120 years of WCFE to be celebrated in year-long programme of events
Lora Smite, Kayla King and Katelyn Long, who graduated from WCFE in Animal Science and Grooming this year and received their certificates from Tutor Fabin Flood and Mayor of Waterford City & County Cllr Liam Brazil.
One hundred and twenty years of community education will be celebrated in Waterford City this week, with Waterford College of Further Education marking its one hundred and twentieth year on Thursday, September 17.
The college, originally named the Central Technical Institute by the then head of the educational instruction committee Bishop Sheehan, opened its doors for the very first time on Monday, September 17, 1906, with Bernard O'Shaughnessy as principal and a full staff of teachers behind him.
In an effort to centralise all technical education in Waterford, and its surrounding areas, the college was created to give working class people a chance to educate themselves further and gain new employment opportunities.
The Parnell Street campus, originally bought for £450 sterling (€82,647.51 in 2026), now houses 40 different courses each year, across seven disciplines as part of the WWETB.
In its first year the college welcomed circa 544 students through its door for courses in art, science, construction and domestic sciences, a curriculum predicated on the industrial and commercial needs of Waterford city in the early 1900s, similarly to how the current WCFE staff create new courses to this day.
"We're always reactive to that (businesses closing and economic changes in the area)," Sally Ann Cunnigham, Head of Sciences at WCFE told this newspaper, "So we look at what's going on in the community and then we see the need and create courses for that need."
When Waterford Crystal closed its doors in 2009, for example, a lot of former staff were retrained and upskilled at the college through courses on offer there and courses created with them in mind, she said.
The college was also central in the revival of Waterford Glass in the late 1940s, when the company relied on the college to recruit and train local youth.
To mark its historic anniversary, WCFE is hosting a 120-year celebration on Thursday, September 17, at their Parnell Street campus.
To celebrate the college and its place in the community, they are inviting past students, staff members, business partners and anyone with an interest in attending one of their courses to their celebratory open day to share their stories.
"We want to tell the story of the college," said Michelle Daly, Head of Art and Media at the college, "but we want to use the people who came here to tell it, as a sort of living archive of the place."
The running theme of the college this year is 'looking forward and looking back', with this week's 120-year anniversary event showcasing the history of the college through speeches and memorabilia displays, to demonstrations from current students and application forms for courses available for anyone interested on the day.
It'll be the kind of atmosphere alumni would remember from their college days, staff said, with stories and anecdotes shared on the day and a community focus at the forefront.
Weather permitting, the Parnell Street campus will turn into a circus of sorts on Thursday morning, with course demonstrations from current students including blood pressure tests by the nursing department, makeup showcases by the beauty department, dog grooming on site by the animal care students and more, this newspaper was told, in a fantastical showcase of everything WCFE has to offer, past, present and future.
The celebrations won't end on the college's anniversary, however, with WCFE announcing a year-long programme of events marking the historic anniversary and celebrating its place in the community.
"I don't think there's a family in town who hasn't been in touch with us here at some point," said Michelle Daly.
From 120 hairdos, dog grooms and beauty treatments for €10 to 120 shoe box donations and bulbs planted in their gardens, to library exhibitions and art and photography exhibitions documenting the school’s history.
Students from WCFE's theatre and event production course will also host a gala performance on Thursday, February 25, next year at the Theatre Royal as the standout feature of the 120-year celebrations with music, dancing, and theatrics for all to enjoy.
