Synge Street CBS (colloquially Synger) is a boys' non-fee-paying state school, under the auspices of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, located in the Dublin 8 area of Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1864 by Canon Edward McCabe and Brother Edward O’Flaherty, as part of a mid-nineteenth century programme to expand the provision of Catholic schooling across the city, particularly for poorer boys. It was important in developing multiple new Christian Brothers schools in the local area and beyond. Originally the school was part of the Christian Brothers monastery, but in 1954 new buildings were erected for primary pupils, and in 1964 for secondary pupils on Heytesbury Street. Although founded and largely known as an all-boys school, since 2016 it has offered co-educational Gaelscoil classes at primary level. While being the second-largest school in the country in the 1950s, the school roll has declined significantly since the turn of the millennium, and by 2021 had around 260 pupils at second level, and 100 at primary. The school has a long list of notable alumni in Irish political, business, media and sporting life, including both the President and Taoiseach of Ireland for a period of nearly two years in the mid-1970s, and is a status that has led to the school being described as the Eton of Ireland. It also has a strong record in the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition becoming, in 2022, the first school to win the overall prize four times. History Mid-nineteenth century Ireland, and Dublin in particular, saw a major push for expansion of Catholic education. Church officials were particularly keen to ensure there was provision for the poor and given societal perspectives of the time, this led to a focus on provision for poor boys. When Canon Edward McCabe was appointed as parish priest at St Nicholas parish in Francis Street, in the Liberties, it was probably inevitable that church institutions would expand in the area, after the successful struggle for Catholic emancipation in the 1820s and 1830s. In 1861, he secured a parcel of land between Synge Street and Heytesbury Street and built a temporary wooden church as the basis for a new neighbouring parish of St Kevins. Between 1862 and 1864, he raised funding for and commissioned the building of the original monastery and school on the Synge Street side of the plot. McCabe's partner in these endeavours was Brother Edward O’Flaherty,