Brief History of the Brothers

Blessed Edmund Rice, the founder of the Congregation was born in Ireland in 1762, the son of a prosperous farmer. He grew to become a successful and influential merchant in the city of Waterford, where he was known as a devout Catholic and generous benefactor of the poor. After a brief marriage, tragically ended by his wife's death in a riding accident, the widowed Edmund found strength and comfort in prayer, scripture reading, and the Eucharist. His concern for the poor began to focus on the education and care of street children in the city. His aim was that they might come to know God through their Catholic faith, as well as to equip them to rise out of their impoverished state.

Edmund gave up his comfortable home for a room above the stable which served as his first school. He supported the venture financially by the profits from his business. Other young Waterford men, impressed by his example, joined him in his service to the poor. His first permanent school building, Mt. Sion, included a tailor shop and bakery, that the students might be fed and clothed. Edmund and his "brothers" took their first vows in 1808, as members of the Society of the Presentation under the authority of the local bishop. By 1820, the group had so expanded throughout Ireland that Pope Pius VII granted them status as a pontifical congregation. The rule of the congregation was officially ratified by the General Chapter of 1832 and the Irish Christian Brothers were born.

Today, the Congregation of Christian Brothers (as it is now known) consists of more than 2600 brothers with its Generalate in Rome and 350 communities in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Great Britain, South Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as in mission houses throughout South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Pacific.

The Eastern American province consists of 200 brothers in 23 communities, as well as a mission in Peru with 5 communities.