Belvedere College

Belvedere College S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school has numerous notable alumni in the arts, politics, sports, science, and business. Alumni and teachers at Belvedere played major roles in modern Irish literature (James Joyce, Austin Clarke, the foundation of Ireland's National Theatre),[1][2][3] the standardisation of the Irish language (de Bhaldraithe), as well as the Irish independence movement – both the 1916 Rising (Joseph Mary Plunkett, Éamon de Valera) and the Irish War of Independence (Éamon de Valera, Cathal Brugha, Kevin Barry). The school's notable alumni and former faculty include two Taoisigh (Irish Prime Minister), one Ceann Comhairle (Speaker of the Lower House of the Irish Parliament), several cabinet ministers, one Blessed, one Cardinal, one Archbishop, one signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, two Supreme Court Justices, one Olympic medallist, thirty Irish international rugby players and numerous notable figures in the world of the arts, academia and business. Belvedere College forms the setting for part of James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'

Belvedere College SJ
Coláiste Beilbhidír
Belvedere House in 2011
Location

Ireland
Coordinates53.355732°N 6.261936°W / 53.355732; -6.261936
Information
TypeVoluntary
MottoPer vias rectas
(By straight paths)
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Society of Jesus
Established1832 (1832)
HeadmasterGerry J. Foley
GenderMale
Number of students1,005
Colour(s)   Black and white
Former pupilsOld Belvederians
Websitewww.belvederecollege.ie

History

Belvedere owes its origins to the efforts of John Austin who opened primary and secondary schools off Fishamble Street in 1750. The Society of Jesus has been active in the area around Hardwicke Street since 1790. They founded St Francis Xavier's College in the disused Poor Clare convent on Hardwicke Street with nine students in 1832,[4] three years after Catholic emancipation. In 1841, the Jesuits purchased Belvedere House on neighbouring Great Denmark Street, which gave the school its name. George Augustus Rochfort (1738–1814), who became the second Earl of Belvedere in 1774, built Belvedere House, whose interior decoration was carried out by Michael Stapleton, a leading stucco craftsman of his time.[5]

Belvedere was caught up in the events of the 1916 Rising, when the British military opened fire at the Jesuit residence.[6][7] The Jesuits at Belvedere and the neighbouring Gardiner Street Community helped the wounded and distributed food across the locality.

In February 2012 Chinese Politburo member and future paramount leader Xi Jinping visited the college as part of his visit to Ireland for a special reception in the O'Reilly theatre. An annual exchange with a Jesuit school in Hong Kong was the catalyst for this visit.[8]

School museum

A school museum and archive were opened in 2002 by former teacher Oliver Murphy, dedicated to the history of the institution and its past pupils.[9][10][11]

Education

Belvedere offers the Irish Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate curricula.

Classics

The school still offers Latin as both a Junior and Leaving Certificate subject and offers Ancient Greek as a Junior and Leaving Certificate subject when there is sufficient demand. Classical Studies is also offered at Leaving Certificate level.

Science

Garret A. FitzGerald, an Old Belvederian and senior faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, has instituted an annual five-week scholarship for two students who excel in Transition Year science.[12]

Facilities

Belvedere has a 25m 5 lane indoor swimming pool, gym, restaurant and refectory, music suite, learning resource centre, museum, chapel and oratory, 3 hard tennis courts (Cabra Sports Ground), 1 astroturf (Distillery Road) and 5 grass rugby pitches (Cabra Sports Ground), a cricket pitch (Cabra Sports Ground), 1 grass soccer pitch (Cabra Sports Ground), 1 astro 7-a-side football pitch on top of the O'Reilly Theatre and a 60m 8 lane roof-top running track (Kerr Wing). The school also has a professional standard 590-seat theatre with a motorised stage and retractable seating, the O'Reilly Theatre, which is used to stage school plays and musicals but has also been used by RTÉ, TV3 and an assortment of dramatic organisations and hosted live audience TV shows such as The Panel and Tonight with Vincent Browne.

The school also has three computer labs, cabled and wireless networking to every classroom, and other IT features including dedicated networks for the library and certain functions.

In 2004, Belvedere opened the Dargan Moloney Science and Technology Block, which has state-of-the-art laboratories, lecture theatres and IT hubs.

