Crescent College
Encyclopedia
Crescent College Comprehensive SJ is a secondary school
located on a section of 40 acres (162,000 m²) of parkland at Dooradoyle, Limerick
, Ireland
. The college is one of a number of Jesuit schools in Ireland
.
Woulfe's cousin Edmund Daniel, a Jesuit scholastic, aided him in running the school. William Goode, an English Jesuit also worked there, and we know about the school from letters written by Goode which still exist. Goode was later to die of exposure while fleeing from the authorities with the Earl of Desmond. Daniel too came to an unfortunate end and having refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, was put to death at Cork on the 25th of October 1572. He became the Jesuit Order's first European Martyr and reports of his execution caused a stir in the Catholic parts of the Continent, and recorded in a number of contemporary woodcuts. However despite these setbacks the early school flourished; in 1565 the city Council decided that the masters should be paid an annual salary of ten pounds, but this money was not accepted as it was to be raised as a levy on ships entering and leaving the port. It was therefore decided that the education offered should be free, based only on voluntary contributions, and very much in the spirit of Ignatius's Roman College founded 14 years before. The earliest recorded example of a school play in Ireland was performed in this School on the Feast of St. John in 1566. Goode also records the curriculum offered and students were first instructed to read, and progressed to read selected letters of Cicero or the dialogues of Frustius. The students copied all the works, as there were no books. They studied catechism either in English, or in Latin for the Irish speakers. There were no holidays at the school, but students were withdrawn by their parents at harvest time. Classes took place in very confined space, and students could only attend class in rotation.
This school was situated near King John's Castle for much of its existence, though it occasionallly moved outside the city to Kilmallock to avoid the attention of the authorities during times of peril. A stone inscribed with a cross and the motto IHS, dated 1576, was taken from the Castle Lane Site to Dooradoyle in 1973. Despite the occasional and unwelcome attention of the authorities, particularly during the turbulent years that followed, the school was forced to close not for religious and confessional reasons, but due to the difficulties of the Jesuit Order elsewhere, and in 1773 it closed its doors for 86 years following the Papal suppression of the Society of Jesus. Following the restoration the Jesuits gradually re-established many of their schools throughout the country, and returned to Limerick in 1859, at the invitation of the Bishop of Limerick, Dr George Butler. This school was initially a Diocescan College and operated from premises in Hartstone St, however the Jesuits quarrelled with Dr Butler's successor and established their own school. The Jesuits had acquired Crescent House, a large city residence, from the Russell family in the early 1870s and it was rumoured that Mrs Russell, while in residence, had ordered all the curtins of the house closed so she wouldn't have to look upon the statute of Daniel O'Connell, recently erected in the middle of the Georgian Crescent.
The school at the Crescent, and the attached Chapel, were dedicated first to St Aloysius Gonzaga, but rededicated to the Sacred Heart in 1873, after the school chapel was enlarged and opened for public worship. This was the first church and school in Ireland dedicated to the Cult of the Sacred Heart, popularised centuries before in France by Claude de la Colombiere SJ. However despite this the Sacred Heart College popularly became better known as Crescent College, or 'the Crescent'. Crescent was a fee paying school catering in the main for the city's middle classes, however the Jesuits also ran a free school at Bedford Row, which later closed due to a lack of resources. In its early years Sacred Heart College struggled to survive in competition with the Bishop's school, and many students were lost to other boarding schools. However the arrival of a new generation of Jesuit teachers, notably Tom and Peter Finlay, brought a new vigour and prestige in the 1870′s, and in 1879 when the results of the first nation-wide Intermediate Examinations were published, a Crescent boy, Charles Doyle, obtained first place in Ireland. This was seen as a triumph for the school, and for all schools that received no subsidy from the government. Further innovations came in 1874 when the Rector, Fr William Ronan, invited a French Jesuit Colleague, Fr Jean Baptiste René, to establish an Apostolic College at the Crescent House as a seminary for men of little means. This proved a success but overcrowding necessitated that the Apostolic school relocate, which was later established as a Boarding School at Mungret with funds provided by the Earl of Emly. These schools were again to be joined together when Mungret College
SJ closed and its teaching staff transferred to Crescent in 1974.
