Latest news with #StVincent'sSecondarySchool
Sunday World
7 days ago
- Business
- Sunday World
Man ran ‘Europe's cheapest car park' in scam on school grounds
Jason Walsh (36) was caught several times charging up to 150 vehicles to park in the school after breaking the locks and getting in An intruder broke into a Dublin secondary school and turned the grounds into an unauthorised paid car park in a money-making scam. Jason Walsh (36) was caught several times charging up to 150 vehicles to park in the school after breaking the locks and getting in. Judge John Hughes said it must have been the 'cheapest car park in Europe' when Walsh maintained he only made €200 himself after donating half the proceeds to charity. Dublin District Court heard students' events had to be scaled back or cancelled to pay for the €1,000 of damage Walsh caused, and the judge told him to repay this or face jail. Walsh, of The Willows, Finglas Road, Glasnevin, pleaded guilty to trespassing, criminal damage and deception by inducing the public to pay for car parking on private property without permission. The court heard the caretaker at St Vincent's Secondary School, Finglas Road, Glasnevin, called gardaí after the locks on the front gates were broken and two men were parking cars on the grounds in exchange for unknown sums of money. The same thing happened again on two other days. Walsh had 181 previous convictions for offences including burglary. The accused apologised and indicated he was going to pay for the damage, his solicitor said. Walsh was trying to 'make a few extra quid' when he got involved in the offence with two other people. Judge Hughes told Walsh he had a 'good oul run of it' and when asked how much he had got from it, Walsh replied €200. The judge said with 150 cars, it was 'the cheapest car park in Europe, I'd say'. The court heard to pay for the damage, the school had to redirect funds from student events. Walsh said he was a recovering drug addict, rebuilding his life. The court heard he had suffered a lot of personal trauma, including the loss of a partner who was murdered. 'There's kids who didn't get to go on school tours because yourself and your buddies were running a scam,' the judge said. 'You are going to have to pony up the cash or you're going to jail.' Jason Walsh said he made €200. Photo: Collins Courts News in 90 Seconds - 3rd June 2025
RTÉ News
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Watch: news2day Thursday, 22 May 2025
Raising money for a great cause. An amazing discovery at one school. Plus, all the big news stories of the day! Stream the show on RTÉ Player or watch it now by pressing play on the image above. This is Children's Hospice Week, so Barry went along to a school who were dressing up as their heroes in aid of Laura Lynn House, Ireland's children's hospice - as part of a fundraiser taking place in schools across the country. A relic of a saint which is believed to date from the second or third century has been found by the 5th year students in St Vincent's Secondary School in Glasnevin The surprise discovery of a vial of blood of Saint Hilarii was found by a group of students as they helped with preparations for a graduation ceremony last week. RTÉ News' Samantha Libreri has the story! And Florence is in studio with a round-up of all the other stories making headline, as well as a fun animal one too!