Charitable activities

The school has a wide range of charitable activities. Some students travel with the annual Dublin Diocesan, Meath Diocesan and Oblate Pilgrimages to Lourdes, France, to assist the elderly and the disabled. Belvedere's St Vincent de Paul Society is one of the largest among secondary schools in Ireland, organising activities such as old-folks events and a weekly soup run in inner city Dublin. Beginning in 1981, some students have undertaken a charity walk from Dublin to Galway each summer to raise funds for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, St Francis Hospice, and The Temple Street Children's University Hospital, located very near the school. The "block-pull", as it is known, has raised over €70,000 in a single event.[13]

An annual charitable fundraising event held by the college is the "Belvedere Sleep-Out", which takes place from 22 to 24 December each year. Students "go homeless" on Dublin's O'Connell Street for three days and two nights.[14] The Sleep-Out is run primarily by students from the college, with the assistance of a number of teachers and past pupils, to raise funds for Focus Ireland, The Home Again Society, and Father Peter McVerry's Society for homeless boys. The students fast for 24 hours during the Sleep-Out. The culmination is Christmas Eve midnight mass in the college chapel. In 2015, the event raised over 189,000 over the Christmas period for the charities.[15] This record was broken in 2016, when the event raised €225,021 for the charities.[16] However, in 2022, the Belvedere College Sleepout became a huge national story and was promoted across multiple platforms and set a new All Time record of over €304,000.[17]

Sports

Belvedere has the most Royal College of Science Cup (Overall best school in track and field) wins at the Irish Schools Athletics Championships. Belvedere won 15 consecutive Royal College of Science Cup awards between 1999 and 2014.[18]

Field sports are a traditional strength of the school. In October 2013 Belvedere held the all-Ireland schools senior track and field trophy, having won the title in the previous seven years. It also held numerous other titles at provincial levels.[19]

Belvedere has won 35 Leinster Senior Cricket Schools Cup titles, as of 2016.[20]

Belvedere, sometimes known as Belvo,[21] has a strong rugby union football tradition, being one of the traditional "Big Three", along with Blackrock College and Terenure College. In 2005, for the first time in the school's history, it won both the Leinster Junior Cup and the Leinster Schools Senior Cup.[22] In 2016 Belvedere, with eleven titles, stood second in the Leinster Senior Cup roll of honour, behind Blackrock College (68).[21] A further success came on 17 March 2017, when Belvedere beat Blackrock College 10–3 at the RDS.

Drama

Drama productions form an integral part of Belvedere's year.[23] Each academic year, there are four performances: a Junior Musical, a Senior Musical, a Drama Society production, and a First Year Play. Productions have included Les Misérables (school edition) in 2004, and the stage adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials in 2007. Other productions of note include Bugsy Malone, The Adventures of Roderick Random, David Copperfield, Aladdin, Jesus Christ Superstar, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Wind in the Willows, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Treasure Island, The Lord of the Rings, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Addams Family, West Side Storyand The Pirates of Penzance.

In 2016, an original play entitled Children of the Rising was staged at the school. The play was written by a member of staff and was nominated for a Bord Gáis Energy Student Theatre Award for Best Overall Play.[24] The play was based on the book Children of The Rising by Joe Duffy.

Other activities

The school has debating societies in the English, Irish, Spanish, German, and French languages. Belvedere has won the all-Ireland schools debating competition (2005 among other years), the Denny Leinster Schools Senior Debating Championship in 2010, the L&H society Leinster Junior debating competition, and also the Alliance Française debating championship and Leinster Irish debating final.

Belvedere was successful in the last series of Blackboard Jungle, a popular television programme on RTÉ.

The school's longstanding Concert Choir hosts the Annual Christmas Carol Service in December, and the Annual Musical Evening in May. The choir have undertaken recordings in RTÉ, and has been successful at both the Feis Ceoil and the Wesley Feis. The college orchestra has won events at both the Wesley Feis and the Feis Ceoil.

The school has an active urban farm, growing vegetables and housing bees. The farm won the Global High Schools Europe Category at the Zayed Future Energy Prize in 2017.

Culture of Belvedere

Inner Yard Buildings
Belvedere College SJ. View from the Dargan-Maloney Science and technology block, into the yard.

Belvedere College is run by the Jesuit order. Most of the school's teaching staff are lay-persons, although a number of Jesuit priests and brothers assist with administration and chaplaincy.

The school motto is Per Vias Rectas – "By Straight Paths" – and the college aspires to produce "Men for Others". Students often write "AMDG" for Ad maiorem Dei gloriam, "For the greater glory of God", the motto of the Society of Jesus, on the top left of pages of their copybooks. They formerly also wrote "LDSetBVM" or Laus Deo Semper et Beatae Virgini Mariae ("Praise to God forever and to the Blessed Virgin Mary") on the bottom right of the same page.

The students are assigned to one of six lines or houses, mainly named after Jesuits who were either famous or had an association with Belvedere: Loyola, Xavier, Aylmer, Kenney, Finlay and Scully (previously named Dempsey after George Dempsey). Years are named after the progression in the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum: Elements, Rudiments, Grammar, Syntax, Poetry, and Rhetoric. Each form except Rhetoric has a captain and vice-captain.

