Rathmines School. The School Roll from the Beginning of the School in 1858 Till its Close in 1899. Dublin: The University Press, 1932. First Edition. Green cloth boards, title in gilt to upper cover and spine. Very good condition.

Published by the University Press in Dublin, the book is more than a simple list of names: it preserves the school’s roll, biographical details of pupils, and Dr. Benson’s reminiscences, serving as the principal printed record of an institution that closed before the twentieth century began.

Dr. Charles William Benson was the school’s only headmaster, presiding over it from its founding until his retirement in 1899, when the school closed. The 1932 volume was compiled after his death and includes his own account, titled “Some Reminiscences of a Clerical Schoolmaster.”  In total, the school enrolled 2,190 pupils across its history.