St Kevin's College, Oamaru

St Kevin's College (also called Redcastle) in Oamaru, New Zealand, is a Catholic, coeducational, integrated, boarding and day, secondary school. It was founded by the Christian Brothers in 1927 for boys and became a co-educational school in 1983 after the Dominican Sisters closed down St Parick's College, Teschemakers, Oamaru. St Kevin's College became a state integrated school in 1983. The Christian Brothers ceased to be on the teaching staff of the college in the late 1990s but remained the school's proprietor, and so appointed representatives to the college board, until 2019 when they transferred the ownership of St Kevin's College to the Bishop of Dunedin.

College
In 2019, St Kevin's College had a roll of about 450 students including approximately 80 boarding students and 370 day students. Its gender composition in 2019 was female 50% and male 50%. In that year, the college's maximum roll under the Education Act 1989 was 465 pupils. In 2016, its ethnic composition was NZ European/Pākehā 70%, Asian 10%, Pacific 5% and Māori 10% and other 5%. St Kevin's College has a strong Catholic focus.

Character
In February 1983 St Kevin's became co-educational. Until 1979 girls boarded at Teschemakers, a secondary school located about 12 km south of Oamaru. St Kevin's College currently has boarding capacity for over 100 girls. Also in 1983, the college was integrated as a College with a "special character" under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975. The special character is broadly the connection of the school with the Catholic faith. Preference of enrolment is given to students who have established a link with the Catholic Church through baptism or membership of a parish. Preference is decided by the appropriate parish priest in each case. A preference certificate from the student's parish is required for each student with their application for enrolment at the school. Under the Act, the school may enrol "non-preference" students but the enrolment of such students is restricted to 5% of the total roll.

Students come mainly from Oamaru and the surrounding rural areas (many of them ex-pupils of St Joseph's School, Oamaru) with some coming from more distant New Zealand and overseas locations. The school benefits from modern facilities and spacious grounds to provide, amongst other learning opportunities, an equestrian academy, a primary-industry trades academy, and opportunities in the media and a wide range of sports activities.

Sport
The college has produced seven All Blacks and one Silver Fern. Students participate in many sports including: hockey, rugby, basketball, soccer, netball, swimming, rowing, cricket, tennis, squash, badminton, skiing, snowboarding, multi-sport, athletics, tramping and kayaking. Swimming, athletic and cross-country sports are particularly emphasised and all students participate. The college has its own golf course, swimming pool, turf and gymnasium. St Kevins strongly participates in Rugby competitions. There is an annual game with Waitaki Boys' High School (located near Redcastle) for the Leo O’Malley Memorial Trophy ("the peanut"). This attracts up to 5000 spectators in anticipation of a tight match. As at 2014, Waitaki was the more frequent winner hoisting the trophy on 53 occasions to St Kevin's 21 wins with 5 draws. This rivalry is often referred to as "the blooder" by St Kevin's students, originating from St Kevin's students calling Waitaki Boys blood nuts because of the colour of their blazers. The St Kevin's blazers are blue.

Media and performance
The College emphasises public speaking, singing, drama, debating, choirs, dance, reading aloud, role plays and scripture reading. Cultural activities, such as the annual choral festival and annual production, are timetabled into the school year so that all students are involved to some degree. The College participates in the annual Bishop's Shield Competition which it has won several times. Debating is also encouraged. Many students learn music and learn to play musical instruments within the school day. The college has music ensembles and some students play in groups and orchestras outside the college. There is a Chapel Choir for College liturgical events.

Boarding hostel
In 2019 a million-dollar upgrade of the five-building hostel block was commenced with the aim of attracting more boarding student enrolments. The improvements were funded by the Christian Brothers.

Rectors

 * 1927–1933: Brother B. F. Magee
 * 1933–1936: Brother M. M. O'Connor
 * 1936–1938: Brother J. B. Gettons
 * 1939–1945: Brother M. D. McCarthy BA
 * 1945–1951: Brother P. C. Ryan BA
 * 1951–1952: Brother J. A. Morris
 * 1953–1957: Brother J. I. Carroll BA, MusB
 * 1958–1961: Brother J. B. Duffy BA, BEd (Hons)
 * 1961–1967: Brother P. A. McManus BA, DipEd
 * 1968–1971: Brother J. M. Hessian BSc, MACE
 * 1972–1974: Brother P. A. Boyd
 * 1975–1979: Brother M. B. Scanlan BSc, DipEd
 * 1980–1996: Brother B. J. Lauren BA, TTC, DipEd, DipCat, DipRE
 * 1996–2001: Mr J. G. Boyle BA, DipTch
 * 2002–2010: Mr C. B. Russell BA, DipEd, DipTch
 * 2010–2021: Mr P. R. Olsen BSc, DipTch
 * 2022–present: Ms Jo Walshe BA, Dip Tch, Grad Dip (Theo), Grad Dip (RelSt)

