Ardscoil Rís, Limerick

Ardscoil Rís was formally opened by the Christian Brothers, in Limerick on the North Circular Road on 1 September 1963, when it welcomed 52 pupils. Classes were held in an old school house until the first purpose-built classrooms were available. This first intake included Pat Cox, then a noted master debater, later a distinguished politician.

From its foundation the school was managed by the Christian Brothers. In 1989, a Board of Management, representing trustees, staff and parents, was put in place and a lay Principal was appointed. From small beginnings, the school, augmented by periodic extensions, grew to its present size and now has over 700 students and fifty teachers. The late twentieth century witnessed the contraction of religious orders in Ireland. Ardscoil Rís's last remaining Christian Brothers had retired from teaching duties by the mid-2000's and the school is now staffed entirely by lay teachers. The Christian Brothers maintain ownership and Trusteeship of the school and are represented on the Board of Management by four lay representatives.

In 2010 the redevelopment of the school went to the construction stage following almost a decade of lobbying and planning. Acting as main contractor for the project, Cordil Construction were responsible for the management of the €5 million plan, which sees the school expand to three times the usable space on completion of all three phases. Construction was temporarily abandoned in 2011 due to the liquidation of Cordil Construction, but continued following a seventeen-month delay. The new school was official opened in March 2014 by Limerick City TD and then Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan.[1]

The School encourage all students to become involved in a variety of activities outside of the curriculum. Life skills are reinforced by participation in such activities as Music, Sports, Work Experience Programmes, Enterprise, Foreign Exchange, Drama, Concerts, Charitable Fund-raising and Gaisce. The School won the RTÉ Television secondary schools quiz programme Blackboard Jungle in 1993.

Rugby, hurling and basketball are the main sporting activities of the school. The Munster Schools Senior Cup and Junior Cup competitions (rugby), the Dr. Harty Cup (Munster 'A' Colleges Hurling) (Winners (5): 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2018), The Dean Ryan Cup (Munster 'A' Colleges Under-16 hurling) (2008 Winners) and The White Cup (Munster 'A' Colleges Under 15 Hurling)(2011 and 2012 Winners) the Limerick Colleges competitions (GAA) and the South West of Ireland League (basketball) are highlights of the sporting calendar. Under the stewardship of hurling encyclopaedia Niall Crowe Ardscoil Rís have become the most successful Limerick hurling school of recent times. On 11 March 2010 Ard Scoil Ris became the first Limerick team since 1993 to win the Harty Cup (Munster schools hurling championship). They defeated the 2009 champions Thurles CBS after a third replay and lost to St. Kieran's College in the All Ireland Final later that year.[2] On the 8th November 2014 Paul O'Connell captained Ireland against South Africa in the Aviva Stadium, Seán Cronin started at hooker and Dave Kilcoyne came on as a replacement in the 73rd minute, this was the first and only time that three past pupils of the school earned Ireland caps on the same day.

• Ardscoil Ris site – ardscoil.com

52°39′56″N 8°38′26″W