Terenure College

Terenure College is a Carmelite-run secondary school located in the suburb of Terenure, Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1860 and had an associated primary school until 2017. It is one of the "big six" Leinster Schools Rugby-playing institutions, winning the Leinster Schools Senior Cup 10 times. 80% of the students who sat the Leaving Certificate in 2007 accepted a place in an Irish university.

History 

Catholic Emancipation was granted in 1829 and the Carmelite order responded to the need for Catholic educators by establishing schools wherever they had friaries. By 1854 practically all Carmelite friaries had primary schools attached. In 1860, Terenure House opened as a college with twenty-one pupils on its roll.  Between 1870 and 1890 the school was extended to the current main block which house the fifth and sixth year classrooms, and which also include an original stone staircase of the era, but the original clocktower has since been removed due to safety concerns.

In the 1940s the college identified a need for a new school space, and the so-called "Crush Hall" and concert hall were added to the school, as well as a new Junior School block above the hall. Initially the concert hall was used for both cultural and sporting activities, most notably the College Play, which came to include girls from Our Lady's School, across the road. Since the construction of the 1980s block and the sports hall, the concert hall has been used exclusively for formal and artistic events, such as the school "Debs", plays, concerts and art fairs.  The modern school theatre was opened by the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins in 2013, named in honour of past pupil Donal McCann.

In 2015 it was announced that the Junior School would close after enrollment halved from 2009, and current classes were phased out, with the last class finishing in 2017.

Historical account
In 2009 a book on the history of the school was published.  Entitled "Terenure College 1860-2010: A History," it was compiled by Prof. Fergus D'Arcy, and launched by Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Campus
Originally built by the Deane family, Terenure House had later passed to the family of George Bernard Shaw, and finally the Bourne family.  Nearby was a second house, also owned, by the Shaws, which is now home to Our Lady's School.

The estate holds a lake, and is connected to three rivers.  There is an artificial branch watercourse from the River Poddle to the western end of the lake, a culverted outflow, the Olney Stream, to the Swan River system, and a tunnel carries the Lakelands Overflow from the lake to pass under a housing estate, and into Bushy Park, before falling into the River Dodder.

The school has a range of sports facilities, including a swimming pool which offers some public access hours.

Colours and motto 
The colours of the school are purple and black, and its motto is Zelo Zelatus Sum Pro Domino Deo Exercituum (Latin for "I Am Filled With Zeal, For God, The King Of All Hosts").

Extra-curricular activities 
The school operates a range of sport and non-sport programmes, which it calls "co-curricular" activities:

Rugby 
Rugby has been the leading sport at Terenure College since around 1920.  It has had a prolific history in the Leinster Schools Senior Cup, with ten wins to date.  Terenure reached both finals of the 2009 Leinster Schools Senior Cup and the Leinster Schools Junior Cup. The school lost out on the former to Blackrock College, 18–9, but won the latter against St Michael's College, Dublin. The school also earned the Powerade Leinster Rugby School of the Year accolade for the school's overall rugby performance.

Terenure College RFC 
Associated with the school is Terenure College RFC, which plays at a senior national level, from a base near the school, and includes past pupils of the school.

College run 

Moate's Carmelite College first held a college run in 1987. Every student in the school participated and the final, which included the fastest runners in the college, was a very competitive event. This became an annual event and a police escort was given for the runners as they made their way through the town, and students lined the route to encourage and cheer on their classmates.

The Terenure College Charity Run was a started as a way to remember a former student and teacher in the school named Fr. Gerry Hipwell O.Carm and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the President's Award, in which he helped many students to participate. The semi-final including the fastest 2 students in each year and the 15 fastest in the school is held during the first week in May. The fastest 10 students compete in the final and the winner receives the Fr. Gerry Hipwell Memorial Cup.

Gaelic games 
The school is also active in the GAA, having joined in 1885.

Swimming 
The school has its own swimming pool and competes in watersports.

Other sports 

The school is also active in badminton, tennis, cricket, athletics, golf and other sports, in some of which it has won several regional and national competitions.

