
  • Gary O'Toole, RTÉ sports pundit and former Olympic swimmer for Ireland.[citation needed]
  • Darren Randolph, goalkeeper for Birmingham City F.C.
  • Robert Shortt, RTÉ Washington correspondent.
  • David Wheatley, poet and critic.
  • {Luke O'Neill (scientist), Professor of Science, Trinity College Dublin, researcher, fundraiser, biochemist, winner of Trinity College Dublin Gold Medal award amongst other distinctions.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Subjects. PresBray.com. Retrieved on 28 August 2007.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 About Reggie Corrigan. Retrieved on 19 October 2007.
  3. ↑ Cricinfo.com. Ed Joyce. Retrieved on 19 October 2007.

External links

Fee-paying
Gaelscoileanna
Secondary Schools
Defunct schools

Coordinates: 53°11′35″N 6°06′03″W / 53.192984°N 6.100825°W / 53.192984; -6.100825

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