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Mount
Sion
Towards
the end of the 18th century Mr Edmund Rice, a wealthy merchant of
Waterford, moved by the miserable condition of the poor children who
roamed the streets, conceived the noble idea of establishing free schools
for the religious and secular education of the poor boys of the city.
This statement evokes the question: —Were there no schools in
Waterford then which these poor children could attend? There are no
records available of Catholic Free Schools in Waterford in 1800. About twelve Pay Schools advertised in the local newspapers, but
whether these were Catholic, Protestant or mixed, one cannot be certain. Not until 1826, when the British Government published details of
all the schools in Ireland, do we get a reliable account of all the
schools in Waterford. According
to that report there were eighty Pay Schools in Waterford City of which
thirty-eight were “Roman Catholic Pay Schools.” The total number of pupils, boys and girls, attending these
thirty-eight Catholic Pay Schools was 1,550. At the same time the number of Catholic pupils attending the
thirty-two Protestant Pay Schools was 107. Thus the number of Catholic boys and girls attending Pay Schools in
the City of Waterford in the year 1824-'25 was 1,657, of which total 847
were boys. In a city whose
population was then 25.000 there were at least 2,000 Catholic boys of
school-going age. From these
figures it would appear that there was well over 1,000 Catholic boys who
could not attend school for the simple reason that their parents were
unable to pay even as little as “1½d.to 3d.per week” at the cheapest
Pay School in Waterford at the time. It was to remedy this unfortunate state of affairs that Edmund Rice
decided to embark on his educational asostolate in Waterford.
Trusting in God's help, encouraged by the blessing of Most Rev. Dr.
Hussey, Bishop of Waterford and backed by extensive personal property Mr.
Rice set about putting his plan into action. He closed his business, rented some livery stables in New Street as
a temporary premises and, aided by two hired teachers, he began so teach
the poor boys of Waterford in 1802. When
the two teachers refused to teach such unlettered youths, even with the
inducement of double pay, three young men, two from Callan and one from
County Waterford, came to his assistance.
Mr. Rice acquired a site on the outskirts of the city and had built
thereon a monastery and schools costing £2,500. On the first day of June 1803, Edmund Rice and his three disciples,
Thomas Grosvenor, Patrick Finn and John Mulcahy, went into residence at
Mount Sion and began their career as religious. The name “Mount Sion”
was given to the new monastery and schools by Most Rev. Dr. Hussey when he
blessed the premises, because the location reminded him very forcibly of
Mount Sion in Jerusalem. Pending
the completion of the new schools at Mount Sion the temporary premises in
New Street were still in use. Not
until the spring of 1804 were the schools at Mount Sion completed and, on
May 1st 1804, the schools were solemnly blessed, by Most Rev.
Dr. Power, the new Bishop of Waterford. The new schools were immediately filled to capacity. Three hundred boys kept the four devoted Brothers fully occupied
each day from nine to three, with an hour's break at mid-day. Ten years later it was necessary to build additional classrooms in
order to accommodate all those applying for admission.
As early as 1804, long before Lancasterian methods were heard of in
this country, Brother Rice had evolved a system that combined a judicious
blend of the individual and the collective methods of teaching. Incidentally, Mr. Joseph Lancaster visited Mount Sion on Tuesday,
26th April 1815. The Waterford Mirror states: “Mr.
Joseph Lancaster lectured in the Schools under the care of the
philanthropic Mr. E. Rice of this City. The children behaved worthy of their education and teachers.”
School began punctually at nine o'clock with morning prayer. Every time the clock struck the hour a moment's silence was
observed in the room, then each boy made the Sign of the Cross and recited
the Hail Mary. At twelve
o’clock the Angelus and the Acts of Faith, Hope and Charity were said.
At three the Litany of Our Lady and a few other prayers were
recited and then the boys were dismissed. In this manner the work of the day was sanctified and the boys
studied in a religious and Catholic atmosphere.
In the lower room
the boys were taught reading, spelling, writing on slates, Arithmetic and
Catechism. The half-hour
before twelve o'clock was spent explaining the Catechism.