Science and technology 
The school has a number of supplementary science and information technology programmes.  It participates actively in the Young Scientist awards, which were founded by a past staff member and a past pupil, with a pupil, Shane Curran, the overall national winner in 2017.

Culture and debate 
The college has a strong history of drama, with former pupils, such as Dave Allen, Donal McCann and Michael McElhatton, working in the area, and all years are encouraged to participate in drama, including the senior college play, which is conducted with Our Lady's Girls School each year.

Other activities include an Amnesty International group a Young Toastmasters unit, and debating, competing in the Leinster Schools Debating and other regional and national competitions.

Model United Nations 
Terenure College have a very strong background in Model United Nations. They have taken part in the St. Andrew's International Model United Nations (SAIMUN) in Dublin and the Royal Russel School Model United Nations (RRSMUN) in Croydon.

Alumni

Past Pupil's Union
The school has an active Past Pupil's Union, which runs a number of social events each year, raises funds for school initiatives, and provides a scholarship program.  The union has an office in the school, and a secretary.

Past Pupil of the Year Award
The school presents an award to recognise high-achieving past pupils, recipients of which have included Girvan Dempsey, Donal McCann, Niall Hogan, Mike Murphy and Lorcan Cranitch.

Irish rugby internationals (school or Terenure College RFC) 

 Billy Dardis - Ireland national rugby sevens player
 Conor O'Shea — former Ireland Rugby player, now the head coach of the Italy national rugby union team 
 Girvan Dempsey — Ireland Rugby player
 Mike Hipwell – toured New Zealand in 1971 with the British and Irish Lions
 Niall Hogan — Ireland Rugby player (captain 1995)

Other notable alumni

 Anthony Stokes – association football player
 Bosco Hogan, actor
 Brian Blaney – former Leinster rugby player, now a player in Terenure College RFC
 Colm Condon previous Attorney General of Ireland
 Conal Keaney – Dublin Gaelic footballer
 Danny O'Reilly, Graham Knox and Conor Egan (The Coronas) – musicians (The Coronas rock and indie band)
 Dave Allen – comedian
 David Blaney – Bristol Rugby player
 David Duffy - banker and CEO of Virgin Money
 Derek Daly – Formula One and Indianapolis 500 car racing driver
 Doc Neeson – singer (The Angels)
 Donal Lamont – Rhodesian bishop, leading anti-apartheid campaigner
 Donal McCann – actor
 Evin Nolan – Irish abstract painter and sculptor
 Fergal Keane - BBC News correspondent and author
 James Blaney - former Leinster and Munster rugby player
 James Hanley – artist, member of Royal Hibernian Academy
 Joe Jacob - Fianna Fáil politician
 John Boyne – novelist, including The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
 John Crown – oncologist
 John MacMenamin - former Supreme Court judge
 Kevin Ryan - actor
 Lorcan Cranitch – actor
 Mark Egan – rugby player and administrator
 Michael Cullen – chairman and chief executive (Beacon Medical Group)
 Michael Elmore-Meegan – missionary, author; co-founder of ICROSS
 Michael McElhatton – actor
 Fr. Míceál O'Neill O.Carm. - appointed prior general of the Carmelites in 2019
 Mike Murphy – former RTÉ broadcaster, property developer
 Peter Lawrie – professional golfer
 Seán O'Connor - businessman and former senator
 Tony Scott – physicist who along with a former teacher at Terenure Rev. Dr.Tom Burke founded the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. In 2017, a Terenure student, Shane Curran, won the competition for the first time in the college's history.

Sexual abuse 
Former teacher and first-year form master John McClean was convicted in November 2020 of sexually assaulting 23 pupils in the school between 1973 and 1990.
According to victim statements, numerous complaints were made to the school during this time, but were either disbelieved or ignored by the school principal. He was jailed for eight years in February 2021.

References

External links 
 Order of the Carmelites in Ireland — official website
 Terenure College — official website

Terenure
Secondary schools in County Dublin
Private schools in the Republic of Ireland
Educational institutions established in 1860
1860 establishments in Ireland