Edmund Ignatius Rice (1762-1844)

Edmund Rice was born in Callan, Co. Kilkenny in 1762 and was the son of a large farmer. His parents had a great influence on his later life by showing great kindness to the local poor and raising Edmund in a loving Christian family.

When Edmund was 17 he went to Waterford to work for his uncle who was a wealthy trader. Here he witnessed the hardship which existed among the poor of the city. Later he married Mary Elliot but she was to die tragically from a riding accident and her daugther with whom she was pregnant at the time was born handicapped. This disaster had a profound effect on Edmund and he vowed to dedicate his life to helping the poor of Waterford.

At the age of 40 he sold all his property and began a school for the poor in a stable in the city. After many setbacks and difficulties his congregation grew and finally in 1820 after he took his final vows he was elected Superior General of the Christian Brothers.

Today his legacy is to be found throughout the world. His Brothers (Christian and Presentation) now numbering 3,000, working with 7,000 other teachers, instruct over 212,000 boys in 560 schools. The Christian Brothers have missions in Britain, Rome, Canada, U.S.A., Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, West Indies, Ghana, Liberia, Zambia, S. Africa, India, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

The Church acknowledged the great work that he had done and on the 6th October 1996 the Pope beatified the founder in a moving ceremony in Rome.

A unique link between Edmund Rice and our school is that a former Provincial General was Bro. Edmund Garvey, a past pupil of our school.