Staff EmailHistory of St. Nathy’s College [2]
The next extension to the College was the Recreation
Hall which joined the New and The Old College on the north end. This was
a one storey building and continued that function as a recreation hall
until 1964. Andrew Breslan, Dublin later, in 1925, completed minor
repairs and improvements to the Old College, the surroundings of the
Recreation Hall and the boundary wall as well as to the drainage and
sewers. Shortly afterwards, when the E.S.B. replaced the Ballaghaderreen
Electrical Supply Company, the Old Electricity Office (Powerhouse) on
Chapel Lane was purchased and furnished as a Science Laboratory.
In the thirties and during the presidency of Canon Ambrose Blain
accommodation was, again, insufficient for boarding students. This
shortage prompted the planning of the New Wing which was well underway
in 1930. The president and the bishop began a building trust fund in the
National Bank. They initially envisioned the provision of a study hall
over the Recreational Hall and a two storey building of class rooms,
dormitory and dining room adjoining and behind the Old College. This was
revised and a three storey building linking the New College and the Old
College on the Fair Green side was adopted.
Fr. Thomas Curneen, as president, undertook this project shortly after
the outbreak of World Ward II. The New Wing consisted of three very
large halls, the ground floor furnished as a dining room, the first
floor as a study hall and the second floor as a dormitory. Between the
New Wing and the New College, three large washrooms and toilets and a
large side entrance on the ground floor were built. The style was a
classical façade matching the earlier building. The Old College or
Barracks had to be modified and the end section of the battlement which
housed the dairy on the ground floor and two staff bedrooms on the upper
floors was demolished so that the New Wing completed the quadrangle
enclosure. The plan involved linking the New Wing and The Barracks
through the new servery / washroom on the ground floor and by means of a
fire escape from the gable top of the New Wing to the adjacent gable of
the Barracks on the first floor. The Military Barracks ceased to be used
for student classrooms, dining and trunk rooms and was increasingly used
as residential accommodation for domestic staff and as a student
infirmary. The official opening of the extension by Bishop Patrick
Morrisroe was on the 6th September 1941. The contractor had been Mr.
James Glynn, Ballina; the Architect was W.H. Byrne & Son, 20 Suffolk
Street, Dublin and the Engineering Consultants were Hadens Engineering
Co. Ltd. 199 Pearce Street, Dublin. The enrolment was then 150 having
dropped from about 215 in 1935, but it rose rapidly to 190 four years
later.
The student enrolment, and particularly boarders, gradually increased at
the end of the forties and into the fifties. To provide extra
accommodation, Canon James Colleran proposed building a new oratory on
the ground floor and converting the existing College Oratory on the
ground floor into two classrooms. The proposal was put to the priests at
the diocesan retreat in the College in 1954 (the Marian Year) and the
project was undertaken.
There was a very generous response to a diocesan collection in all the
parishes for the New Chapel. An Oratory with accommodation for about 220
students and a cloister where the growing staff of priests could
celebrate private Masses was designed by Noel R. De Chenu and John
O’Reillly Architects, bill of qualities prepared by Padraig Mulcahy,
Merrion Square, Dublin and building was completed by Kelly and Sons
(Builders) Westport in 1957.
One detail worthy of note was the Stations of the Cross designed in oak
by Walkinstown artist Mr. John Haugh. The main altar was dedicated to
the memory of Canon Hugh O’Donnell who was president from 1911 to 1920.
The seating (pews) was supplied by O' Huigin Teo. Galway. At the same
time a new sanitary building and water tower were built in the garden at
the entrance to the football field and grounds.
