Marist College Ashgrove 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.
Contents
History
Marist College Ashgrove was founded by the Marist Brothers as a day and boarding College for boys on 17 March 1940.
Enrolment preferences are given to baptised Catholics, with participation in the Church given more consideration.
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.
The ethos and mission of the College are influenced by the founder of the Marist Brothers, Saint Marcellin Champagnat.
Campus
The college is situated on a 26-hectare (260,000 m2) campus and includes such facilities as:
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
Boarding school
Marist College Ashgrove offers a boarding school for students from Years 6 to 12 and can cater for up to 220 boarders. 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. The school has eight houses:
Sport
Marist College Ashgrove is a member of the Associated Independent Colleges (AIC).
AIC premierships
Marist College Ashgrove has won the following AIC premierships.
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, 2026
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
Australian Football (2) – 2023, 2024
Esports (1) – 2022
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.
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.
Notable alumni
Arts
Michael Bauer – novelist
Joe Brumm – animator, creator of Bluey
Andrew McGahan – novelist
Humphrey McQueen – historian and author
Ray Meagher – actor
Business
Robert Deakin – social entrepreneur and cyber security expert
Bill Ludwig – trade union leader
Medicine
Michael Gabbett – clinical geneticist, paediatrician and academic
Music
Joel Adams – pop singer-songwriter
Law
David Jackson – Australian Federal Court judge
Nathan Jarro – Queensland District Court judge
Martin Moynihan – former Queensland Supreme Court judge and Chair of the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission
Politics
Sir Julius Chan – former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
Kevin Rudd – former Prime Minister of Australia
Taniela (Dan) Tufui – former Chief Secretary to the Government of Tonga and Secretary to Cabinet
Peter Lawlor – former Labor Member for Southport
Religion
James Foley – former Catholic Bishop of Cairns
Brian Heenan – former Catholic Bishop of Rockhampton
Sport
Charlie Cameron – AFL player with the Brisbane Lions
Lachlan Keeffe – AFL player with Greater Western Sydney
Paul Miller – boxer and Olympian
Alex Cusack – Irish national cricket player
Matthew Hayden – Australian and Queensland cricketer
Peter McPhee – cricket player
Dylan McLachlan – Queensland cricketer÷
Billy Walters – rugby league player
John Connolly – former Wallabies coach
Des Connor – former dual international rugby union player for Australia and New Zealand
John Eales – 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 – former rugby union player
Pat Howard – Australian rugby union coach,
Robert (Bob) Honan – former Australian national rugby union and rugby league player