The children were “arranged according to their degree of
improvement” in classes. In
the upper classes the senior pupils were taught Algebra, Arithmetic,
Geometry, Mensuration, Drawing, English and Navigation (which included
Astronomy, Chart Reading, Tides, Trigonometry and Plotting of Courses).
The desks were of the long variety, with eight or ten boys to each. Over each desk a superintendent was appointed who kept an account
of those committed to his care and who saw to it that they attended to
their duties. The pupils were
divided into different groups or sections, each being under the care of a
Brother. General examination
of copies, compositions, Arithmetic, exercises, etc., was made twice a
week in the “upper room” and awards given according to merit. More general examinations were held three times a year and such
pupils as were found most deserving received gifts suitable to their age
and progress. Public
examinations, oral and written, were conducted annually by distinguished
members of the local laity. These
examinations lasted two or three days. Through the local papers those interested in such examinations were
invited thus— “The Mayor having signified his intention of visiting
Mount Sion Schools, on Thursday, the 17th inst., at twelve o'clock, the
friends of the Institution are respectfully invited to attend the
examination of the boys. which will then take place.” On these occasions prizes such as books, sets of ware, articles of
furniture, pictures in gilded and hand-carved frames executed by Charles
Bianconi, and suits of clothes were presented. A set of ware and a card table presented by Brother Rice on one
such occasion, are still preserved in Waterford by the descendants of the
recipients.
Other men were soon attracted to the work of teaching the poor
under the direction of Brother Rice. A chemist, a wine merchant, a clerical student, a professor of
Mathematics from St. John's College, Waterford, a silk merchant, two
bankers, a journalist, an architect and builder were among those who came
to Edmund Ignatius Rice to be moulded as the first Christian Brothers. They came from all parts of the South, from Dublin, Castlecomer,
Limerick, Cork, Tralee, Kilkenny, Clonmel, Athlone, Wexford, Thurles and
Waterford itself. Most of
these men were quite mature, their average age being thirty years. They made their Novitiate in Mount Sion and were trained in the
schools by Brother Rice himself.
Providing free libraries in the schools was part of Brother Rice's
system. At that time books
were very expensive and were unobtainable except by subscribing towards
their production. Notwithstanding
this difficulty Brother Rice had in Mount Sion Schools a library of six
hundred books. There was also
a library of two hundred books in the branch school, St. Patrick's. These schools and the other new foundations exchanged books and
thus formed a circulating library, perhaps the first of its kind in the
country. t has been
established that there were in the library in Mount Sion at this time,
Irish Catechisms printed on the Continent. The library was run by the boys. One boy was appointed librarian and a number of others helped him
to distribute and collect the books on Fridays. Each assistant kept a record of the books he gave out. Referring to the rules of the library, Brother Rice wrote: "As
these rules are observed strictly, we rarely lose a book."
For the benefit of the poor boys in his schools Brother Rice had on
the grounds a bakery in which three men worked.
Here bread was baked daily and given to those who were in need of
it. In a room overhead six
tailors plied their needles in a warm and dry atmosphere. Here the garments of the poor boys were mended, and new suits were
made for boys about to be apprenticed.
