Edmund grew up on the farm at Westcourt , attending a hedge-school, an illegal pay-school set up by a travelling teacher. The religious education he received in the family home was augmented by lessons from an Augustinian travelling friar, Fr. Patrick Grace. Later, more fortunate than many of his contemporaries, he attended a commercial academy in Kilkenny city where he received a practical and classical education.
When he was 18 years old Edmund became an apprentice in the business of his uncle Michael Rice, a well-established victualling and ship's chandling business in the thriving port of Waterford. As Michael's own sons were not keen to follow in their father's footsteps, Edmund was given the opportunity of training to manage the business. Such was his uncle's confidence in him that he signed over the flourishing business to him when Edmund was 24. At this time the laws which had made it so difficult for Catholics to own property were more relaxed and Edmund was able to invest in land and property.
Edmund enjoyed a happy social life in the city. He married Mary Elliot, daughter of a leather merchant, in 1785. The young couple had many friends among the Waterford merchant class, both Protestant and Catholic. Four years after they married, Mary, pregnant with their first child, fell from a horse she was riding. She gave birth prematurely to a daughter, but died later. Such was the esteem the family were held in that the Protestant-owned Waterford newspapers carried accounts of the tragedy in their editions of 17 January 1789.
The baby, also named Mary, was retarded. Later when Edmund became an avid reader of the Bible, referring to this period of his life he would quote 'The Lord gave and the Lord taketh away, so blessed be his name forever.'
His stepsister Joan came to care for Mary and to keep house for him and Edmund continued with his successful career. His religious life intensified. He went to Mass before work each day and in the evenings read spiritual books, especially the Bible and the works of St. Teresa of Avila
Like many of the Catholic merchants of the time he lent money to poorer Catholics whom the banks would not accommodate. The many texts on money-lending which he copied from the Bible are an indication of how scrupulous he had become in his financial affairs. He visited the poor in their homes and arranged, through his charitable intervention, the release of debtors from prison. His prison visits brought him in contact with unfortunates under sentence of death, and he was known to comfort them by his presence and his prayers at the scaffold near John's Bridge.
At one time Edmund considered becoming an Augustinian friar, a vocation his brother John had followed. But in 1797 Bishop Hussey of Waterford wrote a pastoral letter castigating Catholic parents who put their children's faith at risk by sending them to Protestant proseltysing schools. Edmund, while agreeing with the bishop about the risk involved, could see that poor parents had no opportunity of educating their children except in such schools. The following year Presentation Sisters came to Waterford, and Edmund, at the request of Bishop Hussey and of his friend Fr. Power he used his business acumen to help the Sisters establish themselves in the city. The example of the Sisters in educating the local girls and the need for similar education for the boys convinced Edmund that he should commit himself to this work.
In 1800 with a few volunteer helpers he began to teach some street children in the evenings at his stores in Barronstand Street. Later he rented livery stables and converted them into classrooms. He made financial arrangements for his daughter to be taken care of by close relatives and began to wind up his considerabe business interests with the intention of totally dedicating his life to God and the work of Christian education.
He hired two assistants but the boys of the street were very difficult pupils and his assistants couldn't cope and left. Neighbours resented having young delinquents in their locality and complained; his business friends were sceptical of a project that appeared to them eccentric and pathetic.
But early in 1802 two young men from Edmund's native Callan who had also been thinking of dedicationg their lives to God joined him. They began a form of community life, attending daily Mass, teaching all day and spending time in prayer and spiritual reading before retiring for the night. They took up accommodation over the stables in New Street while awaiting the completion of the building of a permanent residence.
In 1803 Edmund and his companions moved to Mount Sion, a monastery and school on a hill overlooking the city. Here 'the monks', as Edmund and his companions were called, taught up to 150 pupils each, assisted by the brighter pupils in a monitor system. They also held night classes for illiterate adults. Edmund built a small bakehouse to provide a daily meal for the pupils, with a loft overhead in which tailors made clothes for them.
He continued his jail visits and his personal involvement in several charitable works. Protestants, especially Quakers, appreciated his efforts and became his benefactors.
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