Royal Hibernian Marine School

Not to be confused with Royal Hibernian Military School.

Royal Hibernian Marine School
Illustration of the building from circa 1780.
Map
Former namesHibernian Marine School
Alternative namesMarine Nursery
General information
StatusDemolished
TypeSchool
Architectural styleGeorgian
AddressSir John Rogerson's Quay
Town or cityDublin
CountryIreland
Coordinates53°20′46″N 6°14′32″W / 53.3461°N 6.2421°W / 53.3461; -6.2421
Groundbreaking1770
Completed1773
Demolished1979
Cost£6,000[1]
Technical details
Materialgranite
Floor count3
Royal Hibernian Marine School and Liffey, from A Picturesque and Descriptive View of the City of Dublin (1791)

The Royal Hibernian Marine School, also known for a period as Mountjoy & Marine School, was a charity school in Dublin, Ireland established in 1766 to care for and educate the orphaned children of seamen.[2][3] The school's building on Sir John Rogerson's Quay was in use as a school from 1773 until 1904 and continued to be used as offices and storage until the 1970s before being demolished in 1979.

School

History

The first meeting of the board of the school took place on 6 June 1766 in the then operating Custom House on what was at that time named Custom House Quay (now Wellington Quay).

In 1775, the school obtained a royal charter.[4]

In 1779, £500 was left to the school in the will of George Simpson who also endowed several other schools and institutions across Dublin including the eponymous Simpson's Hospital.[5]

The school had pupils of about 170 up until around 1830 when the parliamentary grant was withdrawn and the school went into decline with pupil numbers falling to only 27 by 1857.[6]

The school building was damaged by fire in 1872 resulting in the school moving premises to 1 Upper Merrion Street.[7]

In 1904, the school moved to Seafield Road East in Clontarf, where the Seacourt estate now stands.[8][9][10]

The school amalgamated with Mountjoy School in 1968 and became Mountjoy & Marine School. Mountjoy School was a Protestant boarding school previously located on Mountjoy Square which had moved to a new premises in Clontarf in 1947.[11]

The school later amalgamated with Bertrand and Rutland School to finally become Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1972.[12][13]

Sport

In 1910, the school won the inaugural Leinster Cricket Union Junior Cup. Teams representing the school also won the competition on a number of other occasions.[14][15]

New building

The school originally operated from a leased coach-house and inn building near the junction of Ringsend and Irishtown named 'The Sign of the Merrion' which it leased from Richard FitzWilliam, 6th Viscount FitzWilliam via his agent Bryan Fagan of Usher's Quay and later his wife Elizabeth 'the widow' Fagan after his death in January 1761 and later again from their daughter, Barbara Verschoyle.[16]

In 1769, the governors of the school leased a plot of land on Sir John Rogerson's Quay from the estate of Luke Gardiner for a term of £70 per annum.[17] From various sources including parliament and private donors, the governors of the school managed to raise enough funds to construct the new building between 1770 and 1773.[18][19] It was one of the first large buildings to be constructed on the recently completed quay.[citation needed] It was a functional Georgian building of 3 storeys over basement of 7 bays with matching single-storey wings and contained a rusticated raised ground floor.

One of the school wings operated as a chapel while the other operated as a school room with the main building housing the children.[20]

Most sources attribute the building's design to the architect Thomas Cooley,[21] while others attribute it to Thomas Ivory.[2]

An image of the building standing on the quay features in James Malton's illustrations titled A Picturesque and Descriptive View of the City of Dublin drawn in about 1790 not long after the building was erected.

The building operated as the offices of the B&I Line for a number of years as well as the offices of a cold storage company before being demolished in 1979.[2]

References

  1. ^ "The Hibernian Magazine, Or, Compendium of Entertaining Knowledge". James Potts. 1783. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "1773 – Hibernian Marine School, Dublin". Archiseek - Irish Architecture. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  3. ^ Quane, Michael (1967). "The Hibernian Marine School Dublin". Dublin Historical Record. 21 (2): 67–78. JSTOR 30104370. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  4. ^ Archer, Joseph (1801). "Statistical Survey of the County Dublin, with Observations on the Means of Improvement: Drawn Up for the Consideration, and by Order of the Dublin Society". Graisberry & Campbell. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  5. ^ Daly, James F. (1959). "An 18th Century Charity-Simpson's Hospital". Dublin Historical Record. 15 (3): 74–85. JSTOR 30105138. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  6. ^ commission, Ireland Endowed schools (1881). "Report of the Commissioners Appointed by His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, to Inquire Into the Endowments, Funds, and Actual Condition of All Schools Endowed for the Purpose of Education in Ireland". A. Thom. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  7. ^ Clarke, Aisling. "The Hibernian Marine School". Ports, Past and Present. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  8. ^ Ordnance Survey Ireland, National Townland and Historical Map Viewer, Historic 6" Last Edition B&W: DN019
  9. ^ "Hibernian Marine School, now Seacourt, Seafield Road". www.irelandxo.com. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  10. ^ Clarke, Aisling. "The Hibernian Marine School, Sir John Rogerson's Quay". Ports, Past and Present. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  11. ^ "History of Mount Temple – Mount Temple Comprehensive". Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Free Secondary Education For Protestants 1972". RTÉ. 16 September 1972. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  13. ^ "The Bull Wall: The history of a Dublin landmark". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Cricket Leinster". www.cricketleinster.ie. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Where are they now?". www.cricketleinster.ie. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  16. ^ "CITY WRECKS | Ouzel Galley". Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  17. ^ Hopkins, Frank (June 2008). Hidden Dublin: Deadbeats, Dossers and Decent Skins. Mercier Press Ltd. ISBN 9781856355919. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  18. ^ McIntyre, Dennis (1987). The Meadow of the Bull: A History of Clontarf. Dublin: Future Print.
  19. ^ "2006:641 - 17–19 Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin, Dublin". Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  20. ^ Pool (Artist), Robert; Cash, John (1780). "Views of the Most Remarkable Public Buildings, Monuments and Other Edifices in the City of Dublin: Delineated by Robert Pool and John Cash, with Historical Descriptions of Each Building. ..." J. Williams. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  21. ^ "Co. Dublin, Dublin, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Hibernian Marine School". www.dia.ie. Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 17 January 2023.