THE PRESENT DAY
St. John’s Senior School came into being in September 1994 with the amalgamation of St. John’s Girls School and St. John’s Boys’ School. The former boys’ school was fully renovated and in addition two new classrooms, a General Purpose room, SET classroom, staff room and principal’s office were added in a new extension. At present there are over 220 pupils on roll with a staff of 22. In January 2017, Brian Roche, a former past pupil, was appointed principal.
THE HISTORY OF ST. JOHN’S BOYS SCHOOL
In 1899, Brother Anthony, Provincial of the De La Salle Order in Ireland, was asked by Bishop Brownwrigg to provide teachers for St. John’s Boys’ School. The original school was located on the Dublin Road and conditions were very poor as the following description clearly illustrates.
“The building was dilapidated. The glass in all the windows was broken and the frames were rotten. The walls of the lower room were covered with a black substance resembling soot. The stairs were broken. There were holes in the floor upstairs, which made communication with those in the lower room very easy. The building was a veritable ruin.”
In 1901 the brothers were withdrawn from the school by their Provincial, Brother Anthony who demanded that the building be repaired. In September 1905, the Brothers and boys returned to the refurbished school. In 1947 a new school was approved for St. Johns Parish to replace the school on the Dublin Road and on the 12th September 1949 the new school on Ballybough Street was blessed and opened by Bishop Collier. In 1956 on the 1st of July Dan Kennedy was appointed as the first lay assistant teacher.
While the first priority of the Brothers was to give the boys under their charge a sound education in the 3Rs, Gaelic games, a school band and St. Johns Boys Scouts were of great importance. The St. John’s Boys’ School Band was formed by Br. Bernard in the mid fifties with boys playing the tin whistle. The band later progressed to a fully-fledged fife and drum band in the 1960s. They played at many concerts and other public occasions. Their most prestigious outings were to Nowlan Park where they had the honour of leading the great inter-county hurlers of the day around the pitch before the games. Various school football and hurling teams enjoyed success down through the years. Many pupils from St. John’s went on to make their mark at both club and county level.
The De La Salle Brothers ended their connection with St. John’s Boys’ School in 1984 when Br. Norbert retired. Dan Kennedy then became the first lay principal. He continued in this role until his retirement in 1990. Padraig O’Neill took over as principal and subsequently became principal of St. John’s Senior School. Following Padraig O'Neill's retirement in 2013, Mary Neary was appointed principal until her retirement in 2016.