St Mary’s CBS in Portlaoise turned 175 years old at the start of the recent academic school year.
The secondary school was founded way back in 1847 at it original grounds in Tower Hill.
1847 was a difficult time in the history of Ireland. Famine was looming and political, social, religious and agricultural unrest would mark the next few decades.
Despite these upheavals, Edmund Rice founded a small school in Portlaoise, one of the first outside of Waterford and Dublin, which has continued to the 21st Century to educate the young men of the community.
In 2010, the doors of the the Borris Road site were opened with 500 students. Since then, the school has steadily grown and have grown into their extensive building and school campus.
The facilities, which include the impressive Rice Nagle Sports Facility, soccer and GAA pitches and basketball hard courts, are among the best in the country as students and staff enjoy state of the art facilities in which to learn and work.
Since it’s beginning, many students have passed through the doors of St. Mary’s CBS has established a high reputation – both academically and on the sports field.
Starting in the midst of the Famine, St. Mary’s has been a stronghold of teaching and learning for multiple generations of Laois men.
A spokesperson for the school explained what the celebrations will mean.
They said: “We want to take the opportunity to celebrate the contribution the school has made to the local community, the lives of its past pupils while rededicating and reimagining our mission in the twenty first century.
“We are happy to invite you to attend one, or all of the events from Thursday the 13th of October to Saturday 15th of October.
“Our celebrations hope to combine the best of St. Mary’s from sport to music to art to history and beyond.”
The action will get underway on Thursday with a liturgical celebration in St Peter and Paul’s Church in Portlaoise at 12pm.
Friday will be action packed with the current students taking part in ‘Reeling In The Years’ on the school grounds from 10am until 12.15pm.
The 175th birthday celebrations will then kick off from 12.15pm until 1.15pm. While the launch of a new school crest will take place at 6.30pm.
From 7.30pm until later, celebrations will continue in Kavanagh’s Pub in Portlaoise with music from The Jury, The Big Spoon and more.
On Saturday, CBS Past Pupils Golf Society will hold their second event of the year in Mountrath with tee times from 9am until 1pm.
This will be to celebrate their Captain’s Prize (Captain Kevin Sheehan) and to celebrate the 175th Anniversary of St. Mary’s CBS.
The society’s first outing, the John Duggan Memorial Cup was held earlier this year and was a huge success. 70 players participated for 11 prizes with Frank Sheehan winning the Memorial Cup.
The Society is looking forward to another successful outing. Please contact Kevin on 0861649066 to book a tee time. Past pupils, teachers, friends and visitors are all welcome.
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