Belcamp College, Malahide Road.

Kennelly · 19-05-2009 3:19pm

I attended Belcamp College from September 1950 to June 1954. It was an enjoyable four years. I played football,hurling and Basketball .You mentioned Fr Ned Barrett. Ned Lives in Ardfert, Kerry and I meet with him nearly every year. He is doing fine. What is the status of Belcamp now? I would like to know if the George Washington Memorial building is still standing. We used it as a smoking lounge. I am not sure if the American Embassy is aware that such an edifice exits; they would be interested in its preservation. Is there a Past Pupils union in existence? I live in Alexandria, Va now but spend some of the Summer months in Lixnaw, Co Kerry in the old homestead on the banks of the Feale.

archy1 · 02-06-2009 8:38pm

Folks, just to let you know , I attended both the Past Pupil reunion in April, and the Staff do last Friday on 30th May, in the Marine Hotel in Sutton.

I am still planning a "Farewell to Belcamp College" DVD and I am currently gathering content. It is NOT going to be a history, Tom O'Shea did that job with his excellent " Belcamp Forever". My effort brings it all upto date to the very last day this June 29th when it closes , lock, stock and Barrel. Reeling in the Years format, a little. I will be filming , recording during final Leaving Certifcate examinations , starting tmr 3RD of June. Just like my leaving cert exams in the old study hall back in 1975, the sun will be Shining.

On the staff night...Mr Trimble, Father Barret, Father Mulligan, and Father Eoghan Haughey were present, among others and it was a small dignified event with MC duties carried out, with great aplomb and emotion, by Pat McVeigh the last of the 19 principles. Michael McMahon " Maxy" was represented by his widow on the night and a few tears were shed. It was great to be there and I was asked to say a few words on behalf on the past pupils which was great. I told the gathering that their precious Country lad boarders, who spoke Irish much better that us Dubs, sold us the in house term papers in the early 70's for 50p...that went down well! then father Eoghan treated us to a nice song about Donnycarney...more again about the night ...farewell fellow Belcampers...

rumour is NAMS will be the next owner of Belcamp....yes ...lets reopen the School....we own it again!

gary cummins · 04-06-2009 11:44pm

Hi There

I attended Belcamp from 1976-79.just wondering if anyone knows what the following pupils who attended at the same time are doing now?

Ciarain chalky White
John Kelly
Aussie
Greg Doherty
David Heenan
Paul Mcgough
Brian Spratt

lost marbles · 05-06-2009 4:36am

gary cummins wrote: »

Hi There

I attended Belcamp from 1976-79.just wondering if anyone knows what the following pupils who attended at the same time are doing now?

Ciarain chalky White
John Kelly
Aussie
Greg Doherty
David Heenan
Paul Mcgough
Brian Spratt

hi gary what class were you in because most of those lads names ring a bell .john kelly i hung around with hav,nt seen him in years think he lives in cork .thats about all i know

gary cummins · 05-06-2009 9:31pm

Hi There

I think the class was called f1 or f2?Had batman for science,biddy for french,o'shea for english.
Played in Croke Park in final for Belcamp.Think there was another lad called sean carthy.
Also played football with ciarain white for kilmore boys.Would love to know what they are doing now

G

lost marbles · 06-06-2009 4:22am

gary cummins wrote: »

Hi There

I think the class was called f1 or f2?Had batman for science,biddy for french,o'shea for english.
Played in Croke Park in final for Belcamp.Think there was another lad called sean carthy.
Also played football with ciarain white for kilmore boys.Would love to know what they are doing now

G

i remember sean alright he hung around with pat brady [big lad ]
i think my bro "foxy " would have been in your class .ciarain was a good ball player alright .
do you remember playing football in the tennis courts with the tennis ball
no footballs allowed .could,nt tell you what they are doing now because moved away years ago .
walking up that lane or across the fields in the rain and then waiting hours on a friday evening for the 42 bus at campions .
i remember getting halled across the coals [wrongly i might say ] for being accused of letting the air out of sean cartys tyres on his bike .
remember the race of bikes across the bridge to the main gate .
i think a guy called stephen byrne was in your class [very good footballer (soccer)]
he went to the states and joined the american navy and lives there now .

npresto · 08-06-2009 9:41pm

I just found out today about the Past Pupil re-union on 27-April and I'm raging I missed it.
I attended Belcamp from 81-86 and had a ball.

Teachers: Ms Feran, Mr (Brendan) Gleeson, Mr McVeigh, Mr Garvey, "Maxi" McMahon, Mr Corbett, Ms McGuinness, Ms McDonagh, Mr Dempsey.

