O'Connell School
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| This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2025) |
| O'Connell Secondary School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
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North Richmond Street, Dublin 1, D01 Y4A9, Ireland | |
| Coordinates | 53°21′30″N 6°15′03″W / 53.3582°N 6.2507°W |
| Information | |
| Motto | Ciall agus neart (Sense and strength) |
| Established | 1828 |
| Principal | Liam Newell |
| Staff | Over 30 |
| Gender | Male |
| Number of students | Over 300 |
| Religious order | Congregation of Christian Brothers |
| Website | oconnellschool |
The O’Connell School is a secondary and primary school for boys located on North Richmond Street in Dublin, Ireland. The school, named in honour of the leader of Catholic Emancipation, Daniel O’Connell, has the distinction of being the oldest surviving Christian Brothers school in Dublin, having been first established in 1829. It is now under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust.
The school offers the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate programmes.
Notable staff and past pupils
[edit]
A number of significant figures in Irish public life attended O'Connell's School.
Arts, journalism and entertainment
[edit]- Philip Chevron - musician, songwriter and member of the Pogues
- Paul Harrington - singer songwriter, Eurovision winner 1994
- Michael Holohan – composer, member and former chair of Aosdána.
- James Joyce – writer who briefly attended the school;[1] the school is mentioned in the story "Araby" in Dubliners
- Pat Kenny – radio and television presenter
- Barry Keoghan – actor
- Thomas Kinsella – poet and playwright
- Declan Masterson – multi-instrumentalist, composer, former Musical Director at Riverdance
- Colm Meaney – actor
- Michael O'Hehir – radio broadcaster and sports commentator
- Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh – sports commentator who briefly taught at the O'Connell School[2]
- Luke Kelly – lead singer of folk group The Dubliners
- Brendan Cauldwell - actor
Business and philanthropy
[edit]- Bill Cullen – Irish businessman, philanthropist and star of The Apprentice
Science, medicine, technology, engineering and mathematics
[edit]- Peter V. Delaney – Irish colorectal surgeon
- John Hooper – first Director of the Statistics Branch of the Department of Industry and Commerce in Ireland
- William Mulholland – Irish-American dam civil engineer
- Joseph Ó Ruanaidh – scientist
Politics
[edit]- John A. Costello – Taoiseach
- Seán Lemass – Taoiseach
- Seán T. O'Kelly – second President of Ireland
- Maurice Ahern – Politician and Lord Mayor of Dublin 2000–2001
- John Stafford – TD and former Lord Mayor of Dublin
- Nial Ring – Politician and Lord Mayor of Dublin 2018–2019
- Lorcan Sherlock – Politician and Lord Mayor of Dublin 1912–1915
- Brendan Bracken – British Minister of Information during the Second World War
- Ray Burke – Fianna Fáil politician
- Tom Kettle – Nationalist MP and Irish Volunteer who died in the First World War
- P. J. Mara – Fianna Fáil public affairs consultant
- Ernie O'Malley -Irish revolutionary and author
Religion
[edit]- Abraham Brownrigg - Bishop of Ossory (1884–1928)
- James Kavanagh – University College Dublin professor and bishop in the Dublin Diocese
Sports
[edit]- Tom Farquharson - Ireland goalkeeper, dubbed the penalty king
- Bertie Kerr – Ireland footballer, bloodstock agent
- Paddy Neville – cricketer
- Troy Parrott – Ireland footballer
- Ronnie Delaney – Olympic Gold Medallist
- Stephen Elliott - Ireland footballer
- Niall Brophy - athlete and rugby player
- Keith Treacy - Ireland footballer
Veterans
[edit]- Éamonn Ceannt – Irish Nationalist; one of the 1916 Easter Rising signatories
- Seán Heuston – a leading member of the 1916 Easter Rising
- Con Colbert - a member of the 1916 Easter Rising
- Frank Flood – IRA officer executed in 1921 during the War of Independence; one of The Forgotten Ten
- Paddy Finucane – World War II top-scoring fighter pilot ace in the RAF
References
[edit]- ^ McArdle, Gerry (3 June 2024). "Celebrating James Joyce and those fearful Jesuits". The Irish Times.
...the fortunes of the Joyce family fell into decline and that John Stanislaus [James Joyce's father], in 1891, had to remove James from ... Clongowes Wood College and that he didn't enter Belvedere College ... until 1893. So what went on during this interval? ...research reveals that the bold James was ... at ... O'Connell Schools, North Richmond Street, run by the Christian Brothers.
- ^ O Muircheartaigh, Micheal (29 October 2006). "Micheal and the Far East connection". Irish Independent. Retrieved 15 September 2012.