Cork Schools
The principal schools in connection with the Established Church are the following. St. Stephen's Blue Coat Hospital was founded pursuant to a grant of lands and tenements in the north and south liberties by the Honourable William Worth, by deed dated Sept. 2nd, 1699, now producing a rental of £443. 4. 4. which, with the interest of £500 saved by the trustees, is expended in the maintenance, clothing, and education of 22 boys, the sons of reduced Protestant citizens, and in aid of the support of four students at Trinity College, Dublin: it is under the superintendence of the mayor and council, who nominate the boys. The school premises are situated on an eminence in the parish of St. Nicholas, and comprise a good school-room, dining-hall, apartments for the governor, and suitable offices, with an enclosed playground in front.
The Green Coat Hospital, in the churchyard of St. Anne's Shandon, was founded about 1715, chiefly through the exertions of some military gentlemen and others to the number of 25, who by an act passed in 1717 were incorporated trustees, for the instruction of 20 children of each sex in the rudiments of useful knowledge and the principles of the Protestant religion, and for apprenticing them at a proper age, with a preference to the children of military men who had served their country. No regular system appears to have been introduced prior to 1751, but subsequently 40 children were clothed and educated till 1812; the number has since been increased by aid of a parliamentary grant, and at present there are 40 boys and 28 girls in the school.
The income amounts to £96. 7. 11 ¼. per annum, of which £83. 15. 11 ¼. arises from donations and bequests, and the remainder from annual subscriptions: the chief benefactors were Daniel Thresher, who devised the lands of Rickenhead, in the county of Dublin, now let for £26 per annum on lease, which will expire in 1844, when they will probably produce at least £100 per annum; and Francis Edwards, of London, who devised eleven ploughlands in the parish of Ballyvourney, let permanently for £11 per annum: a librarian and treasurer, chosen from among the trustees, act gratuitously. The building consists of a centre and two wings, the former containing two school-rooms and apartments for the master; in the west wing are a library and board-room, with apartments for the mistress; and the other wing contains lodging-rooms for about 38 poor parishioners.
Deane's charity schools were founded under the will, dated in 1726, of Moses Deane, Esq., of this city, who devised the rents of certain premises held for a term of years in trust to the corporation, to accumulate until they should yield a sum of £1200 for the parishes of St. Peter, St. Nicholas, St. Mary Shandon, and Christ-Church respectively, which sums were to be invested in lands in the county of Cork, and the rents applied to the instruction and clothing of 20 boys and 20 girls of each parish. The portion of the bequest assigned to the parish of St. Peter having been paid, the school was re-opened in 1817, and now affords instruction to 30 boys and 35 girls, of whom 20 of each sex are clothed: the endowment produces £66. 17. per annum, and an additional sum of about £50 is raised annually by subscriptions and the proceeds of an annual sermon: these form the parochial schools of St. Peter's.
The portion assigned to the parish of St. Nicholas was obtained by the Rev. Archdeacon Austin, and was afterwards vested in the hands of the commissioners for charitable bequests by the Rev. Dr. Quarry. In 1822 a grant was obtained, and a plain and commodious building containing two school-rooms was erected in Cove-street, to which, in 1831, the Rev. J. N. Lombard, the present rector, added a school-room for infants: there are now in these schools 76 boys and 99 girls, of whom 30 boys and 25 girls are clothed out of the funds, which now amount to £189. 14. 10. per annum, and the children receive a daily supply of bread.
The portion belonging to St. Mary Shandon's was lost for many years, but by the exertions of Dr. Quarry, the present rector, £800 was recovered, which, by a legacy of £100 and accumulated interest, has been augmented to £2000 three and a half per cent. reduced annuities: a commodious building of red brick ornamented with hewn limestone, and containing apartments for the master and three spacious school-rooms with a covered play-ground for the children, was erected in 1833 under the superintendence of Dr. Quarry, at the cost of £743. 2. 6. collected by him for that purpose: the pupils amount to 64 boys and 46 girls. An infants' school affords instruction to 100 children: the entire average of attendance may be averaged at 200.
A Sunday and an adult school are also held in the same building. The boys' and girls' schools are supported by a portion of the dividends arising from the funded property, and by local subscriptions, and a collection after a charity sermon; and the infants' school by a portion of the same dividends and subscriptions. The parish of Christ-Church obtained no portion of Deane's bequest, the lease of the premises from which it was payable having expired. The diocesan schools for the sees of Cork, Ross, and Cloyne, are situated in Prince's-street, and are attended by 60 pupils, of whom 14 are taught gratuitously.
On the eastern side of the cathedral is a free school founded by Archdeacon Pomeroy for the instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic, of ten boys, to be nominated by the bishop; the master's original salary of £10 having been augmented by the dean and chapter, and by a bequest by the late Mrs. Shearman, to £30, twenty boys are now instructed gratuitously and are also taught the mathematics. Attached to the school is a library, founded also by the archdeacon, and much enlarged by a bequest of the late Bishop Stopford: it contains more than 4000 volumes, chiefly valuable editions of the classics and works on Divinity, and is open gratuitously to the clergy of the diocese and the parishioners of St. Finbarr's.