Ms Feran stopped stopped me from foolishly leaving school a year before my leaving cert & Mr Gleeson was responsible for giving me the confidence to start wearing glasses.

Shame the place has been allowed to close.

archy1 · 24-06-2009 10:35pm

Fellow Belcamp students just to let you know that on such a glorious day as today Belcamp is noe aprt of the Gerry Gannon property port folio. I was there at about 10.30 with my son Russell who is a film maker. We shot a piece in my last classroom , leaving cert 1975. I covered the story of how are class, intercert year of 1972/1073 started the College disco and I did a piece in the libary where the disco where help. All done to a 70's soundtrack it will be posted on you tube in the coming days. I wil advise link details...thk gerry cooley

stef del · 04-07-2009 4:16pm

Hi all, i went Belcamp 1985-87, all good,want to know all about whats happening to the mad house... did maxi pass-away? i would like to hear from past pupils or teachers who knew me or my brothers, Brian,Joey as we were together in Belcamp.I miss that place and i have fond memories too,iam now a Broadcast engineer and healthy and lifes good,just got back from glastonbury aswell... anyway if you wanna chat about the old times in Belcamp then e mail me : libra3tech@yahoo.co.uk Stephen Delahunty . would like to hear from old class buddys... martain,smith,paul bonney,anto cray,stephen larkin,colin traynor... to name a few o and the nutty lad peter rossiter ofcourse.Best wishes to you all!!! There is also a facebook group for Belcamp College so sign up now!! iam on there too!!

archy1 · 05-07-2009 8:18am

Folks, this is a small tribute to the fact that our class started the Belcamp Disco's way back in 1972!. Enjoy the Music Video , my son Russell did the filming and effects.

An gal gréine · 06-07-2009 2:20pm

Gerry, well done with the pics on Belcamp. It's still sad every time I see how delapidated the place now is. I know memories can be dodgy, especially after all this time, but my recollection is of early '74 as bein the first disco. They would'nt have let us at it any younger than that, anyway!!

archy1 · 06-07-2009 3:58pm

Hear you ,.. I might give you 73 , but deffo earlier that 74 the very 1st one was in the Study hall, I remember the night well alot of trouble ensured, and after is was the libary in the new school, I did my inter cert that year Sept 72/June 73 from my new class room. What year were you there, class etc...regards Gerry Cooley:rolleyes:

An gal gréine · 06-07-2009 6:59pm

I remember the second one very well and that was about Easter '74. Now the first one MAY have been before the previous Christmas which would make it '73 and us in 5th year AFTER the Inter Cert.
Think of it this way, if it was before the Inter, that means that our class plus the 2 senior classes above us would all have been cramped into that little library and that's before you add in the girls' schools and other interested parties.
I'll be in touch with you off-line as we said at the re-union in April, Gerry.
Did you not read my other posts under this thread ? Dead giveaway.

archy1 · 06-07-2009 11:03pm

Did you look at the Video? read the class names do you have any more. You may be right for Christmas 73 but that was in the Study hall? regards Gerry

An gal gréine · 07-07-2009 11:39am

We were disappointed that we did'nt see jumpin jack flash himself struttin his stuff in the library on the video.

archy1 · 07-07-2009 12:58pm

Somethings are best forgotten, lets meet up before summer ends. PS Can you email me the photo of John Brennan outside Dardistown for inclusion my book?

gerrycooley@gmail.com

zeemeee · 04-08-2009 5:10pm

Gary Cummins - is that the same Gary Cummins that won the Debs disco dancing competiotion in 1981?

gary cummins wrote: »

Hi There

I attended Belcamp from 1976-79.just wondering if anyone knows what the following pupils who attended at the same time are doing now?

Ciarain chalky White
John Kelly
Aussie
Greg Doherty
David Heenan
Paul Mcgough
Brian Spratt

zeemeee · 04-08-2009 5:13pm

Lost marbles - if foxy was your brother then you must be John.

lost marbles wrote: »

i remember sean alright he hung around with pat brady [big lad ]
i think my bro "foxy " would have been in your class .ciarain was a good ball player alright .
do you remember playing football in the tennis courts with the tennis ball
no footballs allowed .could,nt tell you what they are doing now because moved away years ago .
walking up that lane or across the fields in the rain and then waiting hours on a friday evening for the 42 bus at campions .
i remember getting halled across the coals [wrongly i might say ] for being accused of letting the air out of sean cartys tyres on his bike .
remember the race of bikes across the bridge to the main gate .
i think a guy called stephen byrne was in your class [very good footballer (soccer)]
he went to the states and joined the american navy and lives there now .

