Wednesday 5th May is the Feast Day of Blessed Edmund Rice.
We remember the enormity of the legacy of Blessed Edmund to the education of the vast numbers of Irish children who were in poverty and had no access to education, as free education was not available widely until the mid 1970s .
Edmund Rice was the founder of both the Presentation Brothers and the Christian Brothers who have been at the forefront of education of boys of all ages in Ireland for 250 years.
Our own St Mary’ s CBGS celebrated 150 years of Education in Belfast in 2016. Many of the world-renowned doctors, dentists, lawyers, educationalists and scientists who play a vital role in all our lives today have been educated at St Mary’s.
Dr. Gabriel Scally and Professor Paddy Mallon and many of the doctors, consultants and health professionals who are at the forefront of dealing with the present Covid -19 pandemic were educated at St Mary’s.
The legacy of Blessed Edmund has spread throughout the world as Presentation Brothers’ and Christian Brothers’ schools now operate all over the world in many countries, especially among the poorest in the developing world.
We hope that the next academic year will see a return to normality in which some of our Year 8 students will once again get the opportunity to visit Edmund’s hometown, Callan.
