St Gerard's School is a lay

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

independent day school in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. A fee-charging school, it is administered by a Board of Governors as a charitable trust. As of 2019, the student population was about 770 including its Senior School, Junior School, and the Montessori. In 2019, St. Gerard's School was named top school in County Wicklow, and 29th in Ireland.

History

John James founded the school in 1918. After completing his university degree in 1904 he converted to the Roman Catholic faith. His vision of education emphasized "the dignity of each individual and the development of the whole person". The school is named after

Gerard Majella Gerard Majella (; 6 April 1726 – 16 October 1755) was an Italian lay brother of the Congregation of the Redeemer, better known as the Redemptorists, who is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. His intercession is for children, unbor ...

, patron saint of the school.

Controversy

In March 2021 in the midst of the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, twenty teachers from the St. Gerard's Primary and Secondary School received vaccinations from the

Beacon Hospital Beacon Hospital () is a privately owned full-service teaching hospital located in the Sandyford suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The hospital was developed by Beacon Medical Group (BMG). History Beacon Hospital signed an affiliation agreement with J ...

. At that time, less than 20% of the Irish population had been vaccinated, with many vulnerable and elderly people waiting to be vaccinated. The head of the Irish Health Service and the Minister for Justice expressed "frustration" at the actions of the Beacon Hospital which violated policies regarding the use of surplus vaccines.

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 16 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician serving as Taoiseach since January 2025, having previously held the position from 2020 to 2022. Martin served as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Min ...

, Ireland's Taoiseach, labelled the hospital's actions "repugnant". The Irish Times noted that the children of the chief executive of the Beacon Hospital attend St. Gerard's.

Notable alumni

Charley Boorman Charley Boorman (born 23 August 1966) is a British television presenter, travel writer and actor. A motorbike enthusiast, Boorman has made four long-distance motorcycle rides with his friend Ewan McGregor, documented in '' Long Way Round'' (20 ...

, actor *

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, Ireland rugby union international *

Emma Hannigan Emma Denise Hannigan (25 September 1972 – 3 March 2018) was an Irish author and blogger, best known for writing about her experience of suffering from cancer. Early life The daughter of Denise, a Montessori teacher who ran a home school, and ...

, author and blogger *

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, first State Pathologist of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

* Andrew Hozier-Byrne, musician *

Louis le Brocquy __NOTOC__ Louis le Brocquy '' HRHA'' (; 10 November 1916 – 25 April 2012) was an Irish painter born in Dublin to Albert and Sybil le Brocquy. Louis' sister is the sculptor Melanie Le Brocquy. His work received many accolades in a caree ...

, artist *

Frank O'Reilly Frank O'Reilly (7 April 1924 – 20 March 2001) was an Irish racewalker. He competed in the men's 50 kilometres walk at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and com ...

, Irish banker, businessman *

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, CEO of

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Elena Tice Elena Joy Neill (née Tice, born 16 November 1997), also referred to as Lena Tice, is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Tice is also an I ...

, dual Ireland women's cricket and field hockey international

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Gerard's School, Bray 1918 establishments in Ireland Catholic secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland Educational institutions established in 1918 Primary schools in County Wicklow Private schools in the Republic of Ireland Schools in Bray, County Wicklow Secondary schools in County Wicklow

History

Controversy

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links