Brother Rice's system had a distinctly religious bias, and all the
school work was permeated by a thoroughly Catholic spirit. No matter what lesson was in progress, whether Reading or Writing,
Mathematics or Drawing, whenever the occasion presented itself of
enlightening the pupils as to their own obligations or the correct
Catholic attitude to adopt towards particular persons, places, occasions,
or circumstances of life, such opportunities of forming the minds of the
pupils according to the wishes of the Catholic Church were used to the
full. Religious books such as
Reeve's History of the Bible, Gahan's History of the Old and New
Testament, Think Well
on It, Conversation with God, were used by Brother Rice as
‘Readers’ in his schools until such time as he and his Brothers
produced a set of ‘Readers,’ the first of which was published in 1838. Concerning these ‘Readers’ Mr. and Mrs. Hall, two English
Quakers, wrote in 1841: “It is but fair to state that in the books used
in the school (Mount Sion) and in one more particularly— ‘A Literary Class Book’ —compiled for its especial
use by the Brothers— we found the best principles inculcated by
selections from the best authors.” Brother Rice’s pupils were daily conducted, class by class, into
his private Oratory, there to make short visits to the Blessed Sacrament. Moreover, on all Sundays and Holydays of the year, the pupils
assembled in the Parish Church for instruction in Christian Doctrine. We can judge for ourselves how thorough Brother Rice was in his
work from the following statement of an English M.P. who spoke at length
against Mr. Rice's system:
“Nothing could be more hopeless than
the task of attempting to eradicate the impressions that are burnt into
juvenile feeling by the operation of this system. There are 6,000 orthodox larvae in these poisonous receptacles and
the Queen Bee is, I understand, still very operative.”
Needless to say Brother Rice got no State aid towards his new
project. He was entirely
dependent on his own resources and on charity. Most Rev. Dr. Hussey, Bishop of Waterford, left £2,000, by will,
to Brother Rice for his schools. This
sum was invested by Brother Rice, and the interest was used for the sole
purpose of supplying books and other school requisites free of charge to
the poor children in Mount Sion. Through
the local papers in 1816 Brother Rice appealed to the people of Waterford
to help defray the expenses incurred in building a further two-roomed
extension which cost £1,000. By
this date it appears that Brother Rice had invested all his wealth in
securities for the support of the Brothers who staffed his schools.
From Mount Sion new foundations were made at Carrick-on-Suir 1806;
Dungarvan 1807; Cork 1811: Hanover Street, Dublin 1812; Thurles 1816;
Limerick 1816; James's Street, Dublin 1820; Ennistymon 1824; Preston,
England 1825; Manchester 1826; Jervis Street, Dublin 1827; Ennis 1827;
O'Connell Schools, Dublin 1831. This
stream of spiritual man-power which had its source in Mount Sion, and was
set in motion by Edmund Ignatius Rice, continued to flow forth ceaselessly
into the harvest fields of the Lord, even to the ends of the earth, where
the sons of Edmund Rice may be found today.
Through the help of Most Rev. Dr. Power of Waterford indirectly,
and Most Rev. Dr. Troy and Most Rest Dr. Murray directly, Brother Rice
secured the stabilizing Brief which in 1820 was granted by Pope Pius VII
of happy memory, and which gave the young Society the status of Papal
Institute. The first General
Chapter of the new Institute was held in Mount Sion in 1822, at which
Brother Rice was elected first Superior General, for life. He and his Assistants resided at Mount Sion until the next General
Chapter held in 1829, after which they transferred to O'Connell Schools,
North Richmond Street, Dublin.
Brother Patrick Joseph Murphy, a native of Waterford, and uncle of
Margaret Aylward, Foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Faith, was
appointed Superior of Mount Sion in 1831.
Br. Murphy established a Temperance Association in the school, and
was in contact with Fr. Mathew in connection with the latter's Temperance
campaign in Waterford. May
3rd was a memorable day at Mount Sion. On that day the famous Temperance priest visited the school and
administered the pledge to a large number of boys. On his arrival in Waterford he was escorted, to the school, by a
vast crowd of people. Many
members of the local clergy and many prominent citizens were present at
the function. The school was specially decorated for the occasion, and the
visitor was given a rousing reception by the Teetotal Bands of John Street
and Mount Sion. After the departure of Fr. Mathew from Waterford, Mount
Sion became the nerve centre of the Total Abstinence Association in the
area. Present Waterford
publicans will read with interest the chronicler's note which informs us
that within a few years sixty licensed premises had been closed down in
the city!
The secretary of the Total Abstinence Association was a young man,
Mr. Lenihan, whose parents were drapers in the city. Subsequently he became the Editor of the
Tipperary Vindicator, and
Editor and proprietor of the Limerick Leader.
