Saint's Chiarain

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Home About Us History
 
History of St. Brigid’s B.N.S. Print

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St. Brigid’s Boys' National School is situated on the Howth Road, 10 minutes from Killester village and directly opposite St. Brigid’s church.  It was built in 1974.

The school has always been very successful in the area of sport, winning many gaelic football & hurling tournaments, swimming championships and athletics events. This sporting tradition in St. Brigid’s  began in 1974 when the senior gaelic football team won its first trophy and continues right to the present. 

After school activities include tin whistle, guitar and chess classes, Irish class and an after school club. We are fortunate in St. Brigid’s B.N.S. to have a very active Parents’ Association.

The townland of Killester takes its name from Cill Lasera or the church of St. Lasera.  According to legend, St. Brigid is said to have performed several miracles in Killester during her visit to the convent of Lasera.  Originally dedicated to St. Lasera, the ancient church was dedicated to St. Brigid sometime between the 5th and 9th centuries.  During this time, all north county Dublin was in the kingdom of Meath and the church at Killester was attached to the monastery at Swords.  After the Norman invasion it became the property of Christ Church Cathedral and was known as “Quillastra”.

Furry Park House, just down the road, is one of the oldest houses in North Dublin, which is still occupied.  It was built in 1730 by Joseph Fade.  The house had many famous visitors including WB Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Sir John and Lady Hazel Lavery, Desmond Fitzgerald and Michael Collins.  Besides its then secluded location it also possessed the advantage of an underground tunnel to Dollymount Strand, useful as an escape route if the British Army or Tans carried out a raid.  During the Civil War an attempt was made on Collins’ life while he was in the house.  Harmonstown House, now the site of Venetian Hall, and Woodville House, where the Beachcomber pub and shops are now, were big farms in the area.

Killester boundaries have changed dramatically.  Sections were included in each of what now are the parishes of Clontarf, Marino, Donnycarney and Coolock.  On the other hand  Killester now holds a sizeable area which formerly lay in the parish of Clontarf.  Killester really came into being as a district shortly after World War I when 300 houses were built in the demesne of Killester house for ex-service men.  Roads, shops, the church and schools quickly followed.

The oldest remaining part of the village is the old church and graveyard on Killester Avenue.  Outside the graveyard walls a solitary memorial stone reminds us of the tragic Civil War, the spot where Michael Neville lost his life on the 22nd September 1922.

The modern St. Brigid’s church on the Howth Road, which was dedicated in 1926, contains a relic of the saint.  The ground at the back of the church was the site of an old convent, which was built, in the 16th century.

The area where the school is built was originally part of the Guinness Estate.  The trees growing around the perimeter have been there for hundreds of years as part of the old estate.

The exact site was originally known as the basketball courts and it was the birth place of Killester Basketball club which is now a premier team in the country.  The school sports teams take their colours from the Basketball team (Orange and black).  

There was originally an infant boys’ school in the Convent on St. Brigid’s Road but it became apparent that there was a need for an all boys’ school and it opened in 1969 as a two teacher school.  There were two second classes. At that time a member of the school’s Board of Management, reading the Canterbury Tales, liked the motto Amor Vincit Omnia (love conquers all) and this was adopted as part of the school crest. In September 1974 the new building here on this site was opened and the school as we know it evolved from infants to sixth class. On 23rd April 2010 a new three classroom extension was officially opened.

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