Sandymount High School

Sandymount High School was founded in 1947 and was initially controversial because, as a non-denominational school, it wasn't owned by a church but by the Cannon family,^[1] who also provided the two headmasters the school had: father and son Patrick and Conall Cannon. Patrick's wife Eileen Cannon also served as headmistress.^{[citation needed]}

The school was founded against the wishes of John Charles McQuaid, then Archbishop of Dublin.^[1] As the school was not run by clergy, there was no schools association for it to join.^[1] Together with forty to fifty other schools, they joined the Federation of Lay Catholic Secondary Schools, of which Patrick Cannon would be a leading figure.^[1]

The Department of Education didn't recognise FLCSS until 1958, when then Minister for Education Jack Lynch.^[1] Lynches' successor Patrick Hillery publicly accused the Federation of blackening Irelands' image abroad in a report the Federation published in 1962.^[1]

The Department suspended recognition of the Federation the same year, on grounds of the Federation adopting a new title.^[1] In January 1962 the Federation had renamed itself Federation of Irish Secondary Schools, which the Department claimed was misleading.^[1] The Federation disputed the reason the Department cease recognition.^[1]

The school's student body included those from a local council estate called Beech Hill, the offspring of parents disenchanted with denominational/same-sex schools, students on the Malahide/Howth to Bray rail corridor and foreign nationals who paid tuition fees.^{[citation needed]}

While the school had a gym — basically exercise classes — for Intermediate Certificate students, it had no compulsory sports or sports team for a period.^{[citation needed]} Otherwise rugby union was the main school sport for both Intermediate and Leaving Certificate male students during the early 1960s.^{[citation needed]}

A rival school opened next door several years later: Marian College, run by the Catholic Church.^[1] It was originally intended to be co-educational and named Riverside College, but both the name and its co-educational character were changed at the insistence of John Charles McQuaid as he disliked the influence of Sandymount High.^[2]

The school was closed in 1999 and the land was sold for development.^[3] The site now contains a gated community called Cannon Place.^{[citation needed]}

Notable former pupils include Fionnula Flanagan,^[4] Charlie Bird,^[5] Eamonn Dunphy,^[6] Dervla Kirwan^[7] and Ronnie Delaney.^{[citation needed]}

53°20′01″N 6°13′32″W / 53.3335°N 6.2255°W / 53.3335; -6.2255

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