C.B.C. Monkstown
Christian Brothers College, Monkstown Park is a private fee-paying Catholic school and Independent Junior school, founded in 1856 in Monkstown, County Dublin, Ireland. The college arrived at Monkstown Park in 1950 from Eblana Avenue in Dún Laoghaire via a short stint on Tivoli Road. As of September 2022, it was in its 73rd academic year of existence at Monkstown Park, the 165th overall.
The intended mission of the college's former patron, the Congregation of the Christian Brothers established in 1802 by Edmund Ignatius Rice, was the education of poor boys in Ireland by providing them with basic levels of literacy. This was the broad aim of the school when it opened its doors in 1856 at Eblana Avenue in what was then known as Kingstown, a port town south of Dublin.
As the years went by, the aims of the Christian Brothers got broader and so did those of the Dún Laoghaire school. By the 1920s, the school was preparing boys for the state examinations and sending increasing number of students to third level. The growth in population in Dún Laoghaire, with an increasing Catholic middle class demographic, led to an increase in the demand for the school. To that end, a decision was made to procure Monkstown Park in 1949 and to move the entire secondary department to this location. The school then in effect split, with the secondary department moving location while the primary school remained at the original site. A private junior school was then opened at the Monkstown College with Eblana Avenue taking secondary students again from 1954.
The ethos of the majority of Christian Brothers schools in Ireland in the early 20th century was a strongly nationalist and Gaelic one. Those schools were known as "CBS" and played Gaelic games. However the Monkstown school, in line with their sister establishment, Christians, was known as "CBC" and played rugby union as the main team game. Continuing with that differentiation, both schools would be the only 2 of the 96 Christian Brothers schools to abstain from the Free Education Act 1967, which for the first time provided free second-level education for Irish pupils. Both remained in the fee paying sector as of 2017.
The school motto is Certa Bonum Certamen or "fight the good fight" and the school colours are red, black and yellow.
History
On 1 January 1856, the Congregation of Christian Brothers opened a school at Eblana Avenue in Dún Laoghaire, or 'Kingstown' as it was then known. The site was provided by Charles Kennedy, a businessman and head of the local Vincent DePaul.This was just ten years after the Great Famine, and emigration was rife. The school was called St Michaels Christian Brothers School, and initially educated mainly poor boys from the area. Brother Alphonsus Hoope was appointed as superior of the school. Kingstown during the 19th century was rapidly expanding with the harbour town seeing the addition of the piers and the Dublin and Kingstown Railway opening 20 years before the school.
Hoope arranged for two rooms for teaching, which had to be expanded after three weeks to three due to demand. Within two years, a building housing 400 students was built on the site. Kennedy and the local Vincent DePaul raised funds for the school at a gala dinner at what is now the Royal Marine Hotel Dún Laoghaire. The day-to-day operations of the school was financed from "voluntary subscriptions, solicited and collected by the Brothers". The Brothers residence of the time was located behind the main school building. There were 6 Brothers living on the school grounds, a building separate from the main school block. The school premises was valued in 1859 at £60.
During World War I, a significant number of former pupils of the school went to fight in the war, as part of the 200,000 Irishmen who participated in the war effort. The Dún Laoghaire area suffered over 500 military fatalities during the war, with a significant number of these coming from school. Owing to this, people in Flanders sent a statue to the area to honour the dead. It was felt at the time that the school should take it, as so many of the fatalities were from the school. With the changing political environment at the time however, with the Irish War of Independence underway, this was declined by the school. The statue was instead housed in the Dominican Convent in the town, where it resides still to this day in an oratory purposely designed for it.
The Brothers continued to have a major role in the education system when Ireland gained independence. In 1925 they vacated their premises in the school, moving to the nearby York Road, creating additional space for the school. By this time the school was focusing more on its collegiate department, with increased local competition in the area and a demand for Inter Certificate and Leaving Certificate programmes growing as a new middle class sprang up in Dún Laoghaire. Early pupils at the collegiate wing of the school included Dan O'Herlihy and James Dooge.
The school at Eblana prospered to an extent that it became impossible to accommodate both primary and secondary departments in the 19th century buildings, with the Dún Laoghaire parish hall often used to hold classes. Additionally, the Dún Laoghaire site was an urban one, with no greenspace on the site. This was felt to hinder the college against other local schools who could provide on site sports to their students, facilities which the growing middle class demographic of the area expected. A new site was therefore sought for part of the school.
