Schools late 1800s, early 1900s

Hi Rachel,

Thank you for your message.

I have forwarded it to one of our volunteers who hopefully may be ablt to help you with your questions or advice you where to look.

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support

Hi Rachel, our volunteer, Claire, has come back with the following:

There were a number of national schools in Clontarf around 1900 or so.  Given that the children went on to Blackrock College, that would imply they were Catholic, so it would rule out Greenlanes (the local Church of Ireland school), Baymount School (set up by Arthur Guinness for local Church of Ireland children) and the Hibernian Marine School (which was only opened in 1902).  There was also a Presbyterian school, built in 1891, but again it would hardly prepare pupils to move on to a Catholic secondary school.

That would leave the local Catholic national school or possibly Kostka College, although this may only have opened as a school after 1900.  The Holy Faith Sisters also used to run a primary school, which was designed for both boys and girls, although boys had to move to a specific boys' secondary school, such as Blackrock College.

In the early 19th century, there was a school for male and female pupils, in the old Catholic chapel on the sea-front ,?supported by the interest of accumulated receipts at charity sermons (sermons given to raise funds)'.  This building was demolished shortly after the new Catholic church was built after 1829 (the year of the Catholic Emancipation Act).  

The new Catholic national schools were built on the site of the old Holy Faith playing grounds on Vernon Avenue. They are marked on the second OS map of 1837, but I have no references to them before 1903.  The first reference to them was  when George Ashlin designed additions to the schools in 1903, which were completed at a cost of ?1,800. The schools had got into very bad condition by the 1930s and then Bellgrove House was used as the school, before the current schools were built there and called Belgrove School.  The site on Vernon Avenue was later bought by Holy Faith and used as its sports ground, but it has since been resold. There is now an application on the property for the building of 17 two-storey houses.

There isn't really very much information at all.  I have been into the Holy Faith archive library etc., and this is all I have found.  Here antecedents were probably taught in either the local national school or else the private Holy Faith primary school.  I hope it helps this girl.