St Patrick's Boys' School, Perth was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

parish

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

for

boys A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is "a ...

located on Irwin St,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The school operated from 1878 until 1963, when its students were progressively transferred to

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, Perth and CBC Perth.

History

The school was commonly called St Pat's and it was a low fee paying primary school for boys. In 1894, the

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers ( la, Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. Their first school was opened in Waterford, Ireland, ...

, at the invitation of Bishop Matthew Gibney, opened CBC Perth and took over the administration of St Patrick's as well as providing teaching staff. When the Brothers took over the running of the school there were 40 enrolled students. By the turn of the century, six years later, the school had 160 enrolled students.Trinity News Summer 2013, Archives - St Patrick's Celtic Cross p38, TOBA publication, referenced 25 December 2013 In 1907, St Patrick's relocated to a new larger school on the corner of Wellington and Lord Streets at the bottom of the hill near St Mary's Cathedral. The site later became part of

Royal Perth Hospital Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) is a 450-bed adult and teaching hospital located on the northeastern edge of the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. History The hospital traces its history back to the first colonial hospital, whi ...

. The new school had a primary and a secondary school. Enrolments peaked at over 400 students. In 1938, the boarders at CBC Perth and a number of day students transferred to the new Aquinas College campus at Salter Point. To ease the crowded conditions at St Patrick's, and to overcome the depleted student numbers at CBC Perth, many St Patrick's students transferred to CBC Perth. In 1937, the principals of CBC Highgate, CBC Fremantle and St Patrick’s Boys' School founded the Christian Brothers Secondary Schools Sports Association (now called the Associated & Catholic Colleges of Western Australia.) The association was formed for interschool sporting competition in athletics and it was first held at the

WACA Ground The WACA (formally the WACA Ground) is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association. The WACA has been referred to as Wester ...

. As the Perth metropolitan area grew, the number of Catholic parish primary schools in the suburbs also increased. This led to a fall in student enrolments at St Patrick's. In 1948, at the insistence of Archbishop Prendiville, the Brothers agreed to make St Patrick's a secondary technical school. In 1951, the number of students at St Patrick's had fallen to the point that the school could no longer compete effectively at interschool competitions, and the school withdrew from the sporting association it helped create. In 1962, CBC Perth moved from St Georges Tce to the new campus at Trinity College on the

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from ...

foreshore. Most of the students at St Patrick's transferred to Trinity. The remaining students continued at St Patrick's until it closed at the end of 1963.

Legacy of St Patrick's Celtic Cross

The granite Celtic Cross of St Patrick's, which originally formed the spire of St Patrick's Boys School in Irwin St Perth, was presented to Trinity College in 1996. The Celtic Cross was placed as the centrepiece of the entry roundabout at Trinity College. Groundsman Ross Beatson complemented the Cross and the roundabout with a Celtic hedge.

Notable alumni

Launcelot Goody Launcelot John Goody (5 June 1908 – 13 May 1992), an Australian metropolitan bishop, was the sixth Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth, serving from 1968 to 1983. Prior to his election as Archbishop of Perth, Goody served as the inaugural Bis ...

(1908–1992) – Archbishop of Perth * John Harman (1932–1998) – Second Tonkin Ministry 1973–1974, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly 1983–1986, MLA for Maylands *

Terry Moriarty Terrence Brian "Terry" Moriarty (3 July 1925 – 23 October 2011) was an Australian rules footballer who played with the Perth Football Club in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL). Having won the club's best and fairest trophy ...

–

Perth Football Club The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in Lathlain, Western Australia, currently playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). Representing the south-east area of the Perth metropo ...

, Sandover Medal 1943 – ''WA Football Hall of Fame 2010'' *

Ray O'Connor Raymond James O'Connor (6 March 1926 – 25 February 2013) was an Australian politician who served as the premier of Western Australia from 25 January 1982 to 25 February 1983. He was a member of parliament from 1959 to 1984, and a minister in ...

(1926–2013) – Premier of Western Australia

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patricks Boys Perth Trinity College, Perth Defunct schools in Western Australia Educational institutions established in 1878 1878 establishments in Australia East Perth, Western Australia 1963 disestablishments in Australia Educational institutions disestablished in 1963 Former Congregation of Christian Brothers schools in Australia