Proposal
The establishment of a Catholic boarding school for boys in Otago was first proposed 1890. However, it was not until 1925 that the preparations for the establishment began. The Bishop of Dunedin, James Whyte, asked the Christian Brothers to set up the school. They had, from 1876, conducted the Christian Brothers School in Dunedin. This school had for a time taken boarders in a hostel which operated from 1919 until 1924. Various sites were inspected by the Bishop and the Provincial of the Christian Brothers, P. I. Hickey, and the property called "Redcastle" in Oamaru was chosen as the most suitable site.

Campus
The site of the college was originally developed by the McLean and Buckley families. John McLean was born on the island of Mull, Scotland, in 1818. He (with his brothers) made his fortune in developing and exploiting High Country sheep stations (particularly "Morven Hills" in the Lindis Pass) and by selling them at the right time.

McLean purchased the Oamaru land in 1857 as part of much larger block for about 10/- an acre. Much of it was sold off, but he retained the area which is now the school, and he resided there from the 1860s. By 1871 he was running 10,000 sheep on the property. He was the Oamaru member for the Otago Provincial Council and he was also a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council (1867–1872). He died in 1902 and the land passed to his nephew, St. John McLean Buckley.

The original homestead was one-storied with a thatched roof. When the old house burned down, Buckley built the red brick residence with Oamaru stone facing, now known as the "Castle" and, since he was very fond of horse-racing, he built large stables (now a school building named "The Stables"), St John Buckley died in 1915 and his son, also named John Buckley, sold the property to a syndicate of local people. The property was called "Redcastle".

Redcastle was known for its beauty and its sporting associations (particularly those of St John McLean Buckley – He was, apart from his horse racing interests, president of cycling, coursing, gymnastic and tennis clubs ). The homestead (the "castle") was (and is) a significant country house. The property comprising 40 acre was purchased by the Christian Brothers at a cost of £8000 in 1925 and a further 10 acre were added, at a cost of £1000, in 1928. The present campus thus has an area of 27 hectares.

In May 1926, Brother Moore, who had experience in fund-raising, came to Dunedin to organise a bazaar and lottery to fund the purchase of the land and the establishment of the college. His confrere, Brother Dowd, toured the country districts to collect donations. These initiatives resulted in a fund of £7000. In 1926, the construction of the buildings began under the supervision of Brother Prunster.

Commencement
The college was named after the Irish saint, Kevin (498–618), the founder of the monastery and school of Glendalough. The blessing and opening of the college took place on Sunday, 6 February 1927. There were several Bishops present: Archbishop Redwood and Bishops O'Shea, Whyte, Cleary, Brodie and Liston. There were many priests and more than 2,500 friends and well-wishers present coming from Dunedin and nearby parts of both Otago and Canterbury. Classes commenced on Tuesday, 8 February 1927. There were 60 boarders and 31 day students. The Christian Brothers on the first staff were Brother Magee (the Rector) and Brothers Bowler, Brennan, Le Breton, Dowd, Ryan, Mills and Maye. The Rector of Waitaki Boys' High School, Frank Milner, was present at the opening. When Frank Milner ("a firm friend of St Kevin's") died in 1944, the St Kevin's Boys formed a guard of honour for his remains as they left the church after the funeral service.

Ethos
For its first 55 years, St Kevin's College was typical of Christian Brother boarding institutions in Australia and New Zealand. They were designed to provide a Catholic education for the sons of rural Catholic families. For the Christian Brothers they were places of particularly hard work. Individual Brothers taught throughout the day, coached sports teams after school, supervised meals and study, and were responsible for the dormitories at night. The Brothers generally had to be young men with energy.

