Edmund Ignatius Rice - Vocation and Beginnings

Vocation and Beginnings

Rice devoted his life to prayer and charitable work, particularly with the poor and marginalised of Waterford. In 1802, when he established a makeshift school in a converted stable in New Street, Waterford, he found the children were so difficult to manage that the teachers resigned. This prompted him to sell his thriving business to another prominent Roman Catholic merchant, a Mr. Quan, and devote himself to training teachers who would dedicate their lives to prayers and to teaching the children free of charge. Despite the difficulties involved, Edmund's classes were so popular that another temporary school had to be set up on another of his properties, this time in nearby Stephen Street.

The turning point of Rice's ministry was the arrival of two young men, Thomas Grosvenor and Patrick Finn, from his hometown of Callan. They came to him with the desire of joining a congregation, but had not decided which they would join. As it turned out, they remained to teach at Edmund Rice's school, and formed their own. The subsequent success of the New Street school led to a more permanent building, christened 'Mount Sion', where construction began on June 1, 1802. The Mount Sion monastery was officially blessed by Bishop Thomas Hussey on June 7, 1803. Since the schoolhouse was not yet completed, Rice, Finn, and Grosvenor took up residence but walked each day from Mt Sion to their schools on New Street and Stephen Street. On May 1, 1804, the adjoining school was opened and blessed by Hussey's successor, Bishop John Power, and their pupils transferred to the new building.

A request made to the local Church of Ireland bishop for a school licence was eventually granted, thanks to the appeals of some of Rice's more influential friends.