The History of Marino College

Dublin City’s First Regional Technical School

Marino Vocational School as it was called then was built by the City of Dublin Vocational Educational Committee in 1936. The site at Marino Mart was chosen to serve the first urban housing scheme undertaken by Dublin Corporation and cost 1,100. It was one of the first regional technical schools in Ireland and it included a public library.

Marino School was the first regional school to be built by the Committee. It was the first purpose built technical school in the city.

Five tenders were submitted for the building of the school which was to be built using Wicklow Granite. Messrs. Brennan & Son won the contract worth £20,900.00. The architects were Robinson& Keeffe and the Clerk of works was Mr John Bonham who was paid £6.6s weekly. Costs included teak floors for two Home Economics Rooms, one Metalwork Room and One Woodwork Room. The steel windows were expensive and cost £1, 612.

The First Headmaster

Martin Gleeson was appointed the first headmaster of Marino in 1936. Mr Gleeson was born in Wicklow and was educated at Rockwell College and St Patrick’s Training College. He was a graduate of University College Dublin. In 1934 he was appointed Director of Comhairle Le Leas Oige. As headmaster he was on probation for a two-year period and he received a salary of £300 per annum rising subject to satisfactory service by increments of £15 to £400 per annum. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee in 1944. He made an enormous contribution to the development and expansion of educational activities at every level in the City of Dublin Vocational Committee.

Expanded Teaching Opportunities

The Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction Act of 1899 led local authorities to adopt a rate for technical instruction. By 1902 a network of technical schools was established. Following the 1930 Vocational Education Act, the establishment of Vocational Schools and Technical Colleges provided great opportunities for young teachers to become involved in the Irish Education system. Many returned home from England to take up positions.

The Early Years

Between 1936 and 1956 the school accommodated 240 pupils each year. This was made up of 96 boys and 144 girls. Boys and girls were educated entirely separately. Even during break time, the boys used the West yard and the girls the East yard. Classes were from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 2pm to 5pm Monday to Friday. Classes also took place on Saturdays from 9.30am to 12.30pm. Students were taught for 30 hours per week and teachers had to teach a minimum of 950 hours per annum which classes continued until the last Friday in June. A two-year programme was offered for students aged 14-16 years.

All students studied English, Irish, Arithmetic, Commerce, Art, Religion and P.E. Practical subjects taken by boys were Woodwork, Metalwork and Science. The girls were taught Cookery, Needlework, Laundry work, Typewriting and Shorthand. Records in Marino showed that 2/3 of each class group were successful in gaining apprenticeships, office and secretarial posts during the first year of the course.

Pre-Employment Courses were offered in the year 1937/38. The curriculum on offer included Dressmaking and Needlework, Cookery, Laundry and Household Management. It was designed to bridge the gap between the school leaving age of 14 years and the usual employment age of 16 years.

The Schools Choral Tradition

From the early days singing became an important part of school life and from the 1940s Marino was one of the most prominent schools at the Dublin’s Feis Ceoil competitions. Marino was extremely fortunate to have excellent Choral Teachers including four well known Musicians: Diarmuid O hAlmhain, Leo Maguire, Mary Keogh and Etna Barror.
Killester Vocational School is opened-1956

In the 1950s additional classroom space was needed but it was felt that the extra accommodation would have to be found elsewhere. A school was built in Killester and the boys transferred there. Many of the teachers who had taught the boys moved to the new school too.

Adult Education

The City of Dublin Vocational Educational Committee recognised the value of further education for adults and provided a wide range of courses for adults. There were three broad areas of adult education in the earliest programme:

1. Irish, English, Maths, Book-Keeping, Shorthand, Typewriting, Business Methods and Elementary Science.

2. Manual Instruction in Woodwork and Metalwork

3. Home Economics-Cookery, Needlework and Housewifery

The Marino district was a new suburb when the school was built, and the young housewives enrolled to take classes in Cookery and Dressmaking in particular. In 1954 Navigation and Net Mending classes for fishermen were organised for Friday nights.The time of the class depended on the weather and when the fishermen managed to dock.

