The History of My School
by
Grainne O'Rourke
by
Grainne O'Rourke

The history of my school, St. Mary’s Secondary School, Baldoyle goes back a long way. It is situated seven miles north of Dublin city in the centre of Baldoyle village. In 1570, the land around Baldoyle was granted to the people who looked after housing etc. At this stage Baldoyle was a small fishing village and was growing slowly.
In 1869 Mother Frances McCarthy, Superior General of the Irish Sisters of Charity, decided to open a convent in Baldoyle. The nuns acquired the site opposite the present church. The convent was fairly small to begin with and later a hospital was built beside it. The present site of the secondary school was owned by a man named Butterly. He was reputed to be a fairly wealthy farmer and had a very large house on the site. He owned much of the land around the house also. As Baldoyle grew many people moved there, and a number of years later the Christian Brothers bought the house from Mr.Butterly. The Brothers had to make quite a lot of changes to the house. It was named St. Joseph’s and opposite it was St. Patrick’s. St. Patrick’s was where the older and retired Brothers lived and St. Joseph’s was used for the young boys who entered the order.
In 1913 the building was renovated and enlarged. Around the year 1930 the Christian Brothers bought the adjacent house because the former house was too small. 1935 saw the two houses connected. In effect, the brothers had bought three houses altogether: St. Patrick’s, St. Joseph’s and this new acquisition since they began. The Christian Brothers took boys in when they were fifteen years old but the boys still kept up their schooling by having classes like we do today. Three of the first class rooms used by the boys are still in use today. They are easily recognised because they have blackboards with a green surface instead of a black one. The brothers hoped that the boys might go on and join the order permanently. In the building the boys had a big study room which was full of books. To enter the study room one had to climb a staircase and the door was on the opposite side of our present library. Just outside the door was a statue of St. Philomena which was surrounded by plants and flowers. This room had desks which were nailed to the ground and because of this, over a period of time the floor under the desks were eventually shaped like the letter ‘U’. This proved a little difficult when the Sisters of Charity took over the premises.
When the boys came they lived in, and each one received a place to sleep and to keep his belongings. The first floor of the present day school was full of dormitories. Each bed space was a tiny cubicle and one can see the divides between them if one visits the classrooms along the first floor. All of the dormitories were joined and so one could walk right through, it was like one big room. Our sewing room today was also a dormitory. It probably contains the best evidence of what I am talking about. The cubicles on one side of the room remain and are now used as fitting rooms. We also have some of the presses where a boy was allowed to keep his belongings. The reason that the cubicles weren’t removed when the nuns took over was because the pipes for heating our water ran right over the cubicles. These little cubicles were the only space a boy could call his own.
In the oldest part of the school was the superiors office and in 1949 a T.B. wing was added. This is now the present day staff room. To get to our present top floor one had to climb stairs which were winding and very narrow. This floor had a classroom and more dormitories which were smaller than these on the floor below. The arch way which led from one to the other can still be seen today. The brothers also had a small chapel in the grounds. It was nicely decorated and very well kept. They had a priest’s room outside the entrance to the chapel. There is a door opposite the chapel, which is locked today and it was here that the alter boys changed. The brothers had a kitchen and storerooms just off the dining room. The dining room or lunch room is now divided into two classrooms. The brothers had two science rooms. One of which we use as our science Lab., the other as our art room. Just behind our art room was a woodwork room. At this stage the land around the school was all grass. Just inside the main gates were a glasshouse and a small potting shed which the brothers used. Many of the brothers’ pupils did go on to join the order permanently.
In 1966 the Superior General of the Christian Brothers decided that a new building would be erected to the west of St. Patrick’s and the old St. Joseph’s vacated. The Sisters of Charity decided to take over the building. Previously their secondary school was on the site opposite the church. It was founded in 1967. They had thirty-six pupils and two full time teachers. The following year they had seventy two pupils. The head mistress was Sister Conleth, but she left the school in 1977. At this time the pupils of the school wore a uniform which comprised of a tartan skirt, a lemon blouse with a tie and a brown cardigan. In the September of 1972 the nuns moved over to where we are now. The school needed a lot of alterations. Most of the rooms were carpeted and heated. Now the classrooms have intercoms which are controlled from the headmistress’s office. The original study room was divided into two; one half is now our library. Over the years the library has been stocked up with lots of books which were badly needed. The other side of the divide is used as a classroom. The classrooms along the present ground floor were all changed. The cubicles in these rooms were taken away and when the school started these three rooms had to be used. There was one problem and it was that the rooms were still interconnected.