In the spirit of the early Jesuits, and the changing emphasis of the Post-Conciliar era, Sacred Heart College ceased to be a fee paying school in 1971. Many Jesuit schools in Britain had already become Comprehensive and it was proposed that the Crescent in Limerick, and Gonzaga in Dublin, would also become comprehsive schools. Negotiations opened in the late 1960s at the invitation of the Minister for Education, Donagh O'Malley, who had been a class mate at Sacred Heart College with the then Jesuit Provincial, Cecil McGarry SJ. The comprehensive scheme proceeded in Limerick only and this ushered in a period of significant reform and expansion under Fr Thomas Morrissey: the name Sacred Heart College was dropped and redesignated Crescent College Comprehensive SJ, in recognition of the popular name of the school. In 1971 Crescent House was found to be structurally unsound and overcrowded and some thought was given to a relocation to Mungret College. However instead the school moved to a modern greenfield site at Dooradoyle in 1973, and students and staff from Mungret joined the following year. Later Crescent became a co-educational school, with a ratio of 3 boys to 1 girl. The Primary School, which remained at Crescent House, was closed in 1978 as the Department of Education declined to allow boys an automatic right of entry to the secondary school. Crescent now sits in 40 acres of mature grounds and gardens landscaped by Fr William Troddyn and the late school gardener, P.J. Brennan. Fr Troddyn was introduced to professional gardening whilst a scholastic at Emo Park, and some of his hard work there still survives. Amongst the many trees, a mature avenue of copper beeches, and the thousands of daffofils that spring forth annually in May, are a fitting tribute to both men. The school also maintains a nature garden to attract wildlife to the campus and make students environmentally aware.
Today the school operates under the joint trusteeship of the Society of Jesus and the Minister for Education
. Unlike other state schools the Jesuit Provincial enjoys a perpetual majority on the Board of Management, a privilege shared only with Protestant schools at Cork and Donegal redesignated as Comprehensives in the 1960s and 70s. The ethos is Jesuit and Catholic though most of the current teaching staff are lay-persons, with five Jesuit priests currently on the staff. In 2001 the School appointed its first lay headmaster. The current headmaster, Nicholas Cuddihy, was appointed in 2008.
The School continues a tradition of excellence in the fields of drama, debating, music and sport which are important dimensions of any Jesuit School. Girl's Hockey and boy's rugby are the main sports, though many others are offered. Rugby at Crescent blossomed from the late 1940s under the care of Fr Gerry Guinane, and in that time Crescent has had considerable success in the Munster Schools Senior Cup
, constituting one of the big five rugby schools in Munster, and winning nine senior titles in the last 59 years, and many titles at junior level. The School is represented at club level by Old Crescent
RFC, which is now an open club, but an important component of the Crescent tradition.
Crescent offers a six year curriculum, and classes are divided into 5 lines, each named after a Jesuit patron. Demand for places in the school continues to be heavily oversubscribed.
In June 2006 the Sacred Heart Church closed ending the connection of 150 years with Crescent House, from which the school took its name. A House of Prayer and Spirituality has located to the Jesuit Residence in Doooradoyle.
The school also has a strong tradition of national and international touring. Every year student tours depart from Crescent College to Delphi, Co. Galway; Recess, Co.Galway; Achill, Co.Mayo; Paris, France and Barcelona, Spain. Skiing and snowboarding tours are held annually at various skiing resorts throughout Europe. Crescent rugby, soccer and hockey teams have represented the school internationally in Prague, Holland, Japan, Australia, Spain, South Africa and many other locations. The schools surfing club now entering its fifth year has several annual outings to Lahinch, Co.Clare.
Male students who graduate from Our Lady of Lourdes primary school on Childer's Road are automatically offered a place at Crescent College.
A panoramic photograph of the school May 2006
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
located on a section of 40 acres (162,000 m²) of parkland at Dooradoyle, Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The college is one of a number of Jesuit schools in Ireland
Jesuit schools in Ireland
Irish Jesuit Schools include:*Belvedere College, Dublin founded in 1832*Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare founded in 1814*Coláiste Iognáid, Galway founded in 1861*Crescent College, Limerick founded in 1859*Gonzaga College, Dublin founded in 1950...
