St Patrick's Boys' School, Perth was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish

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

for

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located on Irwin St,

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. 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 (; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school opened in Waterford, Ireland in 1802. At the time of its ...

, 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

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. 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 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 (WACA). The WACA has been referred to as Western Australia' ...

. 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 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 Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

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

Thomas Herman Andersen Thomas Herman Andersen (18941975) was Commissioner of Police for the state of Western Australia from 1951 to 1958. Thomas Andersen was born on 21 May 1894Headstone at grave of Thomas Herman Andersen and Marie Arthemise Andersen, Karrakatta Cem ...

(18941975), Western Australian police commissioner * Launcelot Goody (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 –

Perth Football Club The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in Lathlain, Western Australia, Lathlain, Western Australia, currently playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). R ...

, Sandover Medal 1943 – ''WA Football Hall of Fame 2010'' * Ray O'Connor (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