The Dungarvan Further Education and Training Centre is an unexpected Modern Movement gem in the suburbs of Dungarvan, County Waterford, on a corner site bounded by Wolfe Tone Road and O'Connell Street. If walking by, do look closer at the entrance for a sign of its past.
In 1899, technical schools were set up in Ireland to provide more practical vocational training. The 1930 Vocational Education Act gave local councils the funds to develop technical education further with the building of bespoke vocational schools. Many charged nominal fees, which were small compared to the cost of going to secondary school. Free secondary school education was not available until 1967.
In 1933, the Waterford County Surveyor, John Kingston Bowen (1888–1944), was tasked with designing a vocational school for Dungarvan. Scoil na gCeárd (translates to vocational school). The school building was officially opened on the 5th of April 1939, with Thomas Derrig (1897–1956), Minister for Education, in attendance. John was brother to Richard Bowen, County Surveyor for Kilkenny, who designed the Padmore and Barnes Boot Factory. The Waterford County VEC amalgamated with Wexford in 2011 and today the building is run by Dungarvan Further Education and Training Centre, which still provides training for adults across Waterford and Wexford.
The school is a well-proportioned five-bay, two-storey, flat-roofed building in the International Style, with a single-bay, two-storey advanced entrance bay and a two-storey return. The entrance is sheltered by a concrete canopy, over which there is a rendered panel with raised lettering spelling out 'Scoil na gCeárd' in beautiful Gaelic letterform. The painted rendered walls give the building a clean appearance, and the low rendered boundary wall, piers, and pedestrian gate (blocked) still remain. All the windows were unfortunately replaced by uPVC casement windows in the early nineties. It is set back from the road, and its geometric form and massing are softened by mature trees.
Despite alterations over time, the former Scoil na gCeárd remains an enduring reminder of Ireland's commitment to accessible vocational education in the twentieth century.
Thank you to Aleksandar Kostić for the photographs
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