Move to Monkstown Park
The Brothers sought a site for the new part of the school. Traditions were soon adopted from CBC Cork which had been existence since the early 20th century. In 1949 the Brothers purchased the nearby estate of Monkstown Park, which had been most recently occupied by the Protestant Corrig School. In order to procure the grounds, the Brothers released lands at Rochestown Avenue to Dún Laoghaire Corporation which had previously been used as the schools playing pitches. Many local people wanted a public park to be maintained at the site.CBC abstained from joining the Free Education Scheme introduced by Donagh O'Malley in 1969. The primary reason for not joining the scheme was the significant capital costs involved in maintaining a school the size of CBC. CBC had always charged higher fees than their equivalent Christian Brothers schools. To this day, it remains as one of the 51 secondary schools in the country that is fee paying.
In 1987 the school was further extended with a new administration building including new offices, a cafeteria, staff room and technology department. In 1994, the Edmund Rice Oratory, was opened.
50 years at Monkstown Park and school redevelopment
In 2000 the college celebrated its Golden Jubilee at Monkstown Park. The school year began with a ceremonial walk from the old Eblana school site to Monkstown Park. Events included a Jubilee Concert and the opening of a wall with the names of all the pupils from the time in Monkstown from 1950 onwards, attended by the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese.In 2002 plans for a new school on the site were announced. Considerable controversy was caused in 2005 in the national media when it was announced, as CBC would receive a portion of the costs of funding the building despite being a fee-paying school from the Irish state. Subsequently, the school proceeded with the project with their own finance.
In 2007 the Christian Brothers decided to transfer the trusteeship of the school to the Edmund Rice Schools Trust along with 96 other Christian Brothers schools.
A new 12 classroom building opened in 2014. This stands alongside the refurbished original 1840s building, the 1965 Sports Hall and the 1987 Administration Block.
Motto and crest
The college motto is "Certa Bonum Certamen", Latin for "Fight the Good Fight". This is written at the top of the original building which is visible on entry to the grounds. All school announcements used to conclude with the motto.The college crest contains four elements. The college motto is below a shield containing three characters – a star, a tower and a sword. The star is the guiding star of knowledge. The tower represents the tower on the school grounds and the Christian focus of the school. The sword represents power, courage and chivalry.
Buildings
The college is bordered by several historical sites. Carrickbrennan Churchyard is located to the north of the school on the border of the grounds and Monkstown Castle is adjacent to the school. The college is made up of three buildings interconnected. Charles Haliday's house built in 1843 is incorporated into the main school block. The facade of the building long portico of Corinthians columns remains intact and is a protected structure. The tower opposite the main building is also a protected structure. The administrative block was built in 1987 and also contains several classrooms. The concert hall was built in the early 1960s.The grounds contain an athletics paddock and three rugby pitches.
Academic and spiritual
Academic performance
The average Leaving Cert score in CBC in 2019 was 461, this compares to the national average of 335.In 2013 over 70% of CBC students achieved over 400 points in the Leaving Certificate, nationally the number achieving this was 33.7%. In addition ; 27% in CBC got over 550 points, 41% in CBC got over 500 points and 57% got over 450 points.
In 2014, one CBC student achieved eight A1 grades, putting him in the top 13 performers in the country
In 2018, one CBC student received 8 H1 results, one of seven students in Ireland to achieve this.
Senior school curriculum
Part of the schools mission statement is striving for "academic excellence". Boys study for both the Junior Cert and later the Irish Leaving Cert. School hours are between 8:45 am to 4 pm with a half day for sporting activities on Wednesdays at 1 pm. In addition sports activities sometimes take place after 4 pm and optional afternoon and night study is available.The fourth year includes courses in academic subjects, as well as such optional subjects and activities as: Japanese, Sailing, Social work, Tourism, Chess-Boxing and First aid. The Comenius project is also offered which is a project linking CBC with other schools around Europe. Transition Year classes won the Comórtas Scannán TG4 in 2005 and were finalists in 2006, the 2005 group having their film represent Ireland in Italy in 2005.
Aside from the core languages of English and Irish; Latin, Japanese, French and German are taught. In addition to business studies for the junior cert, economics, business and accounting are offered for the leaving cert. Mathematics and applied mathematics are taught. Physics, chemistry and biology are offered as science subjects. Civics, geography, history, technical drawing, art, music, computers and home economics are also offered.
In the 2004 Sunday Times Schools League Table, CBC was listed among the country's top twenty schools, while in the Irish Times tables in 2006, the school was the top all-boys school in Ireland.