.
History
The first Jesuit School in Ireland was established at Limerick in 1565 by the Apostolic Visitor of the Holy See, David Woulfe SJ. Woulfe was closely related to the city's merchant aristocracy and it was probably for this reason that the city was chosen as a base for the Irish mission. However Limerick was a wealthy and fortified trading port, and geographically proximite to the independent Earldom of Desmond, where it was well known that the Jesuits were intriguing with the 13th Earl, James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald. The establishment of a Jesuit school at Limerick represented a significant challenge to the Irish Government of Elizabeth; but it also indicated the strategic importance of Ireland to Rome in its efforts to counter the Reformation in the Tudor Realms. The school at Limerick was the first educational mission of the Society of Jesus, designed to spearhead the Catholic Counter Reformation, and pre-dated the Jesuit missions to South America by some ten years.Woulfe's cousin Edmund Daniel, a Jesuit scholastic, aided him in running the school. William Goode, an English Jesuit also worked there, and we know about the school from letters written by Goode which still exist. Goode was later to die of exposure while fleeing from the authorities with the Earl of Desmond. Daniel too came to an unfortunate end and having refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, was put to death at Cork on the 25th of October 1572. He became the Jesuit Order's first European Martyr and reports of his execution caused a stir in the Catholic parts of the Continent, and recorded in a number of contemporary woodcuts. However despite these setbacks the early school flourished; in 1565 the city Council decided that the masters should be paid an annual salary of ten pounds, but this money was not accepted as it was to be raised as a levy on ships entering and leaving the port. It was therefore decided that the education offered should be free, based only on voluntary contributions, and very much in the spirit of Ignatius's Roman College founded 14 years before. The earliest recorded example of a school play in Ireland was performed in this School on the Feast of St. John in 1566. Goode also records the curriculum offered and students were first instructed to read, and progressed to read selected letters of Cicero or the dialogues of Frustius. The students copied all the works, as there were no books. They studied catechism either in English, or in Latin for the Irish speakers. There were no holidays at the school, but students were withdrawn by their parents at harvest time. Classes took place in very confined space, and students could only attend class in rotation.
This school was situated near King John's Castle for much of its existence, though it occasionallly moved outside the city to Kilmallock to avoid the attention of the authorities during times of peril. A stone inscribed with a cross and the motto IHS, dated 1576, was taken from the Castle Lane Site to Dooradoyle in 1973. Despite the occasional and unwelcome attention of the authorities, particularly during the turbulent years that followed, the school was forced to close not for religious and confessional reasons, but due to the difficulties of the Jesuit Order elsewhere, and in 1773 it closed its doors for 86 years following the Papal suppression of the Society of Jesus. Following the restoration the Jesuits gradually re-established many of their schools throughout the country, and returned to Limerick in 1859, at the invitation of the Bishop of Limerick, Dr George Butler. This school was initially a Diocescan College and operated from premises in Hartstone St, however the Jesuits quarrelled with Dr Butler's successor and established their own school. The Jesuits had acquired Crescent House, a large city residence, from the Russell family in the early 1870s and it was rumoured that Mrs Russell, while in residence, had ordered all the curtins of the house closed so she wouldn't have to look upon the statute of Daniel O'Connell, recently erected in the middle of the Georgian Crescent.
