In
1849 the
Christian Brothers came to Wexford from Waterford and opened
their first school in the Faythe with the financial help of
Mr. Richard Devereux. The Brothers lived in a house in
William Street. 
Shortly afterwards they had to extend the
school to cater for the numbers and to provide
accommodation for the three Brothers who taught there.
George’s Street school was handed over to the Brothers
in 1853 and
192 pupils attended. It remained open until 1971,
when it was sold to Scowcream for £6250. The pupils
transferred to the newly extended school in Green Street.
In
1873 Mr. Richard Devereux
built a monastery in Joseph Street to house the Brothers at
a cost of £2500. They live there to this day.
Two
years later a
new school was built at the rear end of the monastery by
Richard Devereux. It cost £1,500. (The Secondary school is
on this site at the present time).
The Faythe school was
then transferred to the St. John of God Sisters.
The
bell from the old St. Mary’s church was transferred to the
monastery in 1885.
In
1939 a new school was opened at Green Street. It cost
£15,959,
including furniture. It was opened by Dr. Staunton, the
Bishop of Ferns in a big ceremony. Many hundreds of
townspeople attended and invited guests had a meal in Rooms
5 & 6.
1969 saw
the
first female teacher arrive at the school. Her name was Ms.
Frawley (now known as Ms. Brett).
When
the New Block was opened in 1971, 820 pupils attended the
school, with an average of 50 pupils in each class!!
In 1972
The gym was opened and is shared between Primary and
Secondary schools..
Mr. Jos Furlong
became the first lay principal of the Primary School in 1999.
At the
present time, there are about 250 pupils and 13
full-time teachers in the school (4 men and 9 women). Pupils come to us in 2nd
class from the Mercy
School, St. John's Rd. and into 4th
class from The Faythe School. The decline in our school
population has enabled us to convert existing classrooms for
use in specialist areas, and we now have a dedicated
Computer Room, an Art Room, Music Room, Video Room and a
School Library.
We've
come a long way!!!
