Presentation Brothers College (PBC Cork) ( ga, Coláiste na Toirbhirte; colloquially known as Pres) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, boys, private fee-paying secondary school in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland. Presentation Brothers College is currently ranked as the number one boys secondary school in Ireland and regularly places first in the annual top performing schools table rankings conducted by The Irish Times.

History

The college was founded by the

Presentation Brothers The Congregation of Presentation Brothers is an international Catholic congregation of laymen founded in 1802 in Waterford, Ireland, by a local Irish businessman, Edmund Ignatius Rice, now Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice. Presentation Brothers live ...

in 1878, in the South Mall. Soon afterwards it moved to the Grand Parade and, in 1887, to the Western Road. In 1985, the college moved to a new building on the Mardyke on the site of the college's rugby facilities; the Western Road premises is now owned and used by

UCC The initialism UCC may stand for: Law * Uniform civil code of India, referring to proposed Civil code in the legal system of India, which would apply equally to all irrespective of their religion * Uniform Commercial Code, a 1952 uniform act to ...

. The college has developed new rugby facilities at Dennehy's Cross and uses Shandon Boat Club for rowing. In 1969, Jerome Kelly returned home from missionary work in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and was appointed principal of the college. He organised a series of workshops, in which the students of Presentation College were encouraged to think globally and act locally: The result was the founding of the charity ''

Students Harness Aid for the Relief of the Elderly Students Harness Aid for Relief of Elderly (formerly ''Schoolboys Harness Aid for Relief of Elderly'') or SHARE, is a charitable organisation based in Cork (city), Cork, Ireland, dedicated to providing housing and other support for the elderly ...

'' in 1970. SHARE expanded and now includes pupils from other

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

s in Cork city. In 2005, the ''Preslink'' organisation was founded in the school; a group of junior students whose stated aim is to forge links with other Presentation Brothers communities.''Presentation Brothers College Newsletter'', p 7, June 2006 In 2006, the organisation received an "Edmund Rice Award", which recognises groups that work to improve the lives of others. In November 2009, ownership of the school, along with seven other Presentation Brothers schools in Ireland, was handed over to a group of lay trustees

Curriculum

The school offers both the

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

and Leaving Certificate cycles. It has been named the best boys' secondary school outside

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 ...

by the

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country. ...

. The current curriculum teaches first years

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

;

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

as L2;

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as L1;

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

;

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

; French as L2;

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

as L2;

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

;

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource management, a ...

;

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

;

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

; CSPE; SPHE;

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

; and

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

. In second year, the students may choose to drop two of the L2 foreign languages. Unusually for a private school, streaming is not used until third year. After completing the

Junior Certificate Junior Cycle ( ga, An tSraith Shóisearach ) is the first stage of the education programme for post-primary education within the Republic of Ireland. It is overseen by the State Examinations Commission of the Department of Education, the Stat ...

, the college requires students to complete a mandatory

Transition Year Transition Year (TY) ( ga, Idirbhliain) is an optional one-year school programme that can be taken in the year after the Junior Certificate in Ireland. However, depending on school population and funding it may not be available, and in other sch ...

. In fifth year, students begin the Leaving Cert cycle. At the Leaving Certificate level, the college offers a wide range of courses.

as L2,

L1 and

are compulsory. One language must be taken from French as L2,

as L2 and

. Any three optional subjects may be taken from the sciences (

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

), the businesses (

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical s ...

, politics and society and

Rugby

The college sport is

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

. , the college has won 29 Senior Schools Cups and 29 Junior Schools Cups respectively, and has produced 22 Irish Rugby Internationals. In 2007, the school won both the Senior Schools Cup and the Junior Schools Cup (the first time they had won both in the same year since 1995, when

Ronan O'Gara Ronan John Ross O'Gara ( ga, Rónán Ó Gadhra; born 7 March 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player and current coach. O'Gara played as a fly-half and is Ireland's second most-capped player and highest ever points scorer. He is currently ...

was the Senior Captain). Six players have played for the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

- Tom Kiernan (1962 & Captain in 1968 ), Jerry Walsh (1966),

Michael Kiernan Michael Joseph Kiernan (born 17 January 1961) is a former international rugby union player. He had 43 caps for Ireland, from 1982 to 1991, scoring 6 tries, 40 conversions, 62 penalties and 6 drop goals, in an aggregate of 308 points. He was cal ...

(1983), Ronan O'Gara (2001, 2005 & 2009),

Simon Zebo Simon Zebo (born 16 March 1990) is an Irish rugby union player for United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup side Munster. He is equally adept as a wing or fullback, having played in both positions often for Ireland, Munster and Racing 92 ...

(2013) and

Peter O'Mahony Peter O'Mahony (born 17 September 1989) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays for Munster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup and Ireland internationally. During his career, O'Mahony has captained Presentatio ...

