Saint Patrick’s School is a campus of schools (St Patrick's infants school, St Patrick's Girls Primary, St Patrick's Boys Primary and Saint Patrick's College) 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 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 ...

. Saint Patrick’s is situated on Gardiner's Hill and has a history dating to the 1820s.

History

The school began operations in October 1822 as Brickfields Male and Female Free School in rented premises in two private homes in Lower Glanmire Road, Cork. Students were not charged tuition, and funding for the school was provided by charitable donations and an annual fundraiser. The school became part of Ireland's National education system in 1833. At that point the school had two teachers and 100 students (60 boys and 40 girls).

Saint Luke’s Cross

In 1840, Brickfields Free School held its last lessons and in September 1841, its pupils and staff moved to a new purpose-built premises at Saint Luke’s Cross. The new school, which had space for many more students was called St. Patrick's School and in a fundraising letter written at the time of opening the school manager, Rev. Patrick William Coffey, described the new building as having two floors, with the boys using the upper floor and entering the building from the Ballyhooly Road (just above where the pedestrian crossing is now) and the girls using the lower floor and entering from Alexandra Road. Coffey described the interior as having been kitted out with desks, blackboards, lockers, and two fireplaces. At the time of its opening Saint Patrick's School had 300 pupils on the books, 174 boys and 126 girls. Most of the pupils paid 1d a month for their schooling but around 100 pupils paid no tuition. The founding school manager, Fr. Coffey died of typhus in June 1847 at the age of 42. A plaque was erected in his memory in the church. In 1863, St. Patrick's Infants' School was opened in a newly built schoolroom, using a donation from the estate of J. Murphy of Clifton, Montenotte. The school had 85 students (34 boys and 51 girls), most of whom had transferred from the existing Boys' and Girls' Schools. By 1873 the Infants' School had 300 students. In 1886, an evening school for adults was opened in St. Patrick's Male School. It operated from 19:00 to 21:00, Monday to Thursday. When the District Inspector from the Board of Education visited the night school, he found thirty students being taught (all male) and a further 47 on the books, he recommended that the school be funded. At the time of 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 ...

the writer Daniel Corkery was a teacher in Saint Patricks. He introduced Gaelic Games to the school in 1917. His pupils at the school included the sculptor

Seamus Murphy Seamus Murphy, (15 July 1907 – 2 October 1975) was an Irish sculptor and stone carver, best known for designing the Church of the Annunciation, Blackpool, Cork. Examples of his unique carvings of statues, gravestones, monuments and plaques ca ...

and writer

Frank O’Connor Frank O'Connor (born Michael Francis O'Donovan; 17 September 1903 – 10 March 1966) was an Irish author and translator. He wrote poetry (original and translations from Irish), dramatic works, memoirs, journalistic columns and features on a ...

. Corkery resigned from Saint Patrick’s in 1921 after being passed over for a promotion to Headmaster. He would go on to have successful careers in academia and politics.

Gardiner's Hill

Saint Patrick’s School remained at Saint Luke’s for almost a hundred years. By the late 1930s however the site had become inadequate and it was decided to move to a new purpose-built school that would be built in the fields between the Ballyhooly Road and Gardiners Hill. On 29 November 1937 the 261 boys walked the few hundred yards to the new site on Gardiner's Hill. The new school was officially opened by the then Lord Mayor Jim Hickey. The girls remained at St Lukes until 1955 when they moved to their a new purpose-built school (designed by James Barrett) in the site adjoining the boys school.
/ref> The new building also housed St. Patrick's Infants' School and allowed for a post-primary level school for girls, St Patrick's College, to be founded in 1958. In 1995, a new purpose-built school was built on the campus for St Patrick's College. St. Patrick's Infants' School and St. Patrick's Girls National School remained in the 1955 building. In 2007, an all-Polish weekend school was launched at Saint Patrick’s, based in the Boys National School (1937) building.

Notable pupils and staff

* Daniel Corkery, Writer, Academic and Politician *

Frank O'Connor Frank O'Connor (born Michael Francis O'Donovan; 17 September 1903 – 10 March 1966) was an Irish author and translator. He wrote poetry (original and translations from Irish), dramatic works, memoirs, journalistic columns and features on a ...

, Writer *

, Sculptor *

Alan Lotty Alan Lotty (15 July 1920 – 10 February 1973) was an Irish hurler who played for Cork Championship club Sarsfields. He played for the Cork senior hurling team for 10 years, during which time he usually lined out as a corner-back or as a wing ...

, Hurler * Jackie O'Driscoll, Footballer * Joe Kelly, Hurler *

Donie O'Donovan Daniel Joseph O'Donovan (31 January 1926 – 28 May 1999) was an Irish Gaelic football manager and player. He played football with his local club St. Nicholas' and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 1948 until 1955. O' ...

, Gaelic Footballer * Seán O'Brien, Hurler *

Michael Davitt Michael Davitt (25 March 184630 May 1906) was an Irish republican activist for a variety of causes, especially Home Rule and land reform. Following an eviction when he was four years old, Davitt's family migrated to England. He began his caree ...

, Poet *

Johnny Buckley Johnny Buckley is a legendary Irish boxing manager and promoter from Boston, Massachusetts mostly during the first half of the 20th century who has handled some of the most famous boxers in the world including 3 World Champions. He guided Jack Sh ...

, Hurler *

Donal Lenihan Donal Gerard Lenihan (born 12 September 1959) is a retired Irish rugby union player. He appears regularly as a co-commentator on TV and radio for rugby matches and writes for the Irish Examiner. He also works as a financial consultant in Cork. ...

, Rugby player *

David Corkery Sean David Corkery (born 6 November 1972 in Cork, Ireland) is a retired Irish people, Irish rugby union player. In his career (playing at blind-side wing-forward) he played for Cork Constitution, Munster Rugby, Munster and Bristol Rugby, Bristol, ...

, Rugby player * Leon McSweeney, Footballer *

Tomás O'Leary Tomás O'Leary (born 22 October 1983) is an Irish former rugby union player who played as a scrum-half. O'Leary played most of his career in the United Rugby Championship with Munster, where he was part of the team that won the Heineken Cup in ...

, Rugby player

References

External links

St. Patrick’s Infants National School – websiteSt. Patrick’s Girls National School – websiteSt. Patrick’s College – website
{{DEFAULTSORT:St Patrick's School, Cork Secondary schools in County Cork Educational institutions established in 1841 Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland Girls' schools in the Republic of Ireland Catholic primary schools in the Republic of Ireland 1841 establishments in Ireland