St Patrick's Dominican College, Teschemakers
St Patrick's College, a secondary boarding school for girls operated by the Dominican Sisters, existed at Teschemakers, 10 kilometres south of Oamaru, for 65 years from 1912 to 1977. The school was associated with the McCarthy family of North Otago which donated the property, and it opened with seven Dominican sisters and seven boarders. In its early years the school tried to be self-supporting and the student day commenced with 4am cow-milking. There was no running water. it had to be pumped by hand, and there was no electricity, only oil lamps and candles. The college's fine buildings were erected and the beautiful and tranquil surroundings impacted on and shaped the lives of the pupils and teachers. The Gothic revival chapel of the Holy Rosary was commissioned in 1912 and paid for by the generosity of a local benefactor from Oamaru, Frances Grant. It was designed by the prominent Dunedin architect of the day, F. W. Petre and completed in 1916. Teschemakers, once home to 140 boarding girls, was closed as a school, mainly because there weren’t enough sisters to teach and manage it. In 1980, it became a conference and retreat centre until the Dominicans sold it in 2000. After the sale, there was controversy over the future of the Gothic Revival-style Carrara marble altar with its alabaster depiction of The Last Supper. The Dominicans had given the altar to a church in Dunedin. However a ruling by the Environment Court meant that the altar remained. The chapel is open to the public daily. It is used as a wedding venue and the convent buildings are a boutique hotel. Many of the sisters and female relatives of St Kevin's College boys attended this beautiful school. The closure of the school was a factor in St Kevin's College becoming co-educational in 1983 and Dominican sisters from the closed school joined the St Kevin's staff. The memory of Teschemakers remains an important part of the tradition of St Kevin's College.

Notable alumni
The college has produced 19 Christian Brothers and 7 Brothers belonging to other Religious Orders, 101 Priests, 1 Bishop, 1 Archbishop (who was also a cardinal). In sport, 2 Silver Ferns and 7 All Blacks (including 3 captains) have been students at St Kevin's.

St Kevin's College honours not only its own notable ex-students but also those of its sister school, St Patrick's Dominican College, Teschemakers, which closed in 1977:
 * Miles Anderson – politician; National Party Member of Parliament for Waitaki (2023–present)
 * Bridget Armstrong – actress (went to St Patrick's College, Teschemakers)
 * Maree Bowden – a New Zealand netball international.
 * Leonard Anthony Boyle (1930–2016) – fifth Bishop of Dunedin (1983–2005)
 * Kevin Brady CNZM (born 1947) – the 17th Controller and Auditor-General of New Zealand 2002–2009
 * Dan Buckingham – Olympic Paralympian athlete
 * Donald John Cameron (born Dunedin 20 February 1933) – journalist and sportswriter.
 * Thomas Desmond Coughlan – All Blacks flanker, 1958
 * Jacqueline Fahey – artist (went to St Patrick's College, Teschemakers)
 * Peter Gresham – National Party Member of Parliament for Waitotara (1990–1996), List MP (1996–1999); Minister of Social Welfare and Minister of Senior Citizens (1996–1999)
 * Gavan Herlihy – National Party Member of Parliament for Otago (1996–2002)
 * James Charles Kearney – All Blacks first five-eighth, 1947–1949
 * Kevin Francis Laidlaw – All Blacks centre three-quarter, 1960
 * Francis Steven McAtamney – All Blacks prop, 1956
 * William Alexander McCaw – All Blacks Captain 1954, Number 8 and flanker, 1951–1954
 * John McKinnon – ophthalmologist; mountaineer; and the first volunteer doctor at Kunde Hospital
 * Denzil Meuli (Pierre Denzil) (1926–2019) – priest of the Diocese of Auckland, writer, former editor of the Zealandia and a leading New Zealand traditionalist Catholic
 * Sione Misiloi (born 1994) – rugby union player for the in Super Rugby as flanker.
 * Alec Neill – National Party Member of Parliament for Waitaki (1990–1996), List MP (1999, 2001 and 2002)
 * Tim O'Malley (born 1994) – rugby union player for in the Bunnings NPC
 * Craig Smith (born 1985) – first-class cricketer for Otago (2004–05 and 2015–16).
 * Matt Saunders – rugby union player
 * Cyril Laurence (Larry) Siegert (1923–2007),, Air Vice Marshal – Chief of Air Force (New Zealand) (1976 to 1979)
 * Kevin Lawrence Skinner – All Blacks captain 1952; prop, 1949–1956; champion heavy weight boxer
 * Robert Charles Stuart – All Blacks captain, loose forward 1949–1954; rugby coach, and WW2 naval commander
 * Tom Taylor (1925–1994) – sculptor, architect; Head of Sculpture at the University of Canterbury.
 * Owen Tracey (1915–1941) – fighter pilot and flying ace; flew in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War.
 * Jane Watson (born 1990) – New Zealand netball international
 * Gordon Whiting (1942–2018) – judge
 * Thomas Williams (1930–2023) – cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Wellington.