paramedicjoe · 09-08-2009 11:46am

lost marbles wrote: »

how are you doing delallio maybe you are right in what you say. its these rose tinted glasses of mine and the search for my youth. if the truth be known i probably hated the place i was in 1L the L meaning we done latin with mr garvey .now some mod here is going to pull me on this but we are talking history here .guys i remember were a kelly ,garvey,brady,delaney,maybe you were in my class .belcamp had all the marks of one of the top boarding schools in its day and still could hold its own in todays ireland but for its location and the fact it closed down the boarding end of things even though i got out after the inter cert some of the teachers did leave a good impression on me
regards
marbles

Hi to all.I have just joined and am curious about former classmates.I left in 1979 after fifth year.I was in the Latin class from first year onwards.Perhaps it is the midlife crisis,but I would really like to follow up on my old classmates.As you can see from my log in I am invloved in Ambulance Services and can be contacted at joe@medilink999.ie

danny_dublin · 11-03-2010 12:07am

I attended from 1996-2002, so I'm considerably later than a lot of the previous contributors. I stumbled upon this page after I'd been added by a classmate on Facebook, then found a link on his profile for a Belcamp College group (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/group.php?gid=54484594035) where I found the link to this thread. I heard a number of years ago the old school grounds were being sold, and the school closed. I'd forgotten all about it until recently when I decided to check things out. Sorry to see that I missed the events of last year, would've been great to go for one last time, and attend the social too. Glad a good time was had though.
It's certainly sad to see that it has come to this, with so much history in the place. Maybe it's a sign of the times, and maybe if it'd been located in a different part of the city this may not have happened, but what's done is done now. At least we all have fond memories, and a lot to be thankful for. All the best to one and all into the future.
Danny

davetaxi · 21-07-2010 2:45am

in belcamp college were they hang you from your bo***x
and archy plays snooker with your balls,
************* you know the rest **************
cmon guys
wheres the class of 80 upwards, Farley, Greer,Fogo,[the original] the Kellys,flynn,finn,o'casey..................in the words of Frank Gallagher "Lets have a PARTY!!!!!!!
come on MR O'reagan, Gleeson, Scanell, Wilson(all is forgivin) Casey, Fern, Garvey, o'shea..........
lets have a reunion:D

tigger28 · 25-01-2011 12:44am

Just found this thread,I attended Belcamp from 1966 to 1972
Brings back a lot of memories not all good or bad but all along time ago
Had there been any more reunions since.

are any of the old priests still alive they would be a great age now
ARCHIE BILLER BARRETT Mulligan

Ronan

lost marbles · 26-01-2011 4:03pm

tigger28 wrote: »

Just found this thread,I attended Belcamp from 1966 to 1972
Brings back a lot of memories not all good or bad but all along time ago
Had there been any more reunions since.

are any of the old priests still alive they would be a great age now
ARCHIE BILLER BARRETT Mulligan

Ronan

jeeze tigger the place must have being rightly in the country back then .when i went to belcamp darndale was only a new estate .they called it H block .
dont know about any of the old teachers . but looks like the school will end up in the hands of NAMA now . i even see the hoardings are gone from the gate on the malahide rd .so q the vandals and copper vultures to eventully strip the place clean .
shame .

An gal gréine · 16-03-2011 2:54pm

tigger28 wrote: »

Just found this thread,I attended Belcamp from 1966 to 1972
Brings back a lot of memories not all good or bad but all along time ago
Had there been any more reunions since.

are any of the old priests still alive they would be a great age now
ARCHIE BILLER BARRETT Mulligan

Ronan

Archie is in a parish in Australia, Ned a chaplain in a Kerry hospital and Biddy is at Hq in Inchicore. Biller and Shag passed away in the 90's, Fido and Jimmy since then. There's been no re-unions since but some of the Class of '75 meet from time to time.

justindublin · 13-04-2011 11:30pm

Tonight...

Photo%20Apr%2013%2C%2011%2027%2044%20p.m..jpg

Cathalp66 · 14-04-2011 11:47pm

Heard about the fire on Facebook last night, so I had to see for myself if what they said was true and it is a very sad sight indeed. The main school is destroyed and there was obvious signs of previous fires in the main house. Thankfully I read in a newspaper article at the weekend that the Stain glass windows of the church had been removed and placed in safe keeping in the national museum. I went to Beller from 79 to 82 and was in the B class. I remember so many of the teachers, Biddy Mulligan, Barret, Casey, Miss McDonnell, McFay, Dempsey, Brendan Gleeson, Trimble and the legendary Fr Archibald. And who could forget Fr Haughy. They where great days, playing ball with a tennisball, nearly ****ting yourself as it screwed up towards those stainglass windows. Great days. Sorry to see the state of the school now

rmrc43 · 06-08-2011 1:19am

Hi left belcamp in 1979 does anyone know where to get a copy of tom o sheas book belcamp forvever or as its title the belcamp story

Dotrel · 25-12-2011 2:44am

Sorry for digging up this old thread. I have a question. Could someone tell me where the grounds of Belcamp College were? I'm looking to find it on google maps. I've established it was on the malahide road but as it's now (as I understand?) a bunch of apartments there's not much point using that alone as a locator.