He was the author of a very comprehensive history—the first of
its kind—of Limerick City and County. In common with his parents, Mr. Lenihan was an ardent admirer of
Edmund Ignatius Rice.
The Waterford Catholic Committee had been very active for some
years before Catholic Emancipation was granted in 1829. The meetings of this society were held in St. Patrick's Schools or
in Mount Sion. William
Aylward, father of the Foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Faith already
mentioned, acted as chairman at the meetings in Mount Sion. Brother Edmund Ignatius Rice, accompanied by representatives of the
Regular Orders, interviewed the Duke of Wellington and Mr. Peel in London
on the eve of the passing of the Emancipation Act, in order to petition
against some of the penal clauses of the Bill—clauses that threatened
the very existence of all Religious Orders in Ireland. Though not directly successful in their mission, they were assured
that these offending clauses would never be enforced.
With the coming of the National Board, Brother Rice was prevailed
upon to give that system a trial. He
strongly disapproved of the principles of the new system. which he knew to
be the very antithesis of his own. The
National Board demanded the suppression of all religious teaching and
devotional practices, and the hiding away of all religious emblems except
on a specified day each week. Yet,
in order to please Most Rev. Dr. Murray, Archbishop of Dublin and other
friends, he consented to give the National System a trial, in 1832. Mount Sion Schools were registered as schools operating under the
National Board. But very
quickly advocates of the National System who were entitled under the Irish
Education Act to “visit” any of the National Board Schools, began to
visit Mount Sion. One such “visitor," without introduction, or apology,
began to address the pupils criticising and belittling Catholic practices
and doctrines. This led to an
altercation, the result of which was that the “visitor” was forcibly
ejected. In 1836 Brother Rice
convoked a General Chapter at which it was unanimously decided “that the
Christian Brothers sever totally their connection with the National Board
on account of the restrictions which that system placed on religious
teaching etc.”
At the next General Chapter, in 1838, Brother Rice begged to be
relieved of the office of Superior-General. Already in his seventy-eighth year, he was worn out by his constant
work of teaching and organizing, carrying on law suits for the recovery of
property or of money invested for the Institute, constant correspondence
and much travelling, as well as the governing of the Institute itself,
coupled with racking anxiety on occasions for its very existence. With great reluctance the Chapter acceded to his request. In that year there were seventeen monasteries and forty-three
schools in which there were seven thousand pupils. Brother Rice retired to Mount Sion where he spent the last
four years of his life and where he died a most holy and happy death on
29th August 1844. Two days
later, on 31st August, after Solemn Requiem Mass in the Community Oratory,
at which the Bishop, Most Rev. Dr. Foran. Presided, and at which a number
of the Clergy, Brothers and principal citizens were present, he was
interred in the cemetery within Mount Sion grounds. To honour the memory of one who had done so much for their city,
the Citizens of Waterford and admirers of Edmund Ignatius Rice, erected in
1845 at Mount Sion, the Rice Memorial Chapel.
The monastery erected by Brother Rice at Mount Sion in 1802-3, was
now becoming altogether too small for the number of Brothers teaching in
the schools there. The old
building was partly demolished and a new three-storey brick building
costing £4,000 was built in 1864 under the direction of the Superior,
Brother Jerome Coyle, on the site of the old monastery. The present sacristy and the room underneath the sacristy, are all
that remain of the original monastery of Brother Rice.
The Sodality of Mary Immaculate was established on 8th December,
1869. Most Rev Dr. O'Brien, Bishop of the Diocese, was the first Patron,
and Rev. Bro.J. S. O'Flanagan, Superior of Mount Sion, was its first
President. In 1874 the Mount
Sion Sodality received its Diploma of Aggregation from the Prima Primaria
in Rome.
