St Patrick’s National School

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St Patrick's School of 1879

This school replaced an earlier school on the same site and was designed by James Price of Knockeevin, Church Road, who was a member of the vestry of the parish. He was also the designer of a house called Knockdolian on Church Lane, and of the reservoir for Greystones. In 1862 James was appointed the Engineer in chief of the Midland Great Railway of Ireland and was in charge of the Royal Canal. He also introduced the bascule type bridge to Ireland. In 1885 he was President of the Institute of Civil Engineers.
The first stone for Greystones National School (under the patronage of the Church of Ireland) was laid in September 1879 by William Robert La Touche in La Touche Place. The original contractor was Richard Henry Ludlow of Willow House, Church Road, Greystones, who built the walls of the school. George E Doyle completed the work to the school. This was George Enright Doyle of Stanley, Church Road, Greystones. The School had a Schoolmaster’s house, named Seamount, located in the grounds of the school. Seamount was the original school, with a teacher’s residence on the first floor. Later the new school was replaced by a prefab school on the same site in La Touche Place and Seamount became the sexton’s house.
When St Patrick’s National School was opened in the 1970s in Church Road one of the prefabricated classrooms was moved to beside St Patrick’s Church. It was used as a Parish Room until the Parish Centre was built in 2005 at the Church. The Parochial Hall, St Patrick’s Hall, which was built in 1958, was in Kimberley Road, at some distance from the Church, so the prefab was used for small gatherings and was convenient to the Church. The other prefab classroom remained at La Touche Place and was the voluntarily-run Parish Thrift Shop, which raised funds for St Patrick’s for many years.
The principle of the school in 1871 was Miss Richards. The first Schoolmaster (Principal) of the new school was John L. Johnstone and the Mistress was Rebecca Johnstone. By 1901 Rebecca, aged sixty, was a widow and a school teacher in Kilbixy, Westmeath. By 1894 Thomas and Jane Greenaway were Master and Mistress of the school. Thomas retired between 1901 and 1911. He was from County Armagh. Jane was an organist and was from County Limerick. The School Principal in 1910 was James Joseph Hazlett, whose wife Alice was also a national School Teacher. He was born in County Monaghan. Alice was born in Dublin. James was a Graduate of Trinity College and in 1901 was living at Edenvale Road, Rathmines / Rathgar.