If you were in the last of the rooms and you came in late; you had to walk through all the rooms in front of everyone to reach your classroom! Two new staircases were built to reach the present first and top floors. The top floor was divided into four classrooms.
Above the staff-room was a third floor but the brothers said it blew in the wind and was unsafe, so it was removed. The domestic science classes use the kitchens that the brothers had. We have a secretary’s office which was an old staff-room and a parlor for visitors to the school. The school also has a big gym hall and it contains a large stage and the gym equipment used for P.E. The hall is used for lots of concerts presented by the school and the people in the parish. The school still uses the chapel today and it is thought that we are about the only school in the area that has the Blessed Sacrament. A room beside the chapel is now used as a confessional and a big dresser which contains vestments and other things was moved into the back of the chapel. The statue of St. Philomena which was outside the study-room is now in the chapel. We now have a Geography room where the woodwork room was.
The nuns left the front of the school in red brick and they built on a corridor along the front. The designer used reinforced glass which was two panes of glass with wire through the inside. This meant one couldn’t see through the glass along the corridors. The doors of the rooms along the ground and first floor were formally windows as the brick surround can still be seen today. The area in front of the school is now tar macadam. Inside the gates there is a flowerbed and there is no longer a glasshouse there. The potting shed that was is now used as a kind of store room. On the far side of the school there still remains a grassy patch which is covered with tree stumps. They are used as seats during the summer months. Our school is very involved in sports and we have two basketball courts; a volleyball court and a badminton court. We also have a table-tennis table.
This brings us up to the present. The school has just under 700 pupils and 46 teachers, of which six are part-time teachers. Due to the hard work of the nuns, teachers and pupils in our school has grown greatly in recent years. It is one of the best schools on this side of the city for girls.
In 1869 Mother Frances McCarthy, Superior General of the Irish Sisters of Charity, decided to open a convent in Baldoyle. The nuns acquired the site opposite the present church. The convent was fairly small to begin with and later a hospital was built beside it. The present site of the secondary school was owned by a man named Butterly. He was reputed to be a fairly wealthy farmer and had a very large house on the site. He owned much of the land around the house also. As Baldoyle grew many people moved there, and a number of years later the Christian Brothers bought the house from Mr.Butterly. The Brothers had to make quite a lot of changes to the house. It was named St. Joseph’s and opposite it was St. Patrick’s. St. Patrick’s was where the older and retired Brothers lived and St. Joseph’s was used for the young boys who entered the order.
In 1913 the building was renovated and enlarged. Around the year 1930 the Christian Brothers bought the adjacent house because the former house was too small. 1935 saw the two houses connected. In effect, the brothers had bought three houses altogether: St. Patrick’s, St. Joseph’s and this new acquisition since they began. The Christian Brothers took boys in when they were fifteen years old but the boys still kept up their schooling by having classes like we do today. Three of the first class rooms used by the boys are still in use today. They are easily recognised because they have blackboards with a green surface instead of a black one. The brothers hoped that the boys might go on and join the order permanently. In the building the boys had a big study room which was full of books. To enter the study room one had to climb a staircase and the door was on the opposite side of our present library. Just outside the door was a statue of St. Philomena which was surrounded by plants and flowers. This room had desks which were nailed to the ground and because of this, over a period of time the floor under the desks were eventually shaped like the letter ‘U’. This proved a little difficult when the Sisters of Charity took over the premises.
