With 140 students attending, the Senior Branch of Wah Yan College, Kowloon was opened on 8th September 1941, exactly seventy years ago, just to become derelict in a few months. In residence were the headmaster, teacher and spiritual director Fr. Richard Gallagher, Fr. Patrick Joy, the Jesuit Superior of Hong Kong, Fr. Charles Daly, minister, procurator and teacher and finally the Scholastic Mr. Joseph McAsey who taught, in charge of the library and games.
It was hoped that Fr. Gallagher would bring to Kowloon the outstanding features of Wah Yan Hong Kong – a ‘happy school’ with good examination results, a good spirit among the boys, and a spirit of contentment and loyalty among the masters. (Sources – Jesuits in Hong Kong, South China and Beyond , Thomas Morrissey, SJ; The Star, Wah Yan College, HK School Magazine 1947; Jesuits Under Fire in the Siege of Hong Kong, Thomas Ryan, SJ)
