Ardscoil Rís was formally opened by the Christian Brothers, on the North Circular Road in Limerick, on 1 September 1963.

Ardscoil Rís's last remaining Christian Brothers had retired from teaching duties by the mid-2000s and the school is now staffed entirely by lay teachers.

Acting as main contractor for the project, Cordil Construction were responsible for the management of the €5 million plan, which saw the school expand to three times the usable space on completion of all three phases.

[citation needed] In March 2010, Ard Scoil Ris became the first Limerick team since 1993 to win the Harty Cup (Munster schools hurling championship).

In 2022, Arscoil Rís defeated St. Kierans college to win the Croke Cup, the All Ireland senior hurling schools title.