Irish Coins & Historical Medals

Tramore Boarding School, a silver award medal, unsigned, youth standing on globe, holding book, rev. wreath, named (Awarded to John J. Fitzhenry for Superior Merit), 44mm. Cleaned at one time, good very fine and very rare £100-£120

John Joseph Fitzhenry (1849-1915), born Wicklow. He is recorded in the Waterford Standard of 22 December 1866 as having on three occasions obtained honours and prize medals whilst attending Tramore Boarding School, and additionally noted as intending to continue his studies at Trinity College, Dublin. The Trinity College register of former students records Fitzhenry as having been admitted on 26 June 1867 as a ‘Pensioner’ student, paying his fees on 29 June in the same year, and allocated a W. Townsend as tutor. The 1891 census records Fitzhenry as being employed as a teacher of classics and mathematics in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He is recorded in the 1911 census as a retired classical teacher, residing in Kilcoole, co. Wicklow.

The Tramore Boarding School is first recorded in the Waterford Mail of 5 May 1838, with a brief editorial announcement that the school, established by a Mr James, was to open in the first week in June, the first advertisement for the school appearing in the Waterford Mail of 12 May 1838. The school closed in 1878 following the retirement of Mr James, the Cork Constitution of 13 May 1872 noting that, during his time at the school, Mr James had taught over 1,000 students.

During the mid-19th century the students of Trinity College Dublin were graded socially into four rankings: Noblemen, Fellow Commoners, Pensioners (who represented the majority of the student body and paid a fixed annual fee for their education) and Sizars, who were students of limited means and paid reduced fees. Noblemen were usually the sons of a peer or baronet. They paid four times the Pensioners’ fee, wore a cap with a gold tassel and a well-decorated gown, dined at the Fellows’ table and were able to complete their degrees in two years instead of four. A Fellow Commoner, having paid double the Pensioners’ fee, could also dine at the Fellows’ table, wear a slightly less decorative gown (with no gold) than the noblemen and they could take their degrees six months earlier than the Pensioners. Once a student had entered Trinity College Dublin, the student embarked on the standard four year undergraduate course, which included a wide variety of taught subjects such as Classics, Science, Mathematics, Theology and Literature.