Marist College Ashgrove

Marist College Ashgrove (abbreviated as MCA) is an independent Roman Catholic day and boarding primary and secondary school for boys, located in the northern Brisbane suburb of Ashgrove, in Queensland, Australia. The college caters for students from Year 5 to Year 12.^[1]

Quick Facts Location, Coordinates ...

Marist College Ashgrove
Main entrance
Location

Ashgrove, Brisbane, Queensland Australia
Coordinates	27°26′25″S 152°58′41″E
Information
Type	Independent day and boarding primary and secondary school
Motto	Latin: Viriliter Age (Act Courageously^[1])
Religious affiliation(s)	Marist Brothers
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Established	1940; 85 years ago (1940)^[1]
Headmaster	Michael Newman
Chaplain	Fr Alatini Kolofo'ou
Staff	~137^[1]
Years	5–12^[1]
Gender	Boys
Enrolment	c. 1,700
Area	26 hectares (64 acres)
Campus type	Suburban
Colour(s)	Royal blue and gold
Affiliation	Associated Independent Colleges
Website	www.marash.qld.edu.au

History

Marist College Ashgrove was founded by the Marist Brothers as a day and boarding College for boys on 17 March 1940.^[2]^[3] Enrolment preferences are given to baptised Catholics, with participation in the Church given more consideration.^[4]

The College educates 1700 students from Years 5 to 12, 170 of whom are boarders, and provides wide-ranging programs encompassing academics, the visual and performing arts, sports and service projects.^[2]^[3]

The ethos and mission of the College are influenced by the founder of the Marist Brothers, Saint Marcellin Champagnat.^[2]^[3]

Campus

The college is situated on a 26-hectare (64-acre) campus and includes such facilities as:^{[citation needed]}

McMahon Oval – used for both Rugby Union and cricket – featuring the John Eales Grandstand and Matthew Hayden scoreboard
Science Block
8 cricket / rugby union / soccer ovals containing:
2 multi-purpose courts basketball/tennis
6 floodlit hard tennis courts
Long jump/triple jump training track
Shot put/discus/javelin stations
Gymnasium – capacity for 2 indoor basketball courts/8 badminton courts
2 outdoor basketball courts
Weight room
Matthew Hayden cricket training complex
Olympic sized heated swimming pool with grandstand
A performing and visual arts centre which houses a 340-seat theatre
Three distinct houses that contain the five boarding residences
Hall of Fame

Houses

In 1993, the House system was established. There are eight houses at Marist College Ashgrove:^[5]

Des Ridley (Also known as Ridley)
Ephrem
Foley
Gilroy
Harold
Ignatius
Rush
Slattery

Sport

Marist College Ashgrove is a member of the Associated Independent Colleges (AIC).^[6]

AIC premierships

Marist College Ashgrove has won the following AIC premierships.^[7]

Athletics (12) – 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Basketball (10) – 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2016, 2017, 2018
Cricket (10) – 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2023
Cross Country (13) – 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Rugby (14) – 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Soccer (10) – 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2019, 2020, 2021
Swimming (13) – 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016
Tennis (7) – 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Volleyball (6) – 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2021
AFL (2) – 2023, 2024
Esports (1) – 2022

Boarding school

Marist College Ashgrove offers a boarding school for students from Years 6 to 12 and can cater for up to 220 boarders.^[8] The boarding community includes many students from the Greater Brisbane Region and South East Queensland, along with many country students from Outback Queensland and regional Australia. International students also board from the Asia-Pacific region from countries and territories such as Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Hong Kong.^{[citation needed]}

Crest and motto

The crest of the college is based on the design of the crest of St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill in Sydney. The four quadrants of the shield are filled with: the Marist Monogram with its twelve stars in the top left; the Southern Cross in the top right; the MCA logo in the bottom left; and the lamp and book representing learning in the bottom right.^[9]

The college's motto is "Viriliter Age", which translates from Latin to "Act Courageously". The motto was adopted in 1957 and is displayed above the crest.^[1]^[9]

Notable alumni

This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2019)

Arts

Michael Bauer – novelist
Joe Brumm^[10] - animator, creator of Bluey
Andrew McGahan^[11] – novelist
Humphrey McQueen – historian and author
Ray Meagher^[11] – actor

Business

Robert Deakin – social entrepreneur and cyber security expert
Bill Ludwig – trade union leader

Medicine

Michael Gabbett^[12] – clinical geneticist, paediatrician and academic

Music

Joel Adams – pop singer-songwriter

Law

David Jackson^[13] – Australian Federal Court judge
Nathan Jarro – Queensland District Court judge
Martin Moynihan AO^[13] – former Queensland Supreme Court judge and Chair of the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission

Politics

Sir Julius Chan^[13] – former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
Kevin Rudd^[14] – former Prime Minister of Australia
Taniela (Dan) Tufui – former Chief Secretary to the Government of Tonga and Secretary to Cabinet
Peter Lawlor^[13] – former Labor Member for Southport
Sir David Hannigan (Dave), the Crown Prince of Woodview – King of New Caledonia and leader of the Northern Rivers Chinese diaspora

Religion

James Foley – former Catholic Bishop of Cairns
Brian Heenan – former Catholic Bishop of Rockhampton
Father Michael Carroll (1970) – Former head of Marist Fathers Queensland
Brother Peter Carroll (1976) – Provincial of the Marist Brothers Australia
Brother Ken McDonald (1976) – Deputy Provincial of the Marist Brothers Australia
Father Thomas Zaranski (2003) – ordained June 2018
Father Tom Duncan (2011) – ordained July 2019
Father Isaac Falzon (2001) – ordained July 2023

Sport

Australian Rules Football

Charlie Cameron – AFL player with the Brisbane Lions
Lachlan Keeffe – AFL player with Greater Western Sydney

Boxing

Paul Miller – boxer and Olympian

Cricket

Alex Cusack – Irish national cricket player
Matthew Hayden^[15] – Australian and Queensland cricketer
Peter McPhee – cricket player
Dylan McLachlan – Queensland cricketer

Equestrian

Rugby League

Billy Walters – rugby league player

Rugby Union

John Connolly^[16] – former Wallabies coach
Des Connor^[17] – former rugby union player
John Eales^[11] – rugby union player and former captain of the Australian Wallabies
Nick Frisby – rugby union player – scrumhalf – Queensland Reds
Richard Graham – Queensland Reds coach and Western Force coach
Bryce Hegarty – rugby union player – flyhalf – NSW Waratahs
Anthony Herbert – former rugby union player
Daniel Herbert^[15] – former rugby union player
Pat Howard – Australian rugby union coach,
Robert (Bob) Honan^[17] – former Australian national rugby union and rugby league player
Brendan McKibbin – rugby union player – scrum half – NSW Waratahs
Brendan Moon^[17] – former rugby union player for the Queensland Reds
Alex Rokobaro – rugby union player – Stade Francais, Melbourne Rebels
Alex Toolis – rugby union player – lock – Edinburgh Rugby, Melbourne Rebels
Ben Toolis – rugby union player – lock – Edinburgh Rugby
Emosi Tuqiri – rugby union player – Fijian Drua
Floyd Aubrey – Rugby Union player – Queensland Reds – GPS Rugby