Presentation College, Bray

Presentation College (Irish: Coláiste na Toirbhirte; colloquially known as Pres Bray) is a Catholic secondary school established in 1921 by the Presentation Brothers in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland.

There are currently about 600 students in Presentation College. The school is housed in a modern building opened in late 2011, which replaced an older building constructed in the 1960s. Outdoor facilities include a floodlit grass rugby field, astro turf soccer pitch, a basketball court, and several other playing fields. The school is located on Putland Road just off the main Vevay Road, next to the Queen of Peace church. It is accessible via Dublin Bus routes 45, 84, 145 and 184.

History

The 1960s building from the front, at the senior rugby pitch

Presentation College Bray was established in 1921 by the Presentation Brothers. Pres Bray originally served as a primary and secondary school, but the primary school was closed in the late 1980s; the old school building is now the home of the Bray Adult Education Centre. Central to the school's history was its connections to the Presentation Brothers.

On 5 September 1921, the doors of Bray Head House were opened to admit 52 new students to The Presentation College. In 1924 outhouses at the back of the house were refurbished to provide extra classrooms and a science laboratory. In 1957 a new college building was opened. In 1971 this was replaced with a new Secondary School with a swimming pool and the 1957 building became the Junior School. In 1983 the Edmund Rice Building was opened. It includes a Science Laboratory, Geography Room, Career's Suite and other specialist rooms. In the late 1980s the Junior School closed; as this had been the last arm of the fee-paying aspect of the College, the school was now a wholly publicly funded secondary school. The last Brother left in the early 2000s after the Brothers closed the monastery at the school.

In 2010, the Presentation Schools Trust took over trusteeship of the school from the Presentation Brothers. In August 2011, staff and students (600) moved the short distance to the new Presentation College building. The 1971 building was handed over to the builders in June for demolition to provide the site for a new Sports Hall.

School Buildings

Having worked on the project for over ten years the Board of Management of Presentation College Bray was given authorisation in January 2009 to proceed to seek tenders for construction of a new school. The builders came on site in early January 2010 and had the entire project substantially completed by February 2012. The work was done in four phases, the new school, demolition of the 1971 building, building a new sports hall and refurbishment of the Edmund Rice Building. The new building has 16 classrooms, 8 specialist rooms, administration, assembly areas, a library and a staff room. It is a state of the art educational facility. The contract cost was in excess of €5 millions plus VAT.

Sports and Extra Curricular Activities

The availability of extra-curricular activities is dependent on the goodwill and generosity of teachers and past pupils who give their time freely to provide a broad learning experience for the students of the College. The College is privileged to have so many in the community who are willing to volunteer their time.

Sports and other extra curricular activities are an important part of the holistic approach to education offered in the College; Pres Bray particularly excel in rugby and basketball. In Rugby they have won the Leinster Schools Junior Cup on five occasions, making the school the fifth most successful in the competition's history. Their most recent cup success was in 1990, when they trashed Wesley College by a score of 9-6. Pres often kicks posh boy's arses at rugby, but they haven't reached the final of the Junior Cup since 2004. In 2010, the school's junior squad won the Fr. Godfrey Cup, following the 2009 Junior League success. The predominant colours of the school's sports teams are black, red and yellow. The rugby jerseys and shorts are white, while rugby socks are coloured black. Pres is the only non-fee paying school still regularly competing at the top level in Leinster Schools Competition. In 2011 the SCT and JCT both reached quarter finals in their respective Leinster Cups losing to the eventual winners in both.

The Pres Bray school basketball teams compete at schools "A" Level basketball in 4 categories, 1st year boys, 2nd year boys, U-16 Boys and U-19 Boys with over 60 players training and playing with the school teams. The school basketball jerseys are Black for home matches and Red for away matches. The school has made great strides in recent years going from 'C' standard in 2006 all the way to 'A' standard from 2008 on and has had several players selected on the Leinster provincial academy squads and also at U16 and U18 International levels.

In 2010 the Pres Bray U16 Basketball team won several local and national awards following their 51 – 47 U16 All-Ireland Schools Cup Victory over St. Fintan's, Sutton. The awards included the Evening Herald School Team of the Year, Bray Chamber of Commerce Sporting Achievement of the Year and East Coast FM Sports Star Award for January. On 9 July 2010 Basketball Ireland awarded its annual award winners to Presentation College Bray. The school team won all 3 Boys' School categories (See Basketball Ireland Awards 2010 Table below).