Irish Daily Mirror
23-05-2025
- General
- Irish Daily Mirror
Dublin school finds relic of saint hidden in altar
A Dublin school says it's living a real-life Indiana Jones movie after the relic of a saint dating back to the third century was found in an altar. Staff and students at St Vincent's Secondary School in Glasnevin were ecstatic to discover an ancient piece of history had been hiding right before them. A relic of Saint Hilarii - a vial of blood - was found in an altar that was brought to the school over 30 years ago. Last week, five fifth-year students were moving the school's altar to prepare for a graduation mass when they made the amazing discovery. The school's principal Máire Quinn told the Irish Mirror that one of the students noticed a piece of wood falling out of the altar and it had a false bottom, which was moving. She explained: "What was inside is what looked like a parcel, slightly bigger than a shoebox and when he looked closely there was Latin written on the top. So straight away, there was great excitement so we did a Google translate and it said it was a relic of St Hillary from the third century. "We were like 'Is this for real?' We thought, 'is this a sixth year prank?' It's a bit elaborate and someone else said maybe it was a prank from the sixth year from 60 years ago!" But, it turned out to be real. The large parcel wrapped in paper had a handwritten label in Latin on the top, with the date 1787 written on it. Ms Quinn then contacted the National History Museum, Glasnevin Cemetery and the Edmund Rice Trust - which the school is part of - looking for advice. She was put in touch with the Catholic Church's expert in this area Fr William Purcell, who owns more than 2,000 relics. Fr Purcell went to the school earlier this week and investigated the relic alongside Ms Quinn and the five students who discovered the artefact - Colin Sheridan, Conor Brogan Carr, Munasar Omar, Jonathan Taite and Ethan Byrne. The school's principal continued: "It was in a wooden box, it looked like something you would put expensive wine in. "So he opened it up and straight away we could see that there were seals that had been untampered with and the certificate on the top so we didn't need to go into the actual relic so it still remains intact. We opened the envelope and there is a certificate inside saying who the saint is, so that's all we needed to do. "There is a vial of blood inside and you can kind of see a little bit of it. It still remains an untouched relic, that was important, the only reason you would open it is for confirmation purposes but we already had it confirmed." On a printed certificate with an embossed stamp read the words: "Reverend John Augustine Grace, authentication of the body of St Hilary martyr, 1878 from Rome". While all altars are said to contain a relic, many don't have documentary evidence, so the students, staff and Fr Purcell were over the moon. Ms Quinn said: "Since this has happened it feels like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. When we found it we weren't sure what it was or if it was authentic so getting the opportunity to have it opened in front of us as opposed to it being taken off to a museum has brought an extra element to it. "It's brilliant for the kids for this to be part of their ethos as we are a Catholic school and their sense of history displayed and it has absolutely brought history to life." The students will now be embarking on a project to find out more about the ancient artefact, and have started an online fundraiser to raise money to display it correctly in the school. The principal said: "We are getting in touch with Rome to have it registered that we have the relic because there is a process there. If anyone has information on this particular saint I would love it if they shared that with us, and if people want to help and support the display and keep it safe there is a cost involved in that, to make sure it stays here in the school and that it's visible for people to see it. "It will probably cost about €6,000 to properly encase it and display it so we have set up a GoFundMe." Those who would like to contact the school with information can email relic@
Dublin Live
22-05-2025
- General
- Dublin Live
Relic of saint found by students at Dublin secondary school
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Students at a north Dublin secondary school have discovered a relic of a saint that is believed to date back to the second or third century. RTE News reports that a vial of blood of Saint Hilarii was found by a group of students at St Vincent's Secondary School in Glasnevin last week. The discovery was made when the students were moving the school's altar from upstairs down to the hall to prepare for a graduation ceremony. The large parcel was wrapped in paper and had a Latin label. After being brought to the principal's office, a translation of the label suggested it contained the remains of a saint. Principal Máire Quinn sought advice from the National Museum and staff at Glasnevin Cemetery and also contacted the archives of the Edmund Rice Trust of which the former Christian Brothers School is a part of. With everything indicating that the relic was legitimate, the school contacted Catholic Church's Fr William Purcell, who is the owner of more than 2,000 relics. An examination of the relic by Fr Purcell determined that it was a "first class genuine relic of the martyr Hilarii". The vile of blood was visible through the window of the wax sealed box. The altar came to St Vincent's in Glasnevin from O'Connell's School in the city centre over three decades ago but nobody appeared to be aware that the relic was contained inside. Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
RTÉ News
