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"Christian Brothers Schools Ennistymon
Founded 1824 First House of the Order
Following Recognition as a Congregation
Erected in 1994 on the 150^th
Anniversary of the death of
Br. Edmund Rice."

(Located at The Monastery, Ennistymon)

In 1812, a lease was given over by Edward O'Brien of Ennistymon House to Daniel O'Brien, Parish Priest of Ennistymon, of a site for the building of a parish church in the town. The building thus constructed, above Monastery Lane, was T-shaped in design with a roof of Moher flags, and a floor of compacted earth. The chapel soon became redundant, but within a few short years the building was to have a new lease of life.

During the same period, young Edmund Rice and some assistants were offering rudimentary instruction to the poor and uneducated in Waterford city, and their educational ethos was spreading. In 1821, a Papal Brief established the Institute of the Christian Brothers. Three years later, the Rev. Peter O'Loughlin P.P. Ennistymon, wrote to Edmund Rice, asking him to set up a school for poor Catholic boys in the area. And so, in 1824, two Christian Brothers arrived in Ennistymon.

A new residence was built on the site, and the now disused chapel was converted into classrooms. Within a short space of time, more than three hundred pupils had enrolled. Finally, in May 1827, the Brothers moved into their new monastery beside the burgeoning school, which continued with little change for over 100 years.  A new Primary School was opened nearby in 1931, and a new Secondary School was built some thirty years later.