The school's yearbook is The Belvederian. The term "Belvederian" is also sometimes used to refer to current students and "Old Belvederian" (OB) for alumni. Old Belvederians normally refer to their graduation by using "OB" followed by their final year in the college, for example, "OB 1984".

Belvedere College is the backdrop for some of James Joyce's novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It is a semi-autobiographical piece of work and the teacher, Mr Tate, was based on Joyce's own English teacher, George Dempsey. In the book Joyce mentions his involvement in the College Opera which continues today.[25][26] In 1884, James Aloysius Cullen was appointed spiritual father at Belvedere, a position he retained for twenty years while also engaged in other ministry. Cullen was founder and director of the Sodality of Our Lady at the college, which duties included counselling students. In 1896, James Joyce was elected Student Prefect of the Society. According to Neil R. Davison, the sermons in Chapter III of A Portrait of the Artist are modeled on those given by Cullen during a retreat held in 1897.[27]

Notable past pupils

Notable faculty

See also

References

  1. "Collection List No. 83: Austin Clarke Papers" (PDF). National Library of Ireland. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  2. James Joyce profile Archived 7 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Thomas Bodkin". 21 February 2018.
  4. "Belvedere College SJ, Dublin, 1832- - Irish Jesuit Archives". www.jesuitarchives.ie. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  5. Lucey, Conor (2007). The Stapleton Collection: Designs for the Irish neoclassical interior. Tralee: Churchill Press. ISBN 978-0-9550246-2-7.
  6. John Bowman and Ronan O'Donoghue (eds.), Portraits : Belvedere College Dublin 1832-1982, (Dublin, 1982)
  7. Oliver Murphy, The cruel clouds of war : a book of the sixty-eight former pupils and teachers of Belvedere College S.J. who lost their lives in the military conflicts of the 20th century, (Dublin, 2003)
  8. "Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping visits Belvedere College S.J., enjoys special performance of Riverdance". www.cii.ie. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  9. "History in the making at Belvedere College". The Irish Times.
  10. Murphy, Oliver. The Cruel Clouds of War. The Belvedere Museum. ASIN 0954693507.
  11. Murphy, Oliver. Belvedere's Rugby Heroes the History of Rugby in Belvedere college and the Thirty Two Belvedereans Who Played Senior Rugby for Ireland. ASIN 0954693515.
  12. "Belvedere College S.J" (PDF).
  13. Consulting, BestSoft. "Clubs and Societies - Belvedere College".
  14. Belvedere College Sleep-out 2017
  15. "Belvedere Sleep-Out raises €178,000 for homeless charities - Independent.ie".
  16. "Recent News - Belvedere College S.J." www.belvederecollege.ie. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  17. "Gay Byrne's Grandson among Belvedere students on charity Sleep Out". www.independent.ie. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  18. "Irish Schools Athletics Champions 1916-2017" (PDF). www.athleticsireland.ie. 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  19. AthleticsIreland 1916-2015
  20. "Leinster Schools Senior League - Cricket Leinster". Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  21. "Belvedere secure an 11th Leinster Schools Senior Cup triumph". Irish Independent. Dublin. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  22. "Keating and well schooled Belvedere Strike Twice". The Irish Times. Dublin. 21 March 2005. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  23. "O'Reilly Theatre".
  24. "Shortlist 2017 - Bord Gáis Energy Student Theatre Awards". Bord Gáis Energy Student Theatre Awards. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  25. Critical companion to James Joyce: a literary reference to his life and work, by A. Nicholas Fargnoli and Michael Patrick Gillespie. ISBN 978-0-8160-6689-6
  26. See also the contribution entitled "Heresy in his Essay" in Portraits: Belvedere College Dublin 1832-1982, pub. Gill & MacMillan, 1982, Ed. John Bowman & Ronan O'Donoghue
  27. Davison, Neil R. Davison. James Joyce, Ulysses, and the Construction of Jewish Identity, Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 45ISBN 9780521636209
  28. "Harry Clarke - Biography". Archived from the original on 21 May 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  29. "Tim Patrick Coogan".
  30. "UCD Archives: Devlin, Denis". University College Dublin.
  31. "List of Dempsey Prize winners". Belvedere College. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  32. "Description of painting "An Avenue of Trees Oil on board"". adams.ie. Adam's Auctioneers. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  33. "Glover, James Mackey", in Who's Who (London: A. & C. Black, 1919), p. 964
