The school was founded in 1856, when the Society of St Vincent de Paul purchased a building in Mountbrown, Kilmainham.[4]
Within a year, this building proved to be too small and land was purchased at the junction of Finglas Road and Botanic Road in Glasnevin.[4] A building[5][6] was erected on the site of what later became the Dalcassian Downs residential development.[4] This school opened in 1860 and had residential accommodation for 150 boy boarders,[4] teaching facilities, and a farm which supplied milk and vegetables.[4]
At the centenary in 1956, there were still 140 boarders and the farm was still in operation.[4]
The secondary school continued to operate in the old building until new buildings were opened in 1964.[7] Boarding continued until 1973 when the school became entirely a day school. A swimming pool was built in 1968 and a sports hall in 1976.[4] (The pool closed in late 2009, due to "lack of funds needed for repairs").[4]
The main school frontage is now on Finglas Road in Glasnevin, Dublin 11, opposite Glasnevin cemetery. Behind the secondary school, and between it and the playing fields, is St Vincent's primary school.
The former principal of St. Vincent's secondary school, John Horan, served as president of the GAA from 2018 to 2021.[citation needed]
The school was recently refurbished,[when?] including with new equipment for its chemistry, physics and computer laboratories, and the extension of the Arts & Crafts, Construction Technology and Library multimedia facilities were completed in 2017.[citation needed]
The school has over 10 acres of sports fields.[citation needed] A large sports hall/gymnasium complex contains a gaelic handball alley, a basketball court where large-scale competitions are held, and other facilities such as specialist classrooms, a canteen and an oratory.[citation needed]
A student from the school (Walter Hayes) won the Young Scientist Exhibition in 1967 and the school won the Young Social Innovators Award in 2006.[citation needed]
In terms of sport, the school is known for:[citation needed]
Basketball; a long-established club: from academy level ("Little Saints") to Superleague (since 1990: 3 Superleague titles (including 2005–06, runners-up in 2011–12), 3 Superleague Northern Conference titles (including 2011–12), 2 National Cup titles, 8 National Championship titles, and 2 National League Division 1 titles), sharing a history with, and feeding into, the DCU Saints men's professional team.[citation needed]
Swimming; particularly life-saving[citation needed] and water polo.[8] The Water-Polo Club is one of the largest in Ireland.[citation needed] In the 2013/14 season, the Water-Polo Club were the Irish National League Champions for both Ladies and Men, as well as Ladies' Irish Cup & Men's National Knockout Cup holders. At underage level, the Girls and Boys were winners of their respective Irish U/19 Cups.[citation needed] They won the men's All Ireland championship in 2023 and 2024[9]
^"Architecture Foundation: Biographies"(PDF). architecturefoundation.ie. Archived from the original(PDF) on 28 September 2006. Frank McDonald was born in Dublin in 1950 and [..] Educated at St Vincent's CBS Glasnevin and UCD
^"Captain Cunningham". independent.ie. Independent News & Media. 5 September 2002. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
^"Statesman in Dublin constituency". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 4 August 2001. Retrieved 23 August 2021. Dessie [Farrell] went to St Vincent's CBS in Glasnevin
^"Harry Thuillier". irishrollcall.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Harry Thuillier was [..] educated at St Patrick's national school, Drumcondra, and St Vincent's secondary school, Glasnevin.
