Since 1829, the Presentation Brothers conducted the Lancasterian School
on Lancaster Quay. This school, popularly known as the “Lancs”, was set
up by the Cork Charitable Society in 1814 and was organised along the
lines advocated by Joseph Lancaster (1778-1838), the English
educationist, whose aim was to bring elementary education to the masses
and to whom – along with Andrew Bell (1753-1832) – is ascribed the
monitorial system of teaching. The “Lancs” was situated on part of the
site now occupied by Square Deal and, for a number of years, was
under the principalship of the renowned Presentation Brother, Edmund
Paul Townsend (1798-1881).
Br. Paul was an architect by profession and an accomplished linguist. He
became a Presentation Brother in his late twenties and proved to be a
remarkable teacher especially well thought of by his pupils, one of whom
described him as “an ideal gentleman … most affable and courteous to
everybody … [with] great affection for children and naturally enough was
loved by them in return … “ and another of whom reported years later
that “… He stood with the boys for something more than a schoolmaster. …
The bigger boys and monitors adored him”.
In
1912, the Presentation Brothers acquired the current site where St.
Joseph’s was built and ready for occupation a year later. The move from
the old Lancasterian school on Lancaster Quay to the new school was, by
all accounts, a very smooth and professional operation. On the day of
transition, every pupil in the school, in addition to his own books,
helped transport some object of furniture or equipment, the older boys
carrying the desks and tables, the younger ones transporting smaller
items. The pupils marched in orderly fashion up the Western Road, onto
the Mardyke, and deposited the items as directed in the new school. Next
day, the classes began in their new surroundings and the “old Lancs” was
no more.
The
move to St. Joseph’s on the Mardyke was regarded positively by Sean Ó
Faoláin, a past-pupil of the “Lancs”. He wrote:
The
Lancs has been replaced, a little out of town, by a fine modern school,
all tiles and hardwood floors, and it is beside fields, and below it
there are trees through which one sees the flowing river with cows
chewing the cud in other fields beyond. In our old place there were just
a few ragged trees growing out of gravel and not one blade of grass.
In 1987 the numbers in St. Joseph’s N.S. increased dramatically
following the closure of the Presentation Brothers’ Private Primary
school on the Western Road.
Since 1913, St. Joseph’s has developed a history and tradition of its
own. The Brothers, teachers and staff, the parents and the pupils
associated with the school in the interim have made their own respective
and valued contributions to the developing story that is our primary
school.
Each year we welcome past pupils from all eras back to the school. They
have stories and memories to share and it is clear that St. Joseph’s
holds a very special place in their memory.
It is intended to have a fuller history of St. Joseph’s published in
time for the centenary of the school in 2013.
