The Patrician Society

1. To many of us, he is 'Brother Joe'

Brother John Joseph McNally (b. 1923, Ballintubber, Ireland - d. 27 August 2002, County Mayo, Ireland), is a De La Salle Christian Brother who had dedicated 37 years of his life to teaching in Singapore and Malaysia.

 

He was our school's director / principal from 1975 to 1982. His legacy to us and to Singapore are in the areas of Education, The Arts and in the Inter-Religious relationships in our country. 

 

He is also renowned as a sculptor and artist and was also the founder and President Emeritus of the La Salle-SIA College of the Arts.
 

 

2. Brother McNally and  St. Patrick’s School
As a young brother out of Ireland his first interactions with St. Patrick's, at the request of Brother Alban, was to restore the hands of 'Our Lady of Katong', a pre-war statue which was discarded by the Japanese during WWII. This statue upon restoration - the hands being one of Brother McNally's first art works, was placed in a position of honour, in front of the portico (of the 'old' school building). Our Lady of Katong is now placed in a grotto next to the current school canteen.