and the school colours are red, black and yellow. History On 1 January 1856, the Congregation of Christian Brothers opened a school at Eblana Avenue in Dún Laoghaire, or 'Kingstown' as it was then known. The site was provided by Charles Kennedy, a businessman and head of the local Vincent DePaul. This was just ten years after the Great Famine, and emigration was rife. The school was called St Michaels Christian Brothers School, and initially educated mainly poor boys from the area. Brother Alphonsus Hoope was appointed as superior of the school. Kingstown during the 19th century was rapidly expanding with the harbour town seeing the addition of the piers and the Dublin and Kingstown Railway opening 20 years before the school. Hoope arranged for two rooms for teaching, which had to be expanded after three weeks to three due to demand. Within two years, a building housing 400 students was built on the site. Kennedy and the local Vincent DePaul raised funds for the school at a gala dinner at what is now the Royal Marine Hotel Dún Laoghaire. The day-to-day operations of the school was financed from "voluntary subscriptions, solicited and collected by the Brothers". The Brothers residence of the time was located behind the main school building. There were 6 Brothers living on the school grounds, a building separate from the main school block. The school premises was valued in 1859 at £60. During World War I, a significant number of former pupils of the school went to fight in the war, as part of the 200,000 Irishmen who participated in the war effort. The Dún Laoghaire area suffered over 500 military fatalities during the war, with a significant number of these coming from school. Owing to this, people in Flanders sent a statue to the area to honour the dead. It was felt at the time that the school should take it, as so many of the fatalities were from the school. With the changing political environment at the time however, with the Irish War of Independence underway, this was declined by the school. The statue was instead housed in the Dominican Covent in the town, where it resides still to this day in an oratory purposely designed for it. The Brothers continued to have a major role in the education system when Ireland gained independence. In 1925 they vacated their premises in the school, moving