The Abbey School (Tipperary)


The Abbey School is a Christian Brothers Secondary School in the town of Tipperary, County Tipperary, Ireland. The Abbey is an all-boys school and has about 412 students.
In recent years the school has been extended twice. The first extension is known as the "Edmund Rice Wing" and contains an area for student lockers as well as a Construction Studies room, Woodwork room and Technology laboratory. The second extension was the complete renovation of an old stable which is now called the "Mary Rice Centre" which houses a special needs area, learning support and one-to-one education and a library.
The current principal of the school is John Kiely, who is manager of the Limerick Senior Hurling Team and led the team win the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final.

History

A priory of Augustinian friars operated on the site from c. 1300 before being suppressed in 1539.
After the Cromwellian conquest the land came to Erasmus Smith. He established grammar schools in Tipperary, Galway and Drogheda, where the sons of his Protestant tenants were educated.
The first building was destroyed during the Williamite War. By 1702, there was a new grammar school, which lasted until 1820 when it was rebuilt.
The structure that succeeded it burned down in 1941, soon after the Catholic Christian Brothers had assumed control.
On 3 October 1955 the school was reopened as Father Humphrey's Memorial School. The school is named after Fr. David Humphrys who had campaigned for the education rights of Catholics.

Past pupils