When the boys came they lived in, and each one received a place to sleep and to keep his belongings. The first floor of the present day school was full of dormitories. Each bed space was a tiny cubicle and one can see the divides between them if one visits the classrooms along the first floor. All of the dormitories were joined and so one could walk right through, it was like one big room. Our sewing room today was also a dormitory. It probably contains the best evidence of what I am talking about. The cubicles on one side of the room remain and are now used as fitting rooms. We also have some of the presses where a boy was allowed to keep his belongings. The reason that the cubicles weren’t removed when the nuns took over was because the pipes for heating our water ran right over the cubicles. These little cubicles were the only space a boy could call his own.
In the oldest part of the school was the superiors office and in 1949 a T.B. wing was added. This is now the present day staff room. To get to our present top floor one had to climb stairs which were winding and very narrow. This floor had a classroom and more dormitories which were smaller than these on the floor below. The arch way which led from one to the other can still be seen today. The brothers also had a small chapel in the grounds. It was nicely decorated and very well kept. They had a priest’s room outside the entrance to the chapel. There is a door opposite the chapel, which is locked today and it was here that the alter boys changed. The brothers had a kitchen and storerooms just off the dining room. The dining room or lunch room is now divided into two classrooms. The brothers had two science rooms. One of which we use as our science Lab., the other as our art room. Just behind our art room was a woodwork room. At this stage the land around the school was all grass. Just inside the main gates were a glasshouse and a small potting shed which the brothers used. Many of the brothers’ pupils did go on to join the order permanently.
In 1966 the Superior General of the Christian Brothers decided that a new building would be erected to the west of St. Patrick’s and the old St. Joseph’s vacated. The Sisters of Charity decided to take over the building. Previously their secondary school was on the site opposite the church. It was founded in 1967. They had thirty-six pupils and two full time teachers. The following year they had seventy two pupils. The head mistress was Sister Conleth, but she left the school in 1977. At this time the pupils of the school wore a uniform which comprised of a tartan skirt, a lemon blouse with a tie and a brown cardigan. In the September of 1972 the nuns moved over to where we are now. The school needed a lot of alterations. Most of the rooms were carpeted and heated. Now the classrooms have intercoms which are controlled from the headmistress’s office. The original study room was divided into two; one half is now our library. Over the years the library has been stocked up with lots of books which were badly needed. The other side of the divide is used as a classroom. The classrooms along the present ground floor were all changed. The cubicles in these rooms were taken away and when the school started these three rooms had to be used. There was one problem and it was that the rooms were still interconnected.
If you were in the last of the rooms and you came in late; you had to walk through all the rooms in front of everyone to reach your classroom! Two new staircases were built to reach the present first and top floors. The top floor was divided into four classrooms.
Above the staff-room was a third floor but the brothers said it blew in the wind and was unsafe, so it was removed. The domestic science classes use the kitchens that the brothers had. We have a secretary’s office which was an old staff-room and a parlor for visitors to the school. The school also has a big gym hall and it contains a large stage and the gym equipment used for P.E. The hall is used for lots of concerts presented by the school and the people in the parish. The school still uses the chapel today and it is thought that we are about the only school in the area that has the Blessed Sacrament. A room beside the chapel is now used as a confessional and a big dresser which contains vestments and other things was moved into the back of the chapel. The statue of St. Philomena which was outside the study-room is now in the chapel. We now have a Geography room where the woodwork room was.
The nuns left the front of the school in red brick and they built on a corridor along the front. The designer used reinforced glass which was two panes of glass with wire through the inside. This meant one couldn’t see through the glass along the corridors. The doors of the rooms along the ground and first floor were formally windows as the brick surround can still be seen today. The area in front of the school is now tar macadam. Inside the gates there is a flowerbed and there is no longer a glasshouse there. The potting shed that was is now used as a kind of store room. On the far side of the school there still remains a grassy patch which is covered with tree stumps. They are used as seats during the summer months. Our school is very involved in sports and we have two basketball courts; a volleyball court and a badminton court. We also have a table-tennis table.
This brings us up to the present. The school has just under 700 pupils and 46 teachers, of which six are part-time teachers. Due to the hard work of the nuns, teachers and pupils in our school has grown greatly in recent years. It is one of the best schools on this side of the city for girls.