The Masonic Boys School (sometimes Masonic Orphan Boys School) was a school in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland which was originally established for the sons of deceased, or financially distressed,

freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. It was directly supported by the Brethren of the Masonic Order and was in existence from 1867 until 1981. The school was located at Richview in

Clonskeagh Clonskeagh or Clonskea (; , meaning "meadow of the Crataegus monogyna, Whitethorn"), is a small southern suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The district straddles the River Dodder. Location and access The district is adjacent to ...

for most of its existence from 1885 to 1980 in what is as of 2023 the

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

's School of Architecture.

History

Following the earlier establishment of the Masonic Female Orphan School of Ireland, the establishment of a boys school was decided upon at a meeting in Freemason's Hall on Molesworth Street on 16 April 1867.

Sport at the school

The school won the

Leinster Cricket Union The Leinster Cricket Union, also known as Cricket Leinster, is one of five provincial governing bodies for cricket in Ireland. Along with the Northern, Munster, Connacht and North West unions, it makes up the Irish Cricket Union (now known ...

Senior schools cup on a number of occasions in its history. The school were runners-up in the

Leinster Schools Junior Cup The Leinster Schools Junior Challenge Cup is an under-age rugby union competition for schools affiliated to the Leinster Rugby, Leinster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union, IRFU. Background The Leinster Schools Junior Cup competition is ...

in Rugby on one occasion in 1927.

School campus

Adelaide Hall, Sandymount

The school was established in 1867 and originally operated from Adelaide Hall in

Sandymount Sandymount () is a coastal suburb in the Dublin 4 district on the Southside, Dublin, Southside of Dublin in Ireland. Etymology An early name for the area was Scal'd Hill or Scald Hill.

which it leased from 1873 but moved because of overcrowding to a new site at Richview Lodge in Clonskeagh in 1885.

Richview, Clonskeagh

After some alterations and extensions of Richview Lodge in the 1880s by the architect Sir Thomas Drew, the school finally commenced for the first time from the new campus at Richview,

on 16 January 1888. In 1980, UCD bought Richview Lodge and its estate of 17.4 acres for £2.1million and the school closed soon after.

Notable alumni

* Alan Buchanan - Anglican bishop * George Campbell RHA - painter * Derek Fielding - author * Edward Seymour - cricketer * James Wills - cricketer *

Stan Polden Stanhope Ernest Polden (24 March 1885 – 14 October 1958) was an Irish international rugby union player. Polden was born and raised in Dublin, where he received his education at the Masonic Boys School. A scrum-half, Polden was a long time memb ...

- Irish rugby player

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em 1867 establishments in Ireland Former Secondary schools in Dublin (city) Educational institutions established in 1867 Freemasonry in Ireland Masonic educational institutions Belfield, Dublin Masonic buildings in Ireland