The 1960s - A New Era

The Investment in Education Report highlighted the inequalities in educational opportunities for some groupings. Secondary and vocational schools were seen and conducted as separate entities. A common Intermediate certificate for Vocational and Secondary schools was proposed. Vocational students would offer a wider range of subject choices. This led to increased enrolment in Marino School. This became particularly evident after the introduction of free Post Primary education in 1967.

Students became interested in staying on after the Intermediate Certificate. However, restricted accommodation at Marino meant that it was not possible to provide senior cycle programmes onsite. Whitehall House was opened in 1969 for girls in senior cycle. Once students completed the junior cycle they transferred to Whitehall House to take the Leaving Certificate or a secretarial course.

Summer School in 1970s

In 1971 a Summer School of Fashion was offered to post-primary students who were on holidays during the Intermediate and Leaving Certificate Examination period.The ten-day course consisted of two hour classes in the morning, from 10-12 noon or in the afternoon from 2 – 4p.m.Parents and friends were invited on the closing day to view the results. The enrolments and attendances suggested that it has been very successful.

Three 10-day courses for Post-Primary students each from June 9th to June 23rd 1976.

1. The Young Homemaker

2. Painting for Pleasure

3. Dressmaking for the Holidays

1978 - A new extension

The increased enrolments at Junior Cycle Level throughout the 1970s brought accommodation issues. To resolve this, a new extension was added to the building and opened in 1978. It included a Science laboratory and three general classrooms.

Marino in the 1980s

Marino Vocational School became one of 22 second level schools in the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee. The school benefited over the years from the enlightened approach of the Vocational Education Committee. The staff were young and enthusiastic. They worked hard to initiate curriculum development to ensure the students realised their career and academic aspirations and encouraged independent creativity.

2000

The old North Strand Technical College is transferred to Marino College to house the adult learners. The education provision is expanded to BTEI and SKILLVEC. The number of adults attending courses in the building reaches 600.

2004

The College invests in purchasing an individual laptop for all students. The initiative is well received by all staff and students. Sli Eile is launched as a National Behaviour Support Service pilot project. It supports children through a variety of interventions and aids them to make better choices and perform better in school.

2007

All students beginning with first years are purchased laptops. Marino is one of the very first Colleges in Ireland to emphasise the importance of IT in the classroom. The initiative gives the students of Marino a competitive edge when seeking employment and accessing further education.

Roisin Lonergan sets up the Five Lamps Arts Festival. It involves local artists, schools, youth services and members of the community in an annual Arts festival.

2009

A college library staffed by a full time librarian, Kate O’Flaherty, is granted to the school under the JCSP programme.

2011

Music is introduced into Marino College, led by Amy McDonnell. Guitar club, choir and Samba drum club enhance the music provision. The College entered into a partnership with Ceoltoirí Clúaintarbh providing scholarships in traditional music to students.

2012

First years all receive iPads as the school laptop initiative comes to an end. O2 install a state of art Wi-Fi system for free to help support the initiative. The department of Education introduces 100mb broadband across the country which enhances the use of tablets.

2012

Jonathan Rosca is highly commended in the Young Scientist competition on Ray Tracing (Jonathan created an algorithm that accelerates Graphic Cards universally). 2013 Jonathan received a scholarship to Trinity College to study Computer Programming.

2014

Gytis Daujotas, a first year student, comes eight overall out of 2,500 students in a National Programming competition.

2015

Marino College is third in National Digital Media Schools Awards. Their project in oral literacy which utilised iPads; students delivering CPD to staff and interventions to improve oral literacy had a significant impact in the College.

Gytis Daujotoas and Kevin Andrei, two second year students, are asked by Trinity College to present their programming project to eight schools in Google. Their project involved programming Raspberry Pi to play a piano.

Marino College formally enters the Trinity College Access Programme.