  34. "iTunes Preview - JJ72". iTunes. Apple, Inc. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  35. "Belvedere College allowed John O'Conor to miss two hours' school so he could attend piano lessons". Irish Times. 28 January 1997. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  36. "Jimmy O'Dea died 50 years ago". Ireland's Own. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  37. "O'RIORDAN, Conal Holmes O'Connell". An Electronic Version of A Guide to Irish Fiction 1650 - 1900. An Foras Feasa, NUI Maynooth. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  38. Brady, Tara. "Jack Reynor: 'I was afraid of being Han Solo'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  39. "Mervyn Wall - Former Member | Aosdana". Aosdana. Arts Council (Ireland). Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  40. "Rare photo of Kevin Barry's rugby days discovered". The Irish Times.
  41. "Belvedere College S.J." (PDF).
  42. "Revealed: top schools league table - Independent.ie".
  43. Melaugh, Dr Martin. "CAIN: People: Biographies of People Prominent During 'the Troubles' - F".
  44. Department of Foreign Affairs Archived 8 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  45. "I taught Brian Latin when he was a little boy, and he taught me the... Language of courage - Independent.ie".
  46. "More than the men of 1916 William Martin Murphy defined the ethos of the new Ireland". The Irish Times.
  47. "A Taste of Ireland's Poets". www.rc.net. Archived from the original on 28 August 2001. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  48. "Biography of McNeill, James (Séamus Mac Néill)".
  49. "Supreme Court judge Adrian Hardiman dies". The Irish Times.
  50. Ryan, Philip (14 June 2017). "Barrister Seamus Woulfe to replace Maire Whelan as Attorney General". Irish Independent. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  51. Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia. Vol. 1-. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781851094400 via Google Books.
  52. Yeates, P. (2000). Lockout: Dublin 1913. St. Martin's Press. p. 336. ISBN 9780312238902. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  53. "Belvedere mourns Garret FitzGerald - Jesuits Ireland". 24 May 2011.
  54. "Oct 3 - Bl Columba Marmion OSB (2) 1858-1923 - Catholicireland.net".
  55. Duggan, Keith. "Short career long on impact". Irish Times.
  56. "BBC - WW2 People's War - Belvederians who died in The Second World War 1939-1945 (6)".
  57. "Capital's famed rugby academy salutes 32 heroes from its illustrious history - Independent.ie".
  58. "BBC - WW2 People's War - An Irish Chaplain's Memories of D-Day Landings". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  59. "Irish centre James Downey announces retirement after 'rollercoaster' career". www.the42.ie. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  60. "Pic: Cian Healy and Cathal Pendred look a lot different now than when they won the Leinster Senior Cup in 2005 - JOE.ie".
  61. "I was in the Lansdowne Road dressing room getting sick I was so pumped for the game". www.the42.ie. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  62. "News". 18 July 2016.
  63. "Ireland U20s scrum-half O'Sullivan comes from a strong Meath GAA family". www.the42.ie. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  64. "Player profile: Alec O'Riordan". CricketEurope. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  65. "Player profile: Frank Joseph Miller". CricketEurope. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  66. "Cathal Pendred UFC Profile". 14 September 2018.
  67. "Around the Province". Irish Jesuit News. 2 May 2012. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  68. "Coghlan ready to reap the rewards". The Irish Times. Dublin. 18 August 1999.
  69. "Determination that took a boy and a dream to the glory of Olympic Gold". Irish Independent. Dublin. 29 August 2004.
  70. "Swimming / Lifesaving - Belvedere College S.J." www.belvederecollege.ie. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  71. "Owen and Flanigan secure Olympic berths". The Irish Times. Dublin. 15 May 2012.
  72. "Brian Fay Sets New National 5000 Metres Record". Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  73. "Sean Boylan". Irish Life and Lore. 2 February 2017.
  74. "Ger Brennan says time for young people to learn more about faith". The Irish Times.
  75. "My Club: Jack McCaffrey - Clontarf". GAA.ie. 12 March 2015.
  76. "He reached for the sky - Independent.ie".
  77. "Refurbished Belvedere House to hold art exhibition - Jesuits Ireland". 28 January 2015.
  78. "Archived version of Sam Stephenson Obituary". The Times (London). Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  79. "Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720-1940". Irish Architectural Archive. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  80. "Diabetes: Ian Dempsey on his life sentence - Independent.ie".
  81. "Wogan death a 'shock and a shame', says friend Henry Kelly - Independent.ie". www.independent.ie. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  82. "Belvedere College pays tribute to Terry Wogan". CatholicIreland.net. 3 February 2016.
  83. "The Savage eye: Anton Savage steps out of his comfort zone". Irish Independent. 29 July 2015.
  84. "Meetings with a remarkable man... Thomas Pakenham - Independent.ie".
  85. James, Marquis (1 September 1993). Merchant Adventurer: The Story of W. R. Grace. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9780585118857. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.