St. Fintan's High School

St. Fintans High School (Irish: Ard Scoil Naomh Fhionntán) is an all-boys Roman Catholic voluntary-aided secondary school located between Sutton and Baldoyle, Dublin, Ireland.[1]

History

Background

A school originally opened at Bellevue House within the Burrow, Sutton, located on Station Road, between Sutton Cross and Howth village, with access to the beach. The school at Bellevue House, eventually St. Catherine's, comprised primary school facilities for boys and girls, and from 1924, a secondary school for girls, and was run by a Mrs Helen McAlister, a Mrs Watson and some Christian Brothers (it also held a vacation residence for the Christian Brothers during World War 2). Mrs Watson died in 1940 and the whole school passed to the Christian Brothers, who closed the mixed school.

Foundation

St. Fintan's High School was founded at the Burrow Road premises in Sutton on 8 September 1943, as a fee-paying secondary day and "prep" school, with 48 students and 5 Christian Brother teachers. It was sponsored by local Catholic clergy and authorised by the Archbishop of Dublin.[2] Fees were 6 to 12 guineas, depending on academic performance.[3] Neighbouring premises were purchased in 1958, allowing provision of tennis courts, and the Warren House on Dublin Road, which would in time become the school's home, in 1959. In the early years Gaelic sports were played on part of the Howth Estate's Deerpark lands.[2]

State status and new location

Following education reforms in Ireland in the 1960s St. Fintan's became a state-funded school, although like most Irish schools it asks parents and guardians of pupils in a position to do so to make a voluntary contribution towards running costs.[4] The post-primary section of the school began on Dublin Road in 1972,[3] in a purpose-built premises built using donations of around 175,000 pounds, and with three dedicated science laboratories, and rooms for art, geography and languages. A large gym, with a performance stage and stage lighting, was added later, again funded entirely by donations. In 1980, the third Christian Brother principal took over, and introduced a school uniform and basketball as a sport, with the school winning eight senior all-Ireland titles during the 1980s and early 1990s.[2]

Though founded by the Christian Brothers, St. Fintan's has had a fully lay staff for more than a decade. It remains a constituent of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust.[3]

Past principals

The first head was Brother P.J. Walsh.[2] He was followed by Brother Purcell,[2] and then, in 1980, by Br John Bourke, the last principal to be a member of the religious.[2] Br Bourke was succeeded by Mr Bill McCartney[5] from Swords. Later lay principals were two long-serving members of staff, Mr Richard (Dick) Fogarty (English)[6] and Mr Raymond (Ray) Quinn (history),[7] followed, in the 2010-2011 school year, by Ms Mary Fox.[8]

Today

The school, which draws pupils primarily from Sutton, Baldoyle, Bayside and Howth, and also from Kilbarrack, Raheny, Portmarnock, Malahide and Clontarf, is greatly oversubscribed with annual applications, and has a student population of over 700,[9] and is known for both academic results and sporting success. While St. Fintan's has in the past had admissions exams, it moved to a policy with provision for family connections, then local schooling or residence, then schooling or residence within the Howth Deanery, plus one school in Clontarf.[10] The annual Student of the Year Award, for the top student overall in the final year, was originally, presented by the first Past Pupils' Union, in later years selected by the staff, and presented by the principal at a general assembly of the school.[11] The school receives its main funding from the Department of Education and Skills, but also collects, where parents / guardians can afford it, a voluntary financial contribution, and a suggested fee towards photocopying and resource materials, IT, pupil insurance and the school journal.[12]

The school has a long track record of educational trips, including an annual exchange with a school in France, some trips to Spain,[13] and previously also Russia, social trips, including to Zambia, and sporting trips such as skiing.

Governance

The school is overseen by a Board of Management,[14] and ultimately by the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, which also holds the premises in trust.[3]

There is a Parents Council, affiliated to the National Parents Council - Post Primary.[15] There is also a Students' Council, with delegates from every class in the school,[16] and a position of Head Boy, with a deputy, was introduced in the 2010s.