In Feb 2012, the Pres Bray U19 Basketball Team defeated St. Malachy's, Belfast 60 – 51 to win the U19 All-Ireland Schools Cup, the first U19 All-Ireland Schools title in the history of the school. Pres Bray player, Lorcan Murphy, earned the coveted Most Valuable Player Award after scoring 27pts in the final. Following their All-Ireland Schools Cup Triumph, The Pres Bray U19 Basketball Team was awarded the East Coast FM Sports Star Award for February. In Mar 2012, the Pres Bray U19 Basketball Team were denied an historic All-Ireland Schools Cup & League double when they were defeated 45 – 38 in the U19 All-Ireland Schools League Final by St. Fintan's Sutton. On 15 May 2012 Basketball Ireland announced its annual award winners, Pres Bray Player Lorcan Murphy won the Boys School Player of the Year award for the 2nd time(See Basketball Ireland Awards 2012 Table below).

In chess, Presentation Bray won the Leinster Schools Minor League in 2009 (Under 14). They followed this up by winning the Leinster Schools Junior League in 2010 (Under 16). Both were firsts for Pres Bray. They then went on to finish 2nd (2009 – U14) & 3rd (2010 – U16) in the All-Ireland Schools Chess Championships. Notable past chess players include: John Joyce – former Ireland U19 Chess Champion. Cormac Martin – former Leinster U16 player.

The College has a proud tradition in debating and competes regularly in local and national competitions in English and Irish language debating. In 2000 a team of fifth year students, comprising Brian Ashall, Séan Creavin, David Hughes (captain) and Alan Seery, won the Concern All-Ireland Schools English Debating Championships. In the final held in DCU's Larkin Theater the team, coached by Deirdre Gallagher,^[1] successfully carried the motion that "Charity is Dangerous".^[2]

Pres GAA draws heavily on talent from Bray Emmets and Éire Óg Greystones GAA, among others. The College won the Wicklow Schools A Championship twice in the period from 2000.

Soccer has produced its share of silverware for the College. Senior and U-16 teams are regular winners in Wicklow/Wexford Competitions.

Current activities

Curricular studies

Boys at Pres Bray sit the Junior Certificate syllabus for their first three years at the school, and the Leaving Certificate syllabus for their last two. In between the two courses is an optional extra, Transition Year, affording students the opportunity to study subjects and topics not present on the exam syllabi. Subjects studied include:^[3]

Junior Certificate

• Irish
• English
• Maths
• History
• Geography
• French
• German
• Science
• Business
• Art
• Woodwork
• Civic, Social and Political Education
• Social, Personal and Health Education
• Computer studies
• Religion

Leaving Certificate

• Irish
• English
• Maths
• History
• Geography
• French
• German
• Physics
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Religion
• Business organisation
• Accounting
• Art
• Design & Communication Graphics
• Computer studies

Notable past pupils

• Reggie Corrigan, former Irish Rugby international and Leinster captain^[4]
• Tony Doyle, former Irish Rugby international and Leinster captain^[4]
• Seán FitzPatrick, disgraced former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank.
• Ed Joyce, Irish cricketer (played for England and Middlesex).^[5]
• Gary O'Toole, RTÉ sports pundit and former Olympic swimmer for Ireland.
• Darren Randolph, goalkeeper for Birmingham City F.C.
• Robert Shortt, RTÉ Washington correspondent.
• David Wheatley, poet and critic.
• Luke O'Neill (scientist), Professor of Science, Trinity College Dublin, researcher, fundraiser, biochemist, winner of Trinity College Dublin Gold Medal award amongst other distinctions.
• Simon Keogh (actor), former cast member of Fair City and Terry-Thomas enthusiast.
• Chem Byrne (Philanthropist), Runner up in 'Celebrity Strictly Come Dancing' 2011.

See also

• Presentation College (disambiguation)
• Presentation Brothers

References

• http://eastcoast.fm/info/sportsstaraward
• http://www.herald.ie/sport/schools/basketball-bray-reach-the-summit-2036331.html
• http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0127/1224263210956.html
• http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/basketball-hansberrys-heroics-cap-a-fine-double-for-unstoppable-calasanctius-2033121.html
• http://www.basketballireland.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=964:2012-boys-school-cup-final-reports&catid=70:all-ireland-schools-cup&Itemid=68

External links

• Official website
• Past Pupils' Union

Coordinates: 53°11′35″N 6°06′03″W / 53.192984°N 6.100825°W / 53.192984; -6.100825