newpark had a christian tradition, reflecting its origins within the protestant tradition, and is under the patronage of the church of ireland archbishop of dublin. the school was established in 1972, when the department of education purchased avoca & kingstown school, an amalgamation of two small private schools. avoca school in blackrock was founded in 1892 by a.a.[albert augustus] macdonagh m.a. (1869-1934) who served for a long time as its headmaster, and kingstown grammar school in 1894 by the rev. matthew edward devlin (whose son john edward devlin also served as kingstown's headmaster).