Saint Cronan's Boys' National School () is a national school located in Vevay Crescent, just off the Vevay Road in

Bray Bray may refer to: Places France * Bray, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' * Bray, Saône-et-Loire, in the Saône-et-Loire ''département'' * Bray-Dunes, in the Nord ''département'' * Bray-en-Val, in the Loiret ''département'' * Bray-et-Lû ...

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It is the oldest primary school in Bray, having been founded in 1820 as Bray Male School. The school is named in honour of Saint Cronan, whose feast day falls on 28 April. As of 2022, there are approximately 420 boys in the school, aged from 6 to 13 years (first through sixth classes).

History

In 1820, a small number of cottages on Seapoint Road in Bray are believed to have been the site of the first Bray Male Parochial School. It opened on 20 July 1820 and the boys stayed in these premises until 1880. Due to increasing pupil numbers, Bray Male School moved from its original home on Seapoint Road to the Little Flower Hall beside the Holy Redeemer Church off the Main Street in Bray in October 1880. Bray Male School moved again in 1931; this time, the school found a new home in a new building on the Vevay Hill. The school also changed its name at this stage to St Cronan's. On 2 November 1999, St. Cronan's moved to a new building in Vevay Crescent. After the most recent move to the new school building in Vevay Crescent, Gaelscoil Uí Chéadaigh, a

Gaelscoil A Gaelscoil (; plural: ''Gaelscoileanna'') is an Irish language- medium school in Ireland: the term refers especially to Irish-medium schools outside the Irish-speaking regions or Gaeltacht. Over 50,000 students attend Gaelscoileanna at primary a ...

, took up residence in the schoolhouse on the Vevay Hill.

Curricular studies

As a national school, St. Cronan's follows the ''Primary School Curriculum (1999)''. The school has a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

ethos and prepares its students for the

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

and

Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

. The school was also part of the ''Modern Languages Initiative'' until 2012, and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

was taught in 5th and 6th classes.

Sports

St. Cronan's has both

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

and

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

teams which compete against other schools in the Wicklow area. The school's Gaelic football team have been county champions on several occasions, and have also won the Coughlin Cup on several occasions. The school's team colours are blue, yellow, and white to match the school's uniform. Prior to the year 2000, the school's colours were red and white; this matched the colour of the previous school uniform.

Gaelic football honours

* Coughlin Cup; 1998, 2000, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011. * Wicklow Schools League; 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004. * Wicklow County Championship (Corn Uí Dhochartaigh, ); 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007. * Mini-Sevens Trophy; 2004, 2005.

Hurling honours

* Mini-Sevens Trophy; 2006. * Murphy Cup; 2004.

Choral

St. Cronan's boys choir have performed at local events and also in the

National Concert Hall The National Concert Hall (NCH) (An Ceoláras Náisiúnta) is a national cultural institution, sometimes described as "the home of music in Ireland". It comprises the actual concert hall operation, which in various chambers hosts over 1,000 ...

with the National Children's Choir. They have also performed for then

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, ...

, in

Áras an Uachtaráin (; "Residence of the President"), formerly the Viceregal Lodge, is the List of official residences, official residence and principal workplace of the President of Ireland. It is located off Chesterfield Avenue in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, ...

. In December 2004, the choir released an album entitled ''The Magic of Christmas'', which included a guest appearance by the late

Ronnie Drew Joseph Ronald Drew (16 September 1934 – 16 August 2008) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor who had a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners. He sang lead vocals on the singles "Seven Drunken Nights" and " The Irish Rover", ...

of ''

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 pers ...

''. On 12 September 2008, St. Cronan's welcomed Liu Biwei, Chinese

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to Ireland. The St. Cronan's choir, along with some musicians from the senior classes in the school performed for the ambassador and his diplomatic entourage.

Charity

In the run up to

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

, students in sixth class take part in the Concern Christmas Fast. In the past, the school has also participated in Operation Christmas Child. This is a project organised by Samaritan's Purse, and involves children putting together a shoebox of simple gifts for distribution among children in desperate situations around the world. St. Cronan's also has a relationship with Bray

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

, and works on many charitable programmes in conjunction with them.

Other awards

Discover Primary Science Award
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
Green Flag Award
2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015.

Primary Schools Award; 2003.
Eircom Junior Spider Website Award
2009
Digital School of Distinction Award
2015

Twinning

St. Cronan's is linked with Edgewood Elementary School in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. The school is also twinned with the parish of

Ikanga Ikanga is a village in Kitui District, Kenya, about east of Nairobi. It is south of Kitui town along the B7 road between Kitui and Kibwezi. Ikanga forms a ward in the Kitui South Constituency and Kitui County Council. The total population of ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Notable alumni

Finn Bálor Fergal Devitt (born 25 July 1981) is an Irish professional wrestler. As of May 2014, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Finn Bálor (). He is a member of The Judgment Day stable. Devitt began his car ...

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

* Peter Doyle,

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

and Olympian * Bertie Messitt, long-distance runner and Olympian *

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (; 12 February 1911 – 21 March 1978) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, judge and barrister who served as the president of Ireland from December 1974 to October 1976. His birth name was registered in English as ' ...

, former

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, Chief Justice, and

* Darren Randolph, professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

erCome on you Reds!
CroNews. Published on 01-05-99. Retrieved on 11-02-08.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord missing, County Wicklow 1820 establishments in Ireland Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland Educational institutions established in 1820 Primary schools in County Wicklow Schools in Bray, County Wicklow