The standard of education initiated by the Founder of Mount Sion,
Brother Rice, was splendidly
maintained by his successors down the years. Until the introduction of the
Intermediate System in 1878 the inherited notion that Secondary education
was the exclusive privilege of children of a higher social position
prevailed in this country. The
schools of Brother Rice made it possible for the children of those less
favoured with the goods of this world to receive a good sound Catholic
Secondary education. It must
be remembered that at no time was Mount Sion a Primary school only. From the very beginning there existed “the upper school” as
Brother Rice described it. This
“upper school” was staffed by some outstanding teachers. Among these may be mentioned the Founder himself, who spoke Irish
fluently, was an excellent English scholar, and had a working knowledge of
Latin, French and Spanish. Brother
Patrick Ellis, who was a professor of Mathematics in St. John's College,
Waterford, before he joined Brother Rice, was a skilful mathematician,
spoke French fluently and had a good knowledge of music. Brothers Joseph Murphy, Joseph Hearne, Michael Paul Reardon, second
Superior-General, Jerome Coyle, Thomas Hayes, Stanislaus O' Flanagan, were
all excellent mathematicians. Some
of them were good linguists and all very successful teachers in the
“upper school” before the introduction of the Intermediate System.
The examination system, with publication of results then
introduced, brought schools of various types into competition. In these examinations Mount Sion ranked fifth amongst the Christian
Brothers' schools. Between
1880 and 1892 Mount Sion pupils won twenty-two Exhibitions, three medals,
and forty-nine special prizes. Four
hundred and eighty passed in the various grades in which they had
competed. When one considers
the humble homes from which many of the pupils came, these results were
remarkable.
While the exhibitions, prizes and medals awarded induced the
students to remain longer at school, the money grants paid on the results
of the examinations enabled the Superior of Mount Sion to improve school
equipment and pay for the upkeep of the schools and for the new monastery.
Notwithstanding these grants, the Brothers in Mount Sion in those
days found it very difficult to make ends meet. Brother Thomas Hayes has
left it on record that in 1887 when he was appointed Superior of Mount
Sion he found but five shillings in the House funds and, to make matters
worse, the annual collection had been made !
In 1891 the Bishop of Waterford requested Brother Hayes to
establish a Pay School for those who could afford it.
Without money, but trusting in God, he immediately formed the
nucleus of the new Pay School. The
Bishop had in mind to cater for those Catholic boys who were attending the
Protestant schools and colleges. Within a year Brother Hayes had a hundred
students on the roll. In the
following year, 1882, he secured a loan and bought the property known as
Waterpark, the city residence of the Congreve family. The students were transferred to Waterpark and Brother Hayes was
appointed superior of the new foundation.
In 1905 Brother Jarlath Mullen had the Brother Rice Memorial Chapel
enlarged and renovated. The
stained glass rose window placed over the altar at a later date, is
amongst the finest in the country.
Long before the coming of National Independence or the Language
Revival, Irish was spoken and taught in Mount Sion.
mong the Brothers who taught there were Brothers Patrick Corbett,
Austin O Donoghue, Kieran Flynn, all of whom were native speakers of the
language.
In 1927 the Primary section was registered with the National Board,
which was now under the National Government. Just as the “upper school” stood the test with the introduction
of the Intermediate System, so also did the “lower school” do credit
to Brother Rice's system when the Primary department was placed under the
National Board. With the usual aid from the Department of Education a
splendid Primary School to accommodate one thousand pupils was built in
1945.
In 1959 Scoil Lorcáin was opened to cater for the newly built-up
area in St. John's Park and, in 1972, the old Secondary School was
replaced by a new modern up-to-date building to cater for 480 pupils.
In 1944, on the occasion of the centenary of the
death of Brother
Edmund Ignatius Rice when Church and State did honour to his memory, his
remains were transferred to the beautiful mausoleum in the grounds of
Mount Sion as a preliminary step towards Beatification. From this mausoleum his remains were removed, in the 1979, to the
new Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament where, surrounded by eighteen of his confreres who
first rallied to his standard, he awaits the coming of the day of Final
Reckoning when all shall know the true worth of Edmund Ignatius Rice, the
founder of Mount Sion.
-The
above article, by P.G.Long, first appeared in the magazine that was
published to celebrate the opening of the new Secondary school, in 1972.
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