22-05-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Fifth year students find relic of saint in Dublin school
A relic of a saint which is believed to date from the second or third century has been found in a secondary school in north Dublin. The surprise discovery of a vial of blood of Saint Hilarii was found by a group of students as they helped with preparations for a graduation ceremony last week. The fifth year students in St Vincent's Secondary School in Glasnevin were moving the school's altar from an upstairs room down to the hall, when a change to the usual access route meant they had to tilt the structure upwards in order to maneuver it to its destination. Colin Sheridan, Conor Brogan Carr, Munasar Omar, Jonathan Taite and Ethan Byrne were carrying the altar down the stairs when Ethan noticed it had a false bottom which was moving. "One of the lads noticed something inside of it and we just thought it was wood," explains Conor. "But it was kind of darker and then it fell through." The students brought the large parcel wrapped in paper, which had a hand-written label in Latin on the top, along with the date 1787, straight to the principal's office. A quick translation of the text by staff suggested that the visibly old and well sealed package contained the remains of a saint. Colin said their discovery has been the talk of the school. "The school has just been buzzing the past couple of days, everyone's been really excited to find out what it is," he said. Principal Máire Quinn, a former history teacher, immediately contacted the National Museum and staff at Glasnevin Cemetery, which is across the road from the school, for advice. She also got in touch with the archives of the Edmund Rice Trust of which the former Christian Brothers School is a part of. All indications were that the relic was legitimate and the school called on the services of the Catholic Church's expert in this area, Fr William Purcell. Fr Purcell, who is based in Kilkenny and the owner of more than 2,000 relics, admits that his friends affectionately call him 'The Bone Collector' or 'Indiana Jones'. On arrival at the school he took out a toolkit of magnifying glasses before advising the principal to carefully cut off the paper wrapping, ensuring she preserve the written note on top. Its removal revealed a wooden box with the letters GA and a number of lines of text, suggesting the container originated in Nantes, France. It was firmly nailed shut, so Fr Purcell prised the lid open and as the first piece came away he took a sharp intake of breath as staff and students watched. "Wow. I'm really excited about this because I can already see the wax seal and the authenticity of a relic is the wax seal," he said. When the lid was fully removed it revealed an ornate green and red box with a number of red wax seals and in the window of the box sat another envelope, this time with English writing on it. Fr Purcell opened the envelope and unfurled a printed certificate with an embossed stamp on the bottom left corner and read the words "Reverend John Augustine Grace, authentication of the body of St Hilary martyr, 1878 from Rome". After reading its contents for a moment he looked at the group with a smile. "This is the guaranteed proof with the wax seals, that this is a first class genuine relic of the martyr Hilarii," he said. Closer examination revealed the vile of blood was visible through the window of the wax sealed box. "Now we have a choice" he declared, telling the group they could either open the box or leave it sealed. The principal decided to leave it closed, saying she did not believe they needed to further disturb the object. Fr Purcell said the discovery of a relic in a school is unusual and that while all alters are said to contain a relic, many do not come with documentary evidence to back up its veracity. Consultation with the Edmund Rice Trust suggests that the altar came to St Vincent's in Glasnevin from O'Connell's School in the city centre more than 30 years ago, but nobody appeared to be aware that it contained this relic. Little is known about Saint Hilarii, but Fr Purcell believes the relic dates from the 2nd or 3rd century and that the vial of blood would have been removed from the Roman catacombs and sent to Dublin at the request of the Christian Brothers around the 1700s. A document in their archives suggest they sought to verify the relic in the early 1900s. "There is this very little known about him," Fr Purcell said. "All we know is that he is a pre-congregation saint. Pre-congregation saint means that he was declared a saint before the Congregation of Saints was established. "So the people acclaimed him, which was very beautiful, because it was the people who saw in the life of this person, and saw in his death that he was a man who gave his life for Christ, and in doing so, then they acclaimed him as a martyr and a saint." Ms Quinn said she did not need any more evidence that the relic was legitimate and said the school's journey of discovery has now only just begun. "It's been incredibly exciting over the last few days," she said. "It feels like we've been given a puzzle and we've spent the last few days just trying to figure it all out. "I have to be honest, because it was sixth year graduation there was a part of me that thought 'Is this a prank?'" "There's still more to fine out because you know, why was that specific martyr picked for this particular school. So there's definitely more to uncover." The school has notified the Diocese of Dublin about the find and its next step is to notify the Vatican. However, tradition dictates that as the relic was found on their premises, it remains their property. Ms Quinn said their focus now is to find a safe and suitable location for the relic to be preserved and viewed by future generations of students.
