Next August, as part of Global Football’s Dublin High School Football Showcase, the Fenwick Friars will play a varsity game in Dublin the day before Navy and Notre Dame kickoff another classic match-up in their long rivalry. Following the weekend of football festivities, Father Richard Peddicord, O.P., the president of Fenwick will lead a four-day pilgrimage of Dominican sites in Ireland, beginning at St. Saviour. The trip provides a rare opportunity for Fenwick to exhibit its 90-year history of excellence, leadership and tradition in education and athletics on a global stage, while providing a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many of our student-athletes, family members, alumni and other members of the Fenwick community.
“Eight years after the Order of Preachers was founded in France in 1216, the Dominicans established a presence in Dublin,” noted Fr. Peddicord. “The Dominicans have been a near-constant presence in Ireland ever since. St. Saviour’s [pictured at left] remains the Dominican Priory and House of Studies in Dublin today.”.
The United States Naval Academy and the University of Notre Dame are two institutions of higher learning that represent the best of the Dominican spiritual value of study. By many accounts, in its 90 years Fenwick has sent more students to Notre Dame than any other high school in America. Similarly, in the past 15 years few (if any) other high schools in the country have sent more students to the Naval Academy than Fenwick. That is cause for celebration!
“As St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P. did, Fenwick also values physical rigor: the education of the body,” Fr. Peddicord added. “This unique combination at the highest levels of educating the mind and body at Navy and Notre Dame, and Fenwick’s incomparable contribution to it, is why we are so proud to have this opportunity and to be associated with this game between these two great academic institutions.”
Travelers can sightsee in Dublin for a couple days while the football team tours and prepares for its big game. (U.S. opponent to be determined!) People who make the trip can join the Fenwick players and other U.S. high school teams for an August 27 parade through City Center Dublin, followed by a pep rally and dinner with the Fenwick community. Fans will cheer the Friars to victory on Friday, August 28, and then enjoy an always entertaining and hard-fought battle between Navy and Notre Dame in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium on Saturday. Those who choose to stay a few more days can embark on a pilgrimage, led by Fr. Peddicord, to discover the wonderful works of the Irish Dominicans today and their nearly 800-year-old history in Ireland.
“As Fenwick marches toward its centennial in 10 years,” Fr. Peddicord concluded, “this Dublin trip will be looked upon as a milestone achievement in our first 100 years: demonstrating our excellence on a global stage, watching a rivalry football game between two high-achieving universities with which Fenwick has intimate connections, and experiencing the great Dominican legacy in Ireland!”
Celebrating 90 Years: Fenwick High School, founded in 1929, is a Dominican college preparatory secondary institution with a co-educational enrollment of approximately 1,150 students. Guided by its Dominican Catholic values, its mission is to inspire excellence and educate each student to lead, achieve and serve. Today, Fenwick has two Golden Apple teachers on its faculty and an alumni list that includes a Skylab astronaut, Rhodes Scholars, Pulitzer Prize winners, a Heisman Trophy recipient and other leaders making a positive impact locally and internationally. Fenwick is celebrating its 90th year in 2019. www.fenwickfriars.com