The school at the Crescent, and the attached Chapel, were dedicated first to St Aloysius Gonzaga, but rededicated to the Sacred Heart in 1873, after the school chapel was enlarged and opened for public worship. This was the first church and school in Ireland dedicated to the Cult of the Sacred Heart, popularised centuries before in France by Claude de la Colombiere SJ. However despite this the Sacred Heart College popularly became better known as Crescent College, or 'the Crescent'. Crescent was a fee paying school catering in the main for the city's middle classes, however the Jesuits also ran a free school at Bedford Row, which later closed due to a lack of resources. In its early years Sacred Heart College struggled to survive in competition with the Bishop's school, and many students were lost to other boarding schools. However the arrival of a new generation of Jesuit teachers, notably Tom and Peter Finlay, brought a new vigour and prestige in the 1870′s, and in 1879 when the results of the first nation-wide Intermediate Examinations were published, a Crescent boy, Charles Doyle, obtained first place in Ireland. This was seen as a triumph for the school, and for all schools that received no subsidy from the government. Further innovations came in 1874 when the Rector, Fr William Ronan, invited a French Jesuit Colleague, Fr Jean Baptiste René, to establish an Apostolic College at the Crescent House as a seminary for men of little means. This proved a success but overcrowding necessitated that the Apostolic school relocate, which was later established as a Boarding School at Mungret with funds provided by the Earl of Emly. These schools were again to be joined together when Mungret College
Mungret College
Mungret College, situated west of Limerick, Ireland, near the village of Mungret, was a Jesuit apostolic school and a lay secondary school from 1882 until 1974 when it closed as a school for the last time. The college produced over 1000 priests in that period...
SJ closed and its teaching staff transferred to Crescent in 1974.
In the spirit of the early Jesuits, and the changing emphasis of the Post-Conciliar era, Sacred Heart College ceased to be a fee paying school in 1971. Many Jesuit schools in Britain had already become Comprehensive and it was proposed that the Crescent in Limerick, and Gonzaga in Dublin, would also become comprehsive schools. Negotiations opened in the late 1960s at the invitation of the Minister for Education, Donagh O'Malley, who had been a class mate at Sacred Heart College with the then Jesuit Provincial, Cecil McGarry SJ. The comprehensive scheme proceeded in Limerick only and this ushered in a period of significant reform and expansion under Fr Thomas Morrissey: the name Sacred Heart College was dropped and redesignated Crescent College Comprehensive SJ, in recognition of the popular name of the school. In 1971 Crescent House was found to be structurally unsound and overcrowded and some thought was given to a relocation to Mungret College. However instead the school moved to a modern greenfield site at Dooradoyle in 1973, and students and staff from Mungret joined the following year. Later Crescent became a co-educational school, with a ratio of 3 boys to 1 girl. The Primary School, which remained at Crescent House, was closed in 1978 as the Department of Education declined to allow boys an automatic right of entry to the secondary school. Crescent now sits in 40 acres of mature grounds and gardens landscaped by Fr William Troddyn and the late school gardener, P.J. Brennan. Fr Troddyn was introduced to professional gardening whilst a scholastic at Emo Park, and some of his hard work there still survives. Amongst the many trees, a mature avenue of copper beeches, and the thousands of daffofils that spring forth annually in May, are a fitting tribute to both men. The school also maintains a nature garden to attract wildlife to the campus and make students environmentally aware.
Today the school operates under the joint trusteeship of the Society of Jesus and the Minister for Education
Minister for Education and Science (Ireland)
The Minister for Education and Skills is the senior minister at the Department of Education and Skills in the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Education and Skills is Ruairi Quinn, TD...
. Unlike other state schools the Jesuit Provincial enjoys a perpetual majority on the Board of Management, a privilege shared only with Protestant schools at Cork and Donegal redesignated as Comprehensives in the 1960s and 70s. The ethos is Jesuit and Catholic though most of the current teaching staff are lay-persons, with five Jesuit priests currently on the staff. In 2001 the School appointed its first lay headmaster. The current headmaster, Nicholas Cuddihy, was appointed in 2008.
The School continues a tradition of excellence in the fields of drama, debating, music and sport which are important dimensions of any Jesuit School. Girl's Hockey and boy's rugby are the main sports, though many others are offered. Rugby at Crescent blossomed from the late 1940s under the care of Fr Gerry Guinane, and in that time Crescent has had considerable success in the Munster Schools Senior Cup
Munster Schools Senior Cup
The Munster Schools Senior Cup or Munster Senior Cup is the under-age rugby union competition for schools affiliated to the Munster Branch of the IRFU. The competition is currently sponsored by Avonmore....
