# Presentation College, Bray

Presentation College (Irish: Coláiste na Toirbhirte; colloquially known as Pres Bray) is a Catholic boys' secondary school established in 1921 by the Presentation Brothers in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland.
There are currently about 970 students in Presentation College. The school is housed in a modern building opened in late 2012, 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 Bus routes 45a, L1, L2 and L14.
Construction of the new school facilities ran to an estimated €7 million, and were funded by the Department of Education.

## History

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 by Dr. Michael Berigan from the Department of Education 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 87 classrooms, 38 specialist rooms, 12 administration offices, 19 assembly areas, 3 libraries and 2 staff rooms. The contract cost was in excess of €130 million plus VAT.

## Curriculum

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:
Junior Certificate subjects include Irish, English, maths, History, Geography, French, German, science, business, art, Woodwork, Civic, Social and Political Education, social, personal and health education, computer studies and religion.
Leaving Certificate subjects include Irish, English, maths, history, geography, French, German, physics, biology, chemistry, religion, business organisation, accounting, art, design & communication graphics and computer studies.

## Notable past pupils

* Reggie Corrigan, Former Irish Rugby international and Leinster captain
* Ed Joyce, Irish cricketer (played for England and Middlesex).
* Darren Randolph, Goalkeeper for the Republic of Ireland national football team and English league clubs Birmingham City, West Ham and Middlesbrough
* Robert Shortt, RTÉ correspondent.
* David Wheatley, Poet and Critic.
* Niall Andrews, Fianna Fáil politician
* Fergus Bourke, Photographer
* Gerard J Henry 1929-2001, Commercial property dealmaker.