Speech for the Opening of the New Wing

The following speech was delivered by Martin Kilmurray, O.Carm. on the occasion of the Opening and Blessing of the new wing in Terenure College by His Eminence, Desmond Cardinal Connell, Archbishop of Dublin, December 7, 2001.

Your Eminence, Bishop Lamont, Ladies and Gentlemen, Pupils of the College:

It is with much regret that our Provincial, Father Fintan Burke, is unable to be present for this Blessing Ceremony. As leader of the Carmelite Order in Ireland he would have liked very much to be part of this ceremony and to express his thanks and appreciation to all who have been involved in the Development Programme within the College during the past five years. On a personal note, Father Fintan was still Principal of the Senior School when this programme of development was initiated. This ceremony marks the conclusion of a three-phase development within the College. It began with the renewal of the older buildings, the renovation of the Lady Chapel which now provides a beautiful setting for school liturgies, the upgrading of the Information Technology Department so essential in contemporary education. Next there was the improvement of the sports facilities with the building of the weights and fitness room and the laying of an all-weather training area. Finally, this classroom extension, which is the largest and most expensive part of the programme.

I think that you will all agree that this building adds tremendously to the appearance and physical conditions of the school. It strikes you as soon as you enter the schoolyard. It provides a fine bright entrance and classrooms which have been designed with great sensitivity to lighting, adaptability and personal comfort. I would like to acknowledge the creative work of Paul Joyce, Brendan Balfe, Claire Stacey and all those associated with them in designing this lovely building and the mastery of those who put physical shape on that design. We would like you to know that this building is already much admired and appreciated.

The Carmelites opened the door of Tyrenure House to twenty-one pupils in 1860. Since then many building programmes have taken place within the College giving us at this moment in time very fine school facilities. On an occasion such as this we must not forget those who have gone before who, in spite of very straitened financial circumstances, worked to provide facilities for the education of Catholic boys from this area and from far beyond when we had a boarding school.

In 1860 Catholics in these islands, and in Ireland in particular, were emerging from the shadows of deprivation and persecution. Catholics in general had very limited access, and in many cases no access at all, to education. After Emancipation in 1829 the Carmelites, though small in number in Ireland but sensitive to the needs of the people, responded to the need for Catholic educators by establishing schools wherever we had friaries. Our records would suggest that by 1854 almost all of our friaries had primary schools attached while three had academies of secondary education. Terenure College has been and continues to be a Catholic School in the Carmelite Tradition. The work we do here in partnership with teachers, parents and other staff is informed by the values and traditions of the Order. As many of you probably know the Carmelite Order stretches beck some eight hundred years to hermits living on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Israel. When the hermits had to leave Mount Cannel and come to Europe they gradually adopted the lifestyle of friars: living in community, praying together and serving the people among whom they lived. Brotherhood, prayer and service are the values central to the Carmelite way of living and inform all that we do in making Jesus Christ, light and hope of the nations, more visible in the world.

In 1994 Carmelites, teachers and parents worked together in drawing up the Mission Statement, setting down in concise language the core values of our ministry in education at Terenure College. In this statement the College is described as a “centre of learning and a community of faith where the traditions of the Carmelite Order are enshrined.”

Schools are influential in every society. In political and social history the school and the lecture-hall have been seen as significant in laying foundations for community and a common purpose. Social and political reformers of every kind have been anxious to exert influence on the educational system. They see this influence as being one of the ways for bringing about change in society. Some time ago, during a radio programme in Britain, the headmaster of a preparatory school spoke of education in terms of product amid market. He talked about parents having an important product to market; it needed investment in the right equipment, the right packaging, but would eventually yield a healthy dividend. The commodity the headmaster was talking about was children in the eight to eleven age group. The language of the market economy has entered the education debate and while the market economy is part of contemporary life we must not allow education to be narrowed down to the acquisition of knowledge and skills for trading in the market place. Knowledge, a trained mind and the learning of different skills are essential in fitting out a young person for a career but there is more to education. Catholic social teaching emphasizes this point. For example, the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education in its document on The Catholic School speaks of Christ as being the foundation of the whole enterprise in the Catholic School. It continues: The Catholic School is thus committed to the development of the whole person, since in Christ, the Perfect Human Being, all human values find their fulfillment and unity.