, constituting one of the big five rugby schools in Munster, and winning nine senior titles in the last 59 years, and many titles at junior level. The School is represented at club level by Old Crescent
Old Crescent
Old Crescent is a senior rugby club in Limerick.Old Crescent grew out of the Crescent College Munster School's cup team of 1947. Fr Gerry Guinane, who trained rugby in the College, saw great potential in that winning team and persuaded them to stay and play together. In September 1947 it became a...
RFC, which is now an open club, but an important component of the Crescent tradition.
Crescent offers a six year curriculum, and classes are divided into 5 lines, each named after a Jesuit patron. Demand for places in the school continues to be heavily oversubscribed.
In June 2006 the Sacred Heart Church closed ending the connection of 150 years with Crescent House, from which the school took its name. A House of Prayer and Spirituality has located to the Jesuit Residence in Doooradoyle.
The school also has a strong tradition of national and international touring. Every year student tours depart from Crescent College to Delphi, Co. Galway; Recess, Co.Galway; Achill, Co.Mayo; Paris, France and Barcelona, Spain. Skiing and snowboarding tours are held annually at various skiing resorts throughout Europe. Crescent rugby, soccer and hockey teams have represented the school internationally in Prague, Holland, Japan, Australia, Spain, South Africa and many other locations. The schools surfing club now entering its fifth year has several annual outings to Lahinch, Co.Clare.
Male students who graduate from Our Lady of Lourdes primary school on Childer's Road are automatically offered a place at Crescent College.
A panoramic photograph of the school May 2006
Notable alumni
Amongst the past pupils of Crescent are:- Joseph O'Mara, 19th century operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer - Mr. Justice John L. MurrayJohn L. MurrayJohn Loyola Murray is an Irish judge and served as the Chief Justice of Ireland from 2004 to 2011.Murray was born in Limerick in 1943 and educated at Crescent College, Limerick, Rockwell College, County Tipperary, University College Dublin, and the Honorable Society of King's Inns. He was...
, Former Attorney General of Ireland and current Chief Justice of the Irish Supreme CourtSupreme Court (Ireland)The Supreme Court of Ireland is the highest judicial authority in the Republic of Ireland. It is a court of final appeal and exercises, in conjunction with the High Court, judicial review over Acts of the Oireachtas . The Court also has jurisdiction to ensure compliance with the Constitution of... - Mr. Justice Joseph FinneganJoseph Finnegan (Irish jurist)Joseph Gerald Finnegan is currently a judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland. He was previously President of the High Court...
, President of the High Court - Mr. Justice Philip O'Sullivan, Judge of the High Court
- Mr. Justice Kevin O'Higgins, Judge of the High Court
- His Honour Judge Tom O'Donnell, Judge of the Circuit Court
- Bill WhelanBill WhelanBill Whelan, is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The end result, Riverdance, was a seven-minute display of traditional Irish dancing that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze...
, RiverdanceRiverdanceRiverdance is a theatrical show consisting of traditional Irish stepdancing, notable for its rapid leg movements while body and arms are kept largely stationary. It originated as an interval performance during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, a moment that is still considered a significant...
composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media... - Tom O'DonnellTom O'DonnellThomas G. O'Donnell is a former Irish Fine Gael politician. He was born at Bulgaden, County Limerick and was educated at the Crescent College, Salesian College and University College Dublin where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree...
, Fine GaelFine GaelFine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
TDTeachta DálaA Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
and former government minister - Richard Harris, actor
- Terry WoganTerry WoganSir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
, BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV presenter - Paul Canty, rugby playerRugby playerRugby player can refer to a participant in one of two different sports rugby union and rugby league. It can also refer to a participant in the sport of wheelchair rugby.*:Category:Rugby union players*:Category:Rugby league footballers...
- Peter ClohessyPeter ClohessyPeter Martin Noel Clohessy is a former Irish rugby union footballer. Clohessy played for Munster and Ireland...
, rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
international - David WallaceDavid Wallace (rugby player)David P. Wallace is an Irish rugby union player for Munster and Ireland. He grew up in Limerick on the Ennis Road. He did not leave Limerick until the age of 17, when he started playing for Munster. He normally plays as an Openside Flanker, but has also played Blindside and Number 8...
