Davitt College ( ga, Coláiste Dáibhéid) is a mixed vocational

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

located in Gorteendrunagh, Springfield,

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Developing around a 13th century castle of the de Barry family, de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal poi ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

History

The school, which opened in 1984 would previously be known as 'the tech', would later be named Davitt College by then-principal Joe Langan because "he angandid not like the term ‘tech’ with its derogatory connotations". He had also introduced the school uniform, the first in any vocational school in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

as he stated 'was an indication of things to come.' Joe Langan died in July 2006 and in 2011 Davitt College named their new sports hall after him. The school is named after

Michael Davitt Michael Davitt (25 March 184630 May 1906) was an Irish republican activist for a variety of causes, especially Home Rule and land reform. Following an eviction when he was four years old, Davitt's family migrated to England. He began his caree ...

, an

Irish republican Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The develop ...

and agrarian campaigner who founded the

Irish National Land League The Irish National Land League (Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farmer ...

. He was also a

labour leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of the ...

Home Rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

politician and Member of Parliament (MP). He campaigned for

and was a close ally of

Charles Stuart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...

, the leader of the

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish national ...

, until the party split over Parnell's divorce and Davitt joined the anti-Parnellite

Irish National Federation The Irish National Federation (INF) was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded in 1891 by former members of the Irish National League (INL), after a split in the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) on the leadership of Charles S ...

. The school was run under authority by the

VEC Vec may mean: Mathematics: * vec(''A''), the vectorization of a matrix ''A''. * Vec denotes the category of vector spaces over the reals. Other: * Venetian language (Vèneto), language code. * Vecuronium, a muscle relaxant. * vec, a sentient mora ...

until July 2013 when it was replaced by the ETB. A student who attended Davitt College named Shane Gavin never missed a single day of school in a space of 13 years since he started primary school. Davitt College was one of the first schools in the Republic of Ireland to introduce

Politics and Society ''Politics & Society'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal. It was established in 1970 and is currently published by SAGE Publications. The journal seeks to publish original analyses of politics, including its social roots and its consequences. Co ...

as a

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

subject in September 2016, with the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugur ...

examination taking place in June 2018. Fifth year students from Davitt College visits

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

along with another school for charitable causes annually. The school is a member of Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim ETB since 2013.

Notable alumni

Alan Dillon Alan Dillon (born 28 September 1982) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Mayo (Dáil constituency), Mayo constituency since the 2020 Irish general election, 2020 general election. Prior to entering politic ...

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

politician ( TD) (2020–present), and former Gaelic footballer for

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

(2003–2017), All Star winner (2006, 2012). *

Ray Moylette Raymond Peter Moylette (born 11 April 1990), sometimes spelled Moylett, is an Irish professional boxer. As an amateur he represented Ireland, winning gold medals at the 2008 Youth World Championships and 2011 European Championships. Amateu ...

, professional boxer. * Diarmuid O'Connor, Gaelic footballer for

All Stars Young Footballer of the Year The GAA & GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percent ...

(2015–2016). *

Cora Staunton Cora Staunton (born 13 December 1981) is an Irish sportswoman. She is best known as a ladies' Gaelic footballer, winning four All-Irelands and three Ladies' National Football League titles with Mayo. She has also been an All Star on eleven o ...

, Gaelic footballer for

(1995–2018), All-Ireland winner (1999–2000, 2002–2003), All Star winner (2000–2002, 2004, 2007–2009, 2012–2013, 2015, 2017),

association footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, rugby player and

Australian rules footballer Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...

(2018–present).

References

{{Reflist Secondary schools in County Mayo Castlebar 1984 establishments in Ireland Educational institutions established in 1984

History

Notable alumni

See also

References