But Terenure College, or any Christian school, does not exist in a vacuum. It is a community existing in a world of great change and some anxiety. The 11^th of September struck the centre of the market economy and we have been reeling ever since. Many of those bright and successful people were struck clown without any warning and many other bright and successful people wonder how this could happen to us. If the why of our lives is material and financial success, then we are left to wring our hands in the face of such disaster and suffering.

The young people who come to this school, like young people everywhere, are profoundly affected by the world around them. They are influenced by values way beyond the home or school. Young people find themselves growing up in a world in which the sense of stability and security have been considerably weakened, a world where many traditional signposts and standards have become blurred. For some people any sense of mystery or of the sacred has been lost. Only material and financial success is considered to be worthwhile. Yet those values can be suddenly blown out of the water. This is the background against which the teachers and parents of this College educate. This College is not simply an institution of learning, but a community of faith, and this implies a buying into that particular ethos (which is Catholic and Carmelite) by parents, teachers and all those involved in management. There has to be a basic sympathy among all those who form the school community for the ethos and values of the school. If this does not exist there will be confusion and even discord. Within a school such as this, teachers and pupils work together in acquiring knowledge and skills but they also search for the truth about our world and the One who gives ultimate meaning to human existence – Jesus Christ. As Christian educators we have to enable our young people to recognise something of the mystery and transcendence of human life and help them acquire norms of behaviour which will give them the inner strength to withstand the difficulties and uncertainties of life. In the Carmelite tradition, we emphasise the values of community, prayer and service. If our pupils make their own something of those values they will be helped to recognise that human fulfilment and happiness are not possible in isolation and that we live in one world as brothers and sisters in the knowledge and friendship of God.

I would suggest that the building which we are dedicating this evening is a testament to community, to people working together for a common purpose. The financial cost of the development is in the region of three million pounds and this is being raised through the work and support of present and past parents of the Senior and Junior Schools, past pupils, friends of the College, the Irish Province of Carmelites. We also acknowledge a small grant from the Department of Education and the IRFU towards Phases I and II. Every aspect of this development is for the benefit of those who are being educated or who will be educated in the College. We recognise that it is essential for a wholistic education that each pupil has the opportunity to develop and enjoy his particular interests and talents both inside and outside the classroom. Within this new building, in addition to the general purpose classroom, there is a chaplaincy/pastoral care centre, a meditation room, a learning support unit, and an adult education office.

On behalf of the Provincial, I thank all who have been involved in this development and it is our wish that present and future generations will enjoy the fruits of this work.

I thank the Prior, the Principals and the members of the Carmelite Community for their commitment to and support of the education ministry. As a religious Order in Ireland we are probably unique in having four men under forty involved in teaching and administration. This is an expression of the Order’s ongoing commitment to Catholic education in Ireland.

I thank the teachers of both the Senior and Junior Schools for their dedication to the pupils entrusted to them. I also thank those who work in the different sections of the school. It takes many people with differing talents to keep a College such as this running. Good staff make good schools and the partnership between Carmelites and laity makes Terenure an excellent centre of education.

Extra-curricular and sporting activities do not happen without great generosity on the part of many teachers and parents. Your work is much appreciated.

To the Pupils I would say: work to the best of your ability, make full use of the many facilities provided by your school and try to make your own those attitudes and values which last for all time.

Your Eminence, I reiterate the words of welcome extended to you earlier by Father Murray. We are honoured by your gracious presence this evening. I know that Father Fintan appreciated your words of encouragement when we visited you after our Provincial Chapter in July 2000. I now ask you to declare open and bless this building on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.