, rugby union international - Donogh O'Malley, Fianna FáilFianna FáilFianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
TD and government minister - Desmond O'MalleyDesmond O'MalleyDesmond Joseph "Des" O'Malley is a former Irish politician.Born in Limerick, O'Malley was raised in a local political dynasty that had a strong association with Fianna Fáil. Elected to Dáil Éireann in 1968, he quickly became a trusted confidante of Taoiseach Jack Lynch...
, founder of the Progressive DemocratsProgressive DemocratsThe Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, was a pro-free market liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland.Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on...
political party and government minister - Dermot WhelanDermot WhelanDermot Whelan is an Irish comedian.A native of Limerick, Whelan is a regular contributor on RTÉ's The Panel, he is also the host of Republic of Telly and has performed at major comedy festivals, including the Kilkenny Cat's Laugh Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
, Comedian - Tim O'MalleyTim O'MalleyTim O'Malley is a former Irish Progressive Democrats politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Limerick East constituency and was Minister of State with special responsibility for Mental Health at the Department of Health and Children....
, Progressive Democrats TD and Minister of StateMinister of StateMinister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister... - Simon Carswell, Irish Times Finance Editor
- Richard Oakley, Journalist
- Andrew Dillon, Dean, School of Information, University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
- George ClancyGeorge ClancyGeorge Clancy was an Irish nationalist politician and Mayor of Limerick. He was shot dead by the Auxiliary Police in 1921 during the Anglo-Irish conflict . The previous Mayor, Michael O'Callaghan, was murdered on the same night by the same group.Clancy was born at Grange, County Limerick...
, Mayor of Limerick 1921 - Canon John HayesCanon John HayesVery Rev. John Canon Hayes , founder of Muintir na Tíre, was born in 1887, in a Land League hut at Murroe, Co Limerick. Five of his brothers and sisters died of malnutrition and disease before he reached seven years of age....
, Founder of Muintir na TíreMuintir na TíreMuintir na Tíre is a national Irish voluntary organisation dedicated to promoting the process of community development. Canon Hayes founded the organisation in 1937. It aims to enhance the capacities of people in communities, rural and urban, to become involved in local social, economic, cultural... - Eoin ReddanEoin ReddanEoin Reddan is an Irish rugby union player who plays at scrum half. He attended school at Crescent College Comprehensive where he captained the school side. On leaving school he studied at the University of Limerick....
, rugby union international - Bryan Walsh, Director of Peter Pan 1960
- John HayesJohn HayesJohn Hayes may refer to:In academia:* John Hayes , British art historian and museum director, expert on GainsboroughIn entertainment:* John Hayes , American director of low-budget films...
Chaplain in World War I killed in action - Gordon Wood (rugby player)Gordon Wood (rugby player)Benjamin Gordon Malison Wood is a former rugby union footballer who represented Ireland and the British and Irish Lions during the 1950s and early 1960s. He also played for both Garryowen and Munster...
- David WallaceDavid WallaceDavid Wallace or Dave Wallace may refer to:*David A. Wallace , urban planner and architect*David Euan Wallace , British Conservative member of parliament*David Foster Wallace , American novelist...
(rugby player) - Matthew Potter writer and historian
- Eamon O'Flaherty writer and historian
- Conor NilandConor NilandConor Niland is an Irish professional tennis player. He was born in Birmingham, England, and grew up in Limerick, Ireland. He attended St. Nessan's National School in Mungret, Co. Limerick...
, tennis player
Crescent College in popular culture
- Angela's AshesAngela's AshesAngela's Ashes is a 1996 memoir by the Irish-American author Frank McCourt. The memoir consists of various anecdotes and stories of Frank McCourt's impoverished childhood and early adulthood in Brooklyn, New York and Limerick, Ireland, as well as McCourt's struggles with poverty, his father's...
, Frank McCourtFrank McCourtFrancis "Frank" McCourt was an Irish-American teacher and Pulitzer Prize–winning writer, best known as the author of Angela’s Ashes, an award-winning, tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood....
's memoir of growing up in Limerick in the 1930s and '40s, references the school.