The O’Connell School is a secondary and primary school for boys located on North Richmond Street in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The school, named in honour of the leader of

Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

Daniel O’Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

, has the distinction of being the oldest surviving Christian Brothers school in Dublin, having been first established in 1829. It is now under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust. The school offers the Junior Certificate and

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

programmes.

Notable staff and past pupils

A number of significant figures in Irish public life attended O'Connell's School.

Arts, journalism and entertainment

* Paul Harrington - singer songwriter, Eurovision winner 1994 *

Michael Holohan Michael Holohan (born 27 March 1956) is an Irish composer. Biography Michael Holohan was born in Drumcondra, Dublin. He was educated at O'Connell's Schools, University College Dublin (BA, 1978) and Queen's University in Belfast. He studied co ...

– composer, member and former chair of Aosdána. *

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

– writer who briefly attended the school; the school is mentioned in '' Dubliners'' in the story "Araby" *

Pat Kenny Patrick Kenny (born 29 January 1948) is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show ''The Pat Kenny Show'' on Newstalk and the current affairs show ''Pat Kenny Tonight'' on Virgin Media One. Prior to this, Kenny had a 41-yea ...

– radio and television presenter *

Barry Keoghan Barry Keoghan ( ; born 18 October 1992) is an Irish actor. He is known for his roles on screen, appearing in independent films and blockbuster films. In 2020, he was listed at number 27 on ''The Irish Times'' list of Ireland's greatest film act ...

– film and television actor * Thomas Kinsella – poet and playwright *

Declan Masterson Declan Masterson is an Irish uilleann piper, traditional musician, composer and arranger. In addition to pursuing a solo career and playing with Moving Hearts and Patrick Street, Masterson was one of the ''Riverdance'' musicians. He has perfor ...

– multi-instrumentalist, composer, former Musical Director at Riverdance *

Colm Meaney Colm J. Meaney (; ga, Colm Ó Maonaigh; born 30 May 1953) is an Irish actor known for playing Miles O'Brien in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994) and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He has guest-starred on many T ...

– film and television actor * Michael O'Hehir – radio broadcaster and sports commentator * Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh – sports commentator who briefly taught at the O'Connell School * Luke Kelly – lead singer of folk group

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personn ...

Business and philanthropy

Bill Cullen William Lawrence Francis Cullen (February 18, 1920 – July 7, 1990) was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades. His biggest claim to fame was as a game show host; over the course of his career, he host ...

– Irish businessman, philanthropist and star of

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

Science, medicine, technology, engineering and mathematics

* Peter V. Delaney – Irish colorectal surgeon * John Hooper – first Director of the Statistics Branch of the Department of Industry and Commerce in Ireland *

William Mulholland William Mulholland (September 11, 1855 – July 22, 1935) was an Irish Americans, Irish American self-taught civil engineer who was responsible for building the infrastructure to provide a water supply that allowed Los Angeles to grow into the la ...

– Irish-American dam civil engineer *

Joseph Ó Ruanaidh Joseph Ó Ruanaidh (''aka'' Joseph Rooney) is a scientist and frequently cited author in the field of digital watermarking. Early life He was born in London, England in 1967 and raised in Ballyfermot, Dublin. He attended the O'Connell School ...

– scientist

Politics

Maurice Ahern Maurice Ahern (born 1938/39) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a member of Dublin City Council for the Cabra–Glasnevin local electoral area from 1999 to 2009. He was first elected at the 1999 local elections, topping the poll ...

– Politician and Lord Mayor of Dublin 2000–2001 * Brendan Bracken – British Minister of Information during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

* Ray Burke –

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

politician *

Éamonn Ceannt Éamonn Ceannt (21 September 1881 – 8 May 1916), born Edward Thomas Kent, was an Irish republican, mostly known for his role in the Easter Rising of 1916. Background Ceannt was born in the little village of Ballymoe, overlooking the River Su ...

– Irish Nationalist; one of the 1916 Easter Rising signatories *

John A. Costello John Aloysius Costello (20 June 1891 – 5 January 1976) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957, Leader of the Opposition from 1951 to 1954 and from 1957 to 1959, and Attorney General of ...

–

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

* Tom Kettle – Nationalist MP and Irish Volunteer who died in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

* Seán Lemass – Taoiseach *

P. J. Mara Patrick James Mara (1 February 1942 – 15 January 2016) was an Irish public affairs consultant and politician who served as Senator from July 1981 to October 1981 and May 1982 to December 1982. He was most renowned for being the political advis ...

– Fianna Fáil public affairs consultant *

Seán T. O'Kelly Seán Thomas O'Kelly ( ga, Seán Tomás Ó Ceallaigh; 25 August 1882 – 23 November 1966), originally John T. O'Kelly, was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the second president of Ireland from June 1945 to June 1959. He also serve ...

– second President of Ireland * John Stafford – TD and former Lord Mayor of Dublin *

Nial Ring Nial Ring is a Dublin city councillor, who has served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from June 2018 to June 2019. An independent politician who was formerly a member of Fianna Fáil, he was first elected councillor for the Dublin North Inner City ward ( ...

– Politician and Lord Mayor of Dublin 2018–2019 *

Lorcan Sherlock Lorcan George Sherlock (5 June 1874 – 26 December 1945) was an Irish businessman and politician who served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1912 to 1915. He as a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party. Lorcan Sherlock was born as one of four son ...

– Politician and Lord Mayor of Dublin 1912–1915

Religion

* Abraham Brownrigg - Bishop of Ossory (1884-1928) * James Kavanagh –

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

professor and bishop in the Dublin Diocese

Sports

Tom Farquharson Thomas Gerard Farquharson (4 December 1899 – 24 December 1970) was an Irish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Dublin, he played youth football for local sides. In his teens, he became a member of the Irish Republica ...

- goalkeeper for Cardiff and Ireland, dubbed ''the penalty king'' *

Bertie Kerr Herbert William Joseph Kerr (19 October 1896 – 23 November 1973), also known as Bertie Kerr or Bert Kerr, was an Irish association football player during the 1910s and 1920s. Kerr played for Bohemians, the League of Ireland XI and Irelan ...

–

football international and bloodstock agent * Paddy Neville – cricketer *

Troy Parrott Troy Daniel Parrott (born 4 February 2002) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Preston North End, on loan from Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. He also represents the Republic of Ireland national team at senior ...

– professional footballer * Ronnie Delaney – Olympic Gold Medallist * Stephen Elliott - Professional footballer

Veterans

Paddy Finucane Wing commander (rank), Wing Commander Brendan Eamonn Fergus Finucane, (16 October 1920 – 15 July 1942), known as Paddy Finucane amongst his colleagues, was an Irish Second World War Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and flying ace—d ...

– World War II top-scoring fighter pilot ace in the RAF * Frank Flood – IRA officer executed in 1921 during the War of Independence; one of The Forgotten Ten * Seán Heuston – a leading member of the 1916 Easter Rising

References

External links

* {{Edmund Rice Schools in Ireland Congregation of Christian Brothers secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland Educational institutions established in 1829 Secondary schools in Dublin (city) 1829 establishments in Ireland