The Irish standard., 1907-03-16
FAMOUS IRISH SCHOOL
Its Pupils Included the Lib
orator, Daniel O'Connell.
Little Known Of the School :
master, Father harrington,

A writer signing himself ~. c." con-
tributed the following interesting let
ter to a recent issue Of the Irish
Catholic of Dublin:
In DR.. Arthur Houston's Daniel
O'Connell: His Early Life and Jour-
nal" which was recently reviewed in
the Irish Catholic occurs the curious
misstatement that the great LIBERIA
tors first school was "at Long Island,
near Cork" AS DR.. Houston is, pre-
sumably, an Irishman, he might be
expected to know that there is no such
| place as Long Island near Cork. But
mixed on this point, as he did in the
same book in ascribing "the Life and
Times of O'Connell" to OFlanagan
instead Of to the late Christopher
Manus O'Keeffe.
| OConnell's first school was on the
r feat Island, so called, on. account of
its being the largest island in Cork
Harbor. Queenstown stands on the
south side of the Great Island, and
| about three miles to the east of
| Queenstown stood Redington School,
which, when in existence, was usually
known as DR.. Harrington's College or
DR.. Harringtons School.
This school, besides having the
honor of reckoning the future Liber-
ator. of Ireland amongst it's pupils
possessed also the unique distinction
of having been the first Catholic pub
lie school opened in Ireland since the
PRONUNCIATION of the Penal Laws, Car
low College being the next to it, which
still, happily, exists.
1t may be taken as indicative of the
deplorable indifference Of the Catholic
clergy and laity of this locality, to
anything appertaining to its past his
tory. that practically nothing is now
known Of O'Connell's schoolrna ster.
Father Harrington. =:
The present writer, however, came
to the conclusion that he was formerly
a Jesuit and that, possibly, conse-
quent on the dissolution of his order
by Pope Clement, he set up this first
Catholic boarding school at Reding-
ton, which is an Anglicised form OF
the old Celtic place name, Ballybrassil,
one that is still given to it: and this
surmise was confirmed by the late
Mr.. James Murphy, of Cork, who
further stated that Father Harrington
was cousin of his. and that his elder
brother, Michael Murphy. was also
| educated at Redington, who after
wards became judge in Kentucky,
U. S. A.
Father Harrington was regarded as
a saint by the people in the neighbor-
hood of his school. and they paid
rounds" at his tomb in Templerohin
churchyard, where he is buried, which
is. about half mile distant from Red
ington. The railings round his tomb
were covered with pieces of rags,
placed there by those who had been
paying their devotions, until removed
by the late Michael Harmon (who for
many years had charge of the grave
yard), in order that he might, on one
| occasion, paint these now rust-eaten
railings.
The inscription on the tomb is as
follows: ITO mark the spot which
covers the mortal remains of the Rev:
| Michael Harrington, for many years
master of Redington Academy. In
order to perpetuate at once his men,
ory and their gratitude this monu-
ment has been erected by his pupils.
He died Feb. 81. 1910. r. I. P"
A friend of the writer informed him
that an old woman, now many years
dead, who remembered Father Har-
| rington. described him as small man,
| who wore blue knee-breeches, and said
that she used to hear mass In the
| chapel attached to the school-the
Chapel of Ease at Ballynore not then
having been built.
The impression still exists that no
effort was made to carry on this school
after its founders death. The prop
erty then came into the hands of the
Shaw family of Monkstown, Co. Cork,
to whom belongs Sir Eyre Massey
Shaw. of London Fire Brigade fame,
who was born at Ballymore Cottage.
to the east of Redington, and received
his early education at the school kept
at Queenstown by Dr. Coghlan, who
had formerly been Protestant clergy
man and was ordained priest when he
had reached a very advanced age,
whose son, the late Father Coghlan,
ex-army chaplain, died last year at
Folkestone.
About 80 years ago the buildings