Staff

St. Fintan's has nearly 50 teaching staff, led by a principal and two deputy principals.[3]

Facilities

The school buildings comprise two blocks, one of which also holds offices and the canteen, and the other more classrooms and the laboratories. It has 21 regular classrooms, as well as dedicated physics, chemistry and biology laboratories, IT and technology rooms, staff rooms, and a library.[17]

The school also has a tarmac-surfaced yard, a large gym, an astro-turf pitch, and a substantial sports field with changing rooms.[2]

Sport

As of 2020, St Fintan's participates in 12 sports at a competitive level.[3] The school rugby team is one of 16 teams entered into the Leinster Schools Rugby Senior Cup, traditionally the most prestigious schools rugby competition in the country, and won the "plate" competition in 2018.[18] The senior hurling team reached the division C All Ireland final in 2016 with other success in hurling at all ages and similarly in Gaelic football, tennis, basketball, sailing and several other sports in which the school competes at a high level. It is currently the leading school in Ireland at squash, pioneered by P.E. teacher Andrew Kavanagh, with students having won the schools boys national championship at all three age groups - U15, U17 and U19 - for three years in a row.[19][20] The school won the national Sports School of the Year Award in 2014, sponsored by the Herald newspaper, in 2014.[2]

Alumni

Notable Past pupils

Alumni groups

The first Past Pupils' Union was founded in 1963. It initiated the Student of the Year Award, bought a minibus for the school's sports department and for cultural trips, arranged for a full-time careers guidance teacher for the school and for talks by graduates and experts, and ran a fund-raising disco series. It later funded a school library and contributed to a canteen facility able to prepare hot meals. A later revival reached out to some students, and ran some discos in the early 1990s, while as of 2020, the current alumni group maintains a Facebook group, and organised a 75th anniversary event in November 2018.[2]

The school was the location of one of the first performances by the band 'Feedback', which was later to become U2.[23]

References
  1. "ST. FINTAN'S HIGH SCHOOL". education.ie. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  2. "St. Fintan's High School celebrates its 75th anniversary" (PDF). Síol Newsletter (17). Edmund Rice Schools Trust. Spring 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  3. "About St Fintan's High School". St Fintan's High School. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  4. "Home". stfintanshs.ie. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  5. "Adult Education - night courses". Malahide Community School. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  6. "Home page". St Fintan's High School. Archived from the original on 10 February 2005. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  7. "About us". St Fintan's High School. Archived from the original on 26 April 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  8. "Contact us". St. Fintan's High School. Archived from the original on 14 January 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2020. Mary Fox (Principal)
  9. Department of Education and Skills, Whole School Evaluation, 23 September 2015.
  10. "Admissions Policy (2020-2021)" (PDF). St Fintan's High School. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  11. St Fintan's High School, CBS - Year Book 1990. Dublin, Ireland: St Fintan's High School, CBS Sutton. June 1990. The annual Student of the Year Award, established in the 1960s, presented by Mr Bill McCartney to 6th year pupil, Joseph Doyle, selected by the staff
  12. "Admissions Policy 2019-2020" (PDF). St Fintan's High School. Retrieved 24 May 2020. ... the school requests a voluntary contribution from parents/guardians. There is also an annual charge to cover expenses ... The Board of Management emphasises the voluntary nature of all contributions ...
  13. "French and Spanish trips". St Fintan's High School. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  14. "Admissions Policy (2020-2021), Foreword" (PDF). St Fintan's High School. Retrieved 23 April 2020. The school operates under the patronage and trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust which has appointed a Board of Management under Section 14(1) of the Education Act 1998 to manage the school on the Trust’s behalf.
  15. "Admissions Policy 2020-2021" (PDF). St Fintan's High School. Retrieved 24 May 2020. The school has an active Parents’ Council which is affiliated to the National Parents Council Post-Primary and the Federation of Christian Brother and other Catholic Schools Parents’ Councils (FEDCBS).
  16. "Admissions Policy 2020-2021" (PDF). St Fintan's High School. Retrieved 24 May 2020. an active Students’ Council which consists of students elected from each class in the school.
  17. "About us". St Fintan's High School. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  18. "St Fintan's triumph to win senior plate trophy". 28 April 2018.
  19. "All Ireland Schools Cup Finals - Results - Irish Squash". Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  20. leinstersquash.ie/news/schools
  21. Sheridan, Kathy (26 August 2017). "Roddy Doyle: 'The work I've done? If I wasn't me, I'd be impressed'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  22. "Alumni". St Fintan's High School. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  23. "U2 Setlist Archive - Irish Shows 1976-1978". u2setlists.com. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
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