[1] According to the Irish Independent, Crescent has educated executives from two of the top three companies in Ireland: Google's John Herlihy and Microsoft's Paul Rellis.

[2] The school operates under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus and the Minister for Education,[3] with the Jesuit Provincial appointing a majority of the members of the Board of Management, including the chair.

[9] Some commemorative inscription stones from Castle Lane, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, were built into the external walls of the old Georgian school buildings at the Crescent in Limerick city centre.

Good had completed the Spiritual Exercises in 1562 under the direction of Mercurian, and at his recommendation had been formally admitted to the Society of Jesus shortly before by Jean Montaigne at the Jesuit college in Tournai.

Wolfe charged them initially with teaching to the boys of Limerick, with an emphasis on religious instruction, and Good translated the cathechism from Latin into English for this purpose.

However they were unable to support themselves at Kilmallock and three months later they returned to the city in Easter 1566, and strangely set up their house in accommodation owned by the Lord Deputy of Ireland, which was conveyed to them by certain influential friends.

The top class studied the first and second parts of Johannes Despauterius's Commentarli grammatici, and read a few letters of Cicero or the dialogues of Frusius (André des Freux, SJ).

[14] In the spirit of Ignatius's Roman College founded 14 years before, no fee was requested from pupils, though as a result the two Jesuits lived in very poor conditions and were very overworked with teaching and administering the sacraments to the public.

In late 1568 the Castle Lane School, in the presence of Daniel and Good, was attacked and looted by government agents sent by Sir Thomas Cusack during the pacification of Munster.

[17] The political and religious climate had become more uncertain in the lead up to Pope Pius V's formal excommunication of Queen Elizabeth I, which resulted in a new wave of repression of Catholicism in England and Ireland.

Daniel returned to Ireland the following year, but was immediately captured and incriminating documents were found on his person, which were taken as proof of his involvement with the rebellious cousin of the Earl of Desmond, James Fitzmaurice and a Spanish plot.

[16] At the Restoration of Charles II the school moved back to Castle Lane, and remained largely undisturbed for the next 40 years, until the surrender of the city to Williamite forces in 1692.

[19][20] Despite the efforts of the Castle authorities and English government the Limerick school managed to survive the Protestant Reformation, the Cromwellian invasion and Williamite Wars, and subsequent Penal Laws.

[23] This diocesan college operated initially at premises in Hartstone Street, which had been occupied by the Sisters of the Faithful Companions of Jesus, before they purchased Laurel Hill House and established a school for girls there.

German was added later and the school prospectus advertised that boys were to be prepared "for the University and the Ecclesiastical Colleges; for the Learned Professions; for the Public Service – Civil and Military; and for the department of Mercantile and Commercial Life".

The Limerick community had taken a neutral stance during the 1868 election, which caused a caustic response from the local clergy and press, and a number of boys were withdrawn from the school as a result.

[27] The Jesuits, however, continued with their own school at the newly acquired buildings at the Crescent, which became independent of the Diocese and was renamed Sacred Heart College.

This was the first church and school in Ireland dedicated to the cult of the Sacred Heart, popularised centuries before in France by Claude de la Colombiere, S.J.

[30] When the results of the first nationwide Intermediate Examinations were published in 1879 a Crescent boy, Charles Doyle (later a Judge of the King's Bench), obtained first place in Ireland.

[31] This was seen as a victory for Catholic schools in receipt of no public endowment or subsidy and messages of congratulation were sent from many quarters, including the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Walsh.

[36] Hackett was disappointed with the results of his efforts and lamented the presence of many 'seonins' in Crescent College - and the Volunteers were shut down by the rector in 1917, though training camps were still being held as late as 1920.

It was proposed that the Crescent in Limerick and Gonzaga College in Dublin should adopt a comprehensive curriculum in a new relationship with the Minister for Education, and cease to be fee-paying schools.

The government's new scheme, they argued, gave the Society an opportunity to return to its earlier tradition, bringing the benefits of Jesuit education to all classes.

[43] In 21st century review of a work on the history of the Crescent, edited by Anthony White and published for the sesquicentenary of the College, Dr Daire Keogh of DCU critiques an article written by Fr Morrissey.

Instead land was purchased at Dooradoyle in 1973, resulting in the demolition of the MacMahon historical seat (a family closely related to the French Dukes of Magenta).

The Sacred Heart Church building, after a long vacancy, was purchased by a Traditionalist Order, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.