President Hillery opens a museum at St Enda's in Rathfarnham on the centenary of the birth of Padraig Pearse.
Padraig Pearse established the Irish language secondary school (also known as Scoil Éanna) in 1908. It was based in Cullenswood House, Ranelagh, before moving to The Hermitage in Rathfarnham in 1910.
The building and grounds of Saint Enda's remained in the possession of the Pearse family until it was donated to the state in 1970 following the death of Senator Margaret Pearse.
The museum is dedicated to the lives of the Pearse family who President Patrick Hillery, speaking at the opening ceremony says were,
No ordinary family, they stand enshrined in Irish history
An exhibition of photographs and documents relating to the Pearse family is housed in rooms recently restored to how they would have been seventy years ago. Conservation and restoration work is still ongoing in the rest of the house.
Tánaiste George Colley is present, as are Fine Gael leader Garrett Fitzgerald and Fianna Fáil TD Síle De Valera. Many past pupils of St Enda’s were also invited, and the Pearse family is represented by two of Padraig Pearse’s grandnephews, Henry Noel and Patrick Scarlett.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 10 November 1979. The reporter is Peter McNiff.
