When the Sisters of Mercy arrived in Kinsale in 1844, the poor were experiencing very difficult times.
Fr. Justin Foley McNamara, a young and dynamic parish priest, worked tirelessly for those in the town who were hungry. When his young widowed sister, Mary Ann Burke, approached him to say she was about to use her considerable wealth to found a convent in her native Macroom, he persuaded her that Kinsale’s need was much greater. She changed her mind and joined the Convent of Mercy in Limerick with a view to going to Kinsale as a Sister of Mercy.
While his sister was completing her Novitiate in Limerick, Fr. Justin found a two-storey house and a plot of ground at the top of the hill, at a place known as The Rampart, which he managed to buy with the money Mary Ann had given him.
While the Sisters were waiting for their own school to be built, they attended and taught at the local National School at the Half Wall. This school had opened in 1837 as a school for boys. A school for girls was added later and housed on the first floor of the same building. This building was later incorporated into the Convent School.
The foundation stone, for the school and part of the convent, was laid on July 2nd, 1844 and the school opened its doors to 700 students on March 28th, 1845. There were only 6 teachers – three professed Sisters, one Novice, and two Postulants.
By 1847, as the famine worsened, the 700 children in the school were fed twice daily. They were given Indian meal, rice and biscuits.
The school had the first of many successful inspections in 1861. It was found to be well run and efficient with a high standard of education and care for the children. A grant of £20 was given for equipment – a princely sum in those days.
In 1862 the poor were still in great distress due to the severe weather and the potato crop failure the previous year. When children arrived in school in the morning they were given a bowl of stirabout for breakfast. Sir John Arnott arranged to have 400 loaves of bread delivered to the convent each week, to help feed the hungry children.
Amid great pomp and circumstance, in 1872 the school played host to Earl and Countess Spencer, the Vice-Regent and his lady. They were loud in their praise of the Sisters and the schoolchildren.
Father Dunlea was anxious that the Sisters should have an infant school for boys and, thanks to donations, this was finally opened in August 1880. Over 100 boys, all under the age of 6 years, presented themselves on that first day. Since the number in the schools were expanding, it was decided to raise two storeys over the Infants Girls’ School.
1894 was the Golden Jubilee Year of the founding of the Convent. The resume of the year’s activities for the school that year read as follows: “Schools sustain good character. Extern schools attended by 400/500 pupils. Drawing is taught in all classes from the Infants upwards, Domestic Economy, Practical Cookery, Scientific Dressmaking, Sewing Machine, Fancy Needlework, book-keeping and vocal music (tonic solfa), are taught throughout the school. There are large classes for the Sacraments. The Infant Boys’ School is well attended. Some of the children show great talent and skill in lace work. Many of them are beautiful singers.”
By the year 1906, Irish had been introduced into the schools. Nineteen pupils from the Convent schools were presented for inspection and all did very well in their native tongue.
In 1913 the subject of the Sisters’ training as primary teachers arose. A Training School was set up in Kinsale, as in each Convent which had a national school. A university graduate was appointed as Superintendent, and exams were taken orally. Kinsale deanery hosted the Liturgical Festival each year for the promotion of liturgical singing in the schools of the deanery.
A Board of Management was set up in 1973.
Principals of the School were:
1. Sr. Mary Agnes Hayes
2. Sr. Mary Enda Costello
3. Sr. Mary Oliver Murphy
4. Sr. Mary Rosarii Walsh
5. Sr. Mary Carmel Meaney
6. Sr. Mary De Lourdes (Later known as Sr. Mary McAuliffe) 1977 – 2000.
7. Mrs. Susan O’Hanrahan (appointed in 2000)
The foundation stone was laid for the new primary school in December 1976. The official opening ceremony was held in April 1978. Sr. Mary De Lourdes oversaw the smooth transition from the old school to the new building in the Convent grounds. She taught in St. Joseph’s Primary School for 36 years, 23 of which she was Principal. She retired in July 2000 and Mrs Susan O’Hanrahan became the first lay Principal.
The school continues to thrive under the leadership of Mrs Susan O’Hanrahan, and has all the modern facilities.
There has been a desire locally, and on the part of the Dept. of Education, to build a new town school for both boys and girls. Much planning has taken place over recent years and this year the ‘green light’ was given by the Department. The boys from St. John’s National School will join with the boys and girls from St. Joseph’s National School to form the student-body of the new school, to be named Scoil Naomh Eltin. Scoil Naomh Eltin opened its doors for the first time, in the existing St. Joseph’s school building, in September of this year 2013.
Meanwhile the existing St. John’s school will be demolished, and a new 16 classroom, two-storey school will be built on that site. This is a very exciting time for the town of Kinsale, and especially for the families involved.
The closing of St. Joseph’s school also brought the end of an era. The retirement of Sr. M. Genevieve O’Keeffe coincided with the closure of St. Joseph’s. For the first time, since 1845, there will be no Mercy Sister teaching in the school. While this is a break with the past, what we have stands on the shoulders of what has gone before, so the roots of the new enterprise are deeply embedded in Mercy. We are blessed in the appointment of the first Principal of Scoil Naomh Eltin – Susan O’Hanrahan, who has a great love for Catherine McAuley, and will no doubt, continue the Mercy Ethos in the new school.
While the Mercy Sisters may not be directly involved in the new school, the community of Scoil Naomh Eltin will always be in our hearts and prayers. We will watch with interest as this chrysalis becomes a beautiful butterfly!!!
Genevieve O’Keeffe rsm
Southern Province