Could someone here tell me where this school was located? Thanks.

Tiercel Dave · 26-12-2011 1:19am

Can you work Google Maps with these co ordinates?
"Belcamp" lat=53.4074751887, lon=-6.18684007593
Dave

BISHBOY · 03-01-2012 8:25pm

Hi

can some of the pupils tell me something of the history of Belcamp? how long is/was it in existence !
A cousin of mine has recently died in USA age 92, born in NYC in 1919, mother died in 1921 ( my Aunt) he was sent to Ireland for schooling and it is said that he went to Belcamp - probably in 1930's . Is it possible to check this from any publication that may exist ?

Thanks

An gal gréine · 03-01-2012 9:51pm

1893 was the year Belcamp opened by the Oblate Fathers and was sold to a property developer in 2004. Anyone attending the school at this point was alowed to stay until they finished their final exams in June 2009.
Maybe Vincent Mulligan at Oblate hq can help you with the historical records.

BISHBOY · 03-01-2012 9:56pm

Many thanks for reply. The Oblates were mentioned in his obituary but in Limerick . So i will follow this up

Belfast · 10-01-2012 3:46pm

good to see so many people remmber Belcamp.
My uncle was in the Oblate Fathers in Belcamp.
He was very proud of the Harry Clark windows in the church.
My uncle told me the tower in honour of Washington was the only monument built to Washington during his life time.

index.php?id=1707994&t=w

Sir Edward Newenham, MP, 1734-1814
Propagandist, popular politician, conservative reactionary, Edward Newenham excited sharply different responses during his lifetime. He was encouraged by his admiration for Charles Lucas in Ireland and John Wilkes in England to take up the issue of parliamentary reform, and by his support for the cause of the American colonists to become one of the warmest advocates of American independence from Britain this side of the Atlantic during the American Revolution. His admiration for the American cause brought him into contact with Benjamin Franklin, who aspired to recruit him to the American cause, George Washington, John Jay and the marquis of Lafayette who introduced him to the court of Louis XVI though Britain and France were at war. Their surviving correspondences provide one of the main sources for this study, and they show clearly that Newenham did not, as some contemporaries believed, ever engage in treasonable activity. His commitment throughout his political life was to uphold the Protestant constitution, and it is this commitment that allows one to make sense of a life that saw him make a significant contribution as a reforming revenue officer, as a prolific and outspoken propagandist, as a popular MP for County Dublin for more than twenty years, as a Volunteer officer, and finally as a conservative ideologue who supported the Act of Union and opposed Catholic relief.

He was also a devoted husband and father (to eighteen children) until his mismanagement of his inheritance, largely on the construction of Belcamp Hall in north County Dublin, precipitated him on an economic roller coaster that caused him to spend a spell in a debtors' prison. He died in genteel poverty, but he remained until the end a representative voice of that strong strand of Protestant opinion that believed utterly in the merits of a 'Protestant constitution'.

http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/product.php?intProductID=426

In 1778 he erected a tower in honour of Washington in the grounds of his demesne, Belcamp Hall,

http://www.rds.ie/cat_historic_member_detail.jsp?itemID=1097822&item_name=
http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=FI&regno=11350025

Belfast · 10-01-2012 4:09pm

Just heard about the fire.
Glad my uncle did not live to see to it happen.
photo of the fire damage.
http://leonotron.com/belcamp/belcamp.html

Mance Rayder · 28-01-2012 4:42pm

A terrible shame. I went there from 1996 - 2002. It was a lovely building in beautiful surroundings . Unfortunatly the close proximity of certain estates spelled doom for the school. I grew up near by, and judgeing by what it's like today, that area truely has gone to hell.

Still can't believe they built a Hilton there.

R.I.P Belcamp.

davycc · 08-10-2013 7:41pm

I was passing & stopped in for a look as im an ex pupil 93/98 & disgusted to see the fire damage....some degenerates out there

I was under the impression that the entire buildings & lands where under the control of NAMA? can any confirm if this is still the case as I noticed the football pitches & just about every patch of grass has been ploughed up for farm use & been planted with some crops recently....

