Presentation College, Bray - History

History

Presentation College Bray was established in 1921 by the Presentation Brothers. Pres Bray originally served as a primary and secondary school, but the primary school was closed in the late 1980s; the old school building is now the home of the Bray Adult Education Centre. Central to the school's history was its connections to the Presentation Brothers., however the last resident Brother left the school in 2003.

On September 5, 1921, the doors of Bray Head House are opened to admit 52 new students to The Presentation College. In 1924 outhouses at the back of the house were refurbished to provide extra classrooms and a science laboratory. In 1957 a new college building was opened. In 1971 this was replaced with a new Secondary School with a swimming pool opens and the 1957 building becomes the Junior School. In 1983 the Edmund Rice Building is opened. It includes a Science Laboratory, Geography Room, Career’s Suite and other specialist rooms. In the late 1980s the Junior School closed, this was the last arm of the fee paying aspect of the College, the school was now a wholly publically funded secondary school. The last Brother left in 2002 after the Brothers closed the monastery at the school

In 2010, the Presentation Schools Trust took over trusteeship of the school from the Presentation Brothers. In August 2011, staff and students (600) move the short distance to the new Presentation College. The 1971 building was handed over to the builders in June for demolition to provide the site for a new Sports Hall.