(2017).

2014

In March, PBC won the Junior Schools Cup for the first time in five years in a 17–12 win over

Crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

2017

The school participates in a number of Munster under-age School-Boy competitions: McCarthy Cup A, B & B Schools (U-15), The Junior Schools Cup (U-16), The Kidney Cup (Junior B), The Bowen Shield & B Schools (U-18), The Barry Cup (Senior B), and The Senior Schools Cup (U-19). Pres have won every cup at some point and several teams have won every competition. The school playing fields are located at Dennehy's Cross, Wilton. There are 4 pitches, one walled and one flood-lit.

Extra-curricular activities and sport

Drama

The college drama society performs one production of a dramatic play annually. This is very often the play studied by

Leaving Cert 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 ...

students of that academic year. Recent productions have included ''

Sive Sive may refer to: *Sive means hear us in isiXhosa * David Sive (1922–2014), American attorney, environmentalist, and professor of environmental law * Sive (noun), a Nation, a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or l ...

'' (2013) and '' All My Sons'' (2014).

Sciences

In 2012 three students were invited to partake in the European Science and Maths Olympiad, based on their Junior Certificate results in Maths and Science. These students participated in the Olympiad in DCU. In 2004, the Pres team won the first Cork Robotics Competition for Schools, which was launched by the Cork Electronics Industry Association (CEIA) at the National Software Centre in Mahon Point.

Rowing

PBC has had many students who have been members of the various Cork

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

clubs since 1890, some of whom have won Irish Championships with these clubs but never as Pres College Rowing Club. In 1985 Presentation College Rowing Club was registered officially for the first time with th
Irish Amateur Rowing Union
and began rowing out of Shandon Boat Club on the Marina. The equipment used was bought second-hand from Dungarvan Rowing Club. In its existence to date, the club has been a tenant of both Cork Boat Club and Lee Rowing Club and has recently returned to Shandon Boat Club. The club now owns 3 eights, 4 fours, 3 pairs and 7 singles along with a full selection of blades, coaching launches and a boat trailer.

Other sports

Other sports played at the college include

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, GAA,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. The school has won the GAA Lord Mayor's Cup five times in the last six years. The school golf team has also won the Cork County Championship consecutively in 2006 and 2007. PBC reached the All-Ireland basketball U-16s cup final for the first time in 2009 and defeated St. Columbs college from Derry to win PBC's first ever All-Ireland. In the last number of years, the college has won numerous soccer titles. These include Cork Cups at First Year, Minor, Junior and Senior level. In February 2015, PBC won the Munster Schools Senior Cup.

Selected alumni

Business

Ben Dunne Bernard Dunne (19 May 1908 – 14 April 1983) was an Irish businessman who was the founder and chairman of Dunnes Stores. Early life Ben Dunne was born as Bernard Dunn in the village of Rostrevor in County Down, Ireland in 1908. He a was the el ...

, businessman

Law

Liam McKechnie William Martin McKechnie, SC (born April 1951) is an Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland between March 2010 and April 2021. He previously served as Judge of the High Court from 2000 to 2010. Early life He was ...

, Justice of the

Supreme Court of Ireland , image = Coat of arms of Ireland.svg , imagesize = 120px , alt = , caption = Coat of Arms of Ireland , image2 = Four Courts, Dublin 2014-09-13.jpg , imagesize2 = , alt2 ...

Media

* Michael Clifford, author and investigative journalist * Cathal Coughlan, singer, songwriter and keyboard player in the bands

The Fatima Mansions The Fatima Mansions were an Irish rock band formed in 1988 by Cork singer/keyboardist Cathal Coughlan, formerly of Microdisney. Career The original line-up consisted of Coughlan, Nick Allum, Jonathan Fell, Zac Woolhouse and Aindrias O'Gruama. ...

and

Microdisney Microdisney were an Irish rock band formed in Cork in 1980. They were founded and led by songwriters Cathal Coughlan (keyboards, vocals) and Sean O'Hagan (guitar). Originally typeset as Micro Disney, the band had become Microdisney by the tim ...

George Hook George Hook (born 19 May 1941) is an Irish broadcaster, journalist and rugby union pundit. He formerly hosted ''The Right Hook'' and ''High Noon'' on the Irish radio station Newstalk. He had a career as a rugby union coach and businessman, be ...

, journalist *

Fergal Keane Fergal Patrick Keane (born 6 January 1961) is an Irish foreign correspondent with BBC News, and an author. For some time, Keane was the BBC's correspondent in South Africa. He is a nephew of the Irish playwright, novelist and essayist John B. ...

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

History

Curriculum

Rugby

2014

2017

Extra-curricular activities and sport

Drama

Sciences

Rowing

Other sports

Selected alumni

Business

Law

Media

Politics

Rugby

Other sport

Notable staff

References

External links