Is this even legal considering its the property of NAMA?

could the farmer who ploughed the school grounds gotten permission in some way from them or some other body or is he purely a chancer grabbing some "free " land & seeing how long he can get away with it?

micraX · 31-12-2013 12:55am

^^^ farmers can rent land off NAMA, better than it lying idle and its some revenue from it. some lad got a grand few acres of fresh ground for spuds this year:)

An gal gréine · 31-12-2013 10:22am

micraX wrote: »

^^^ farmers can rent land off NAMA, better than it lying idle and its some revenue from it. some lad got a grand few acres of fresh ground for spuds this year:)

Virgin soil too. It was only ever football fields for the last 50 years and more.

micraX · 17-01-2014 9:38am

Be very good ground. To be honest I'm glad there and many other building site wastelands are been returned to farming. I woulda loved to have taken Belcamp, always wanted to plough a football pitch. Haha

Missent · 18-01-2014 11:11am

I believe Belcamp was also the home of the Jervis-White-Jervis family of baronets for some time. The baronetcy was granted to the fantastically named family while at Bally Ellis, Co. Wexford but I believe they moved to Belcamp shortly afterwards. The baronetcy is now extinct. If you google "Jervis-White-Jervis" some details come up.

Daniel O'Connell wrote a snorter of a letter to the second baronet, who was a strong conservative, which was published in the Wexford Independent at one stage.

Missent · 18-01-2014 11:15am

Link to JWJ family papers of Belcamp here.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=F255o

(Apologies - see link doesn't work - but it showed that papers were held in Trinity College, Dublin.)

ianreynolds14 · 02-04-2014 9:05pm

Hi All,

My dad attended Belcamp from 1963-1966, just reading through this he remembers a lot of the older teachers such as Archie, Bilco, Smiler, Big Din, Muscles, Guck, and billy mulligan.

Was reading through and was looking for anyone who remembers them or attended during that time??

Would love to catch up up and chat about it

Thanks

micraX · 28-07-2014 1:27pm

An gal gréine wrote: »

Virgin soil too. It was only ever football fields for the last 50 years and more.

Eddie Finnegan and sons from navan had it taken last year off nama. They are one of the biggest potato growers in tge country. Fair play to them for getting them ou, dodgy ground. Weath growing where the football field was this year.

davycc · 05-08-2014 3:55am

micraX wrote: »

Eddie Finnegan and sons from navan had it taken last year off nama. They are one of the biggest potato growers in tge country. Fair play to them for getting them ou, dodgy ground. Weath growing where the football field was this year.

Yea I had a look through the gates at malahide road end last year and was suprised to see just about every green area right up to the burnt out school walls had been ploughed up and under seed:eek:

PS I just sent you a Message

freshbreeze · 22-02-2015 4:55pm

burrenman wrote: »

Thaes names bring back a lot of memories. Does anyone remember Father John Archibald. Used to teach latin before becoming the headmaster

Sure do.He thought me Spanish.Always remember him saying to us"you have time for football,you have time for basketball.you have time for TV" very quietly and the shouting"but you have NO TIME TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK"That was before he became headmaster.72 /74

freshbreeze · 22-02-2015 4:58pm

davycc wrote: »

Yea I had a look through the gates at malahide road end last year and was suprised to see just about every green area right up to the burnt out school walls had been ploughed up and under seed:eek:

PS I just sent you a Message

How sad.Pass by a lot but never stoped to look in.Is there and way one could take a walk around i wonder?

micraX · 22-02-2015 6:48pm

freshbreeze wrote: »

How sad.Pass by a lot but never stoped to look in.Is there and way one could take a walk around i wonder?

It's hard to know, dodgy people could be hanging around. They where last week when I was going to try get in

freshbreeze · 22-02-2015 7:44pm

Thanks for your reply.If you can find another way let me know,perhaps we could go together
Louis

micraX · 22-02-2015 7:54pm

freshbreeze wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.If you can find another way let me know,perhaps we could go together
Louis

I think I'm going to wait till Foley is harvesting on the summer, go in with one of the lads in a tractor.

still queueing · 07-05-2016 6:42pm

Anyone recognise the priest in the middle picture ?
The WWW there is no hiding anymore, Notre Dame, Australia. 2009

http://www.nd.edu.au/news/fremantle/commencement_ceremony.shtml

Here's Biddy .. amazing truly amazing http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/vincent-is-first-irish-priest-to-get-vatican-award-30614182.html

Belcamp College, Malahide Road.

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