RTE broadcaster John Bowman will officially open the Belvedere College Museum this Friday afternoon. The event will also mark the centenary of the school's past pupils' union, the Belvedere Union. Bowman is himself a former past pupil of the Dublin city-centre school.

The Belvedere archives, which date back to the foundation of the school in 1832, include registers of pupils, debating minutes and financial records. They include such items as the registration forms of James Joyce and his brother Stanislaus; the stubs of cheques paid to maths teacher Eamon de Valera; a note from prison by Charles Gavan Duffy in 1849; and minutes from a 1923 debate on the motion "That the six counties should join the Irish Free State".

Among other items, the museum will exhibit the desk of Kevin Barry, his science notebook and his school exam results. It will also feature an audio archive of past pupils including Jimmy O'Dea, Garret FitzGerald and WG Fallon. On Friday, two of the classes will also experience a school day as it would have been in 1902.

Further details from Oliver Murphy, chairman of the Belvedere Museum (tel: 086 315 0542).