North Monastery
The North Monastery (Irish: An Mhainistir Thuaidh), commonly known as The Mon,[1] is an education campus comprising Scoil Mhuire Fatima Primary School,[2] North Monastery Secondary School[3] and Gaelcholáiste Mhuire AG[4] located at Our Lady's Mount, Cork, Ireland.
North Monastery | |
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Location | |
Our Lady's Mount, North Monastery Road, Cork | |
Information | |
Motto | Buan Dílseacht (Strong Loyalty) |
Patron saint(s) | Br. Edmund Rice |
Established | 1811 |
Colour(s) | Blue and white |
Website | http://northmonastery.ie/ http://northmonprimary.net/ |
History
The North Monastery was founded on 9 November 1811 when Brother Jerome O'Connor and Brother John Baptist Leonard were given charge of a school in Chapel Lane by the Bishop of Cork, Rev Dr Moylan. Seventeen students attended on the first day. In 1814, a 14-acre sloping site was acquired from a wealthy Catholic businessman, Sir George Gould Bart, and a new school was built. The North Monastery had found its permanent home. An outbreak of typhus fever in the city in 1816 saw the school being used as a temporary hospital.
Brother Griffin, a poet and novelist, became a member of the North Monastery in 1839. He died on 12 June 1840 in his 37th year. His remains are interred in the cemetery in the grounds of the school. It was shortly after the death of Griffin that Daniel O'Connell visited with the Founder of the Order, Edmund Ignatius Rice.
In 1857, Brother James Burke arrived at the North Monastery and under his guidance the students began the study of natural philosophy (science). At this time John Philip Holland[5] (inventor of the submarine) studied under the guidance of Br. Burke. In 1879, Patrick J. Kennedy, a past pupil, was installed as Lord Mayor of Cork, the first of a long and distinguished list of past pupils to hold this office. In 1901 the Lord Mayor of Cork, Edward Fitzgerald, organised an Industrial Exhibition.
The school represented the Department of Education and Br. Burke and his students built an electric tramway which was the high point of the exhibition. Burke died on 23 March 1904 as the result of an accident and was accorded a public funeral with a procession through the streets of Cork city. He was buried in the cemetery at the North Monastery.
In 1911, the school celebrated its centenary and the Br. Burke Memorial Extension, was formally opened in 1913. On the advent of the First World War the British army confiscated lathes, drilling machines and other machinery from the school. They closed and sealed the wireless room and cut down the aerial mast. These precautions were carried out under the Defence of the Realm Act.
In March 1920, the Lord Mayor, Tomás Mac Curtain,[6] a past pupil paid an official visit to the school and addressed the boys in Irish. Shortly afterwards he was murdered at midnight by a gang of armed assassins. He was given a public funeral at which nearly 2,000 North Monastery boys marched in procession. Terence McSwiney, who was also a past pupil, was his successor. He died in October 1920 in Brixton prison after 74 days on hunger strike.[7]
The school continued to flourish and produced many more past pupils who distinguished themselves in all walks of life including business, politics, sport, the arts and academia, including former Taoiseach and sportsman Jack Lynch who formally opened a new secondary school building in 1967.
Notable former pupils
Academic
- Finbar Bradley, Professor at NUI Maynooth, DCU and UCD.
- Tadhg Begley, Professor at Cornell and Texas A & M universities
- Patrick F. Fottrell, Professor and President at NUI Galway
- Neil Buttimer, lecturer at University College Cork[8]
- Dr Vincent Barry, is credited with the development of the compound used to cure Leprosy in the 1970's at Trinity College Dublin, where his work was carried out. [9]
Arts
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers, actor
- Edward Mulhare, actor
- Niall Tobin, actor
- Frank O'Connor, short story writer
- Joe Lynch (actor)
- Donal Farmer, actor
- Rory Gallagher, Irish blues rock guitarist
- Matt Cooper, journalist and radio presenter
Business
- Paddy Hayes, Chairman of Aer Lingus, Waterford Wedgwood, and Ford Ireland.
- John Mullins, CEO of Bord Gais.
- Dick Lehane, senior vice-president of EMC.
- Joe Crockett, city and county manager in Kilkenny
- Seamus Parker, former head of Revenue in Dublin City
- Declan Carey, Chairman of Cork City F.C.
Politicians
- Jack Lynch, former Taoiseach and Cork hurler
- Tomás Mac Curtain, former Lord Mayor of Cork
- Terence McSwiney, former Lord Mayor of Cork
Sport
Notable former teachers
- John Philip Holland, inventor of the submarine
- Dónal O'Grady
References
- Official website
- http://northmonprimary.net/
- http://northmonastery.ie/
- http://www.gaelcholaistemhuireag.ie/Stairnascoile.html
- "Did you know the inventor of the submarine tested an early prototype in Cork's North Mon?". 2016-11-21. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
- "The Murder of Tomás MacCurtain > About Cork > - CorkCity.ie". www.corkcity.ie. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
- "Terence MacSwiney was not just a rebel hero - he made a huge contribution to the cultural life of Cork". 2016-06-07. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
- "North Monastery \ about". North Monastery Secondary School. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/education/irishman-who-discovered-cure-for-leprosy-honoured-79647.html