Marist College is a secondary school for boys in

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

, Ireland.

History and development

The school was founded in 1884 by the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brother ...

, a French Order, and the first principal was Brother Mungo. The original school was based in Glesson Street/Saint Mary's Square. The college had a seminary for Juniorate training between 1915 and 1936 located at

Bailieborough Castle Bailieborough Castle was located in Bailieborough, County Cavan, Ireland. It was built in an enclosed demesne by 1629. Also known as Castle House, Lisgar House, or simply 'The Castle', the country house was located just to the south-west of Cas ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

. In 1973, the school moved to its current location on Retreat Road. In January 2022, the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

gave the go-ahead for a new school building to be developed at the college. Speaking to the ''

Westmeath Independent The ''Westmeath Independent'' is a local newspaper serving County Westmeath, Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north ...

'', principal Michael Dermody said this was an important milestone in the history of the school.

Curriculum

The school offers both the

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

and

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 ...

cycles.

Transition Year Transition Year (TY) ( ga, Idirbhliain) is an optional one-year school programme that can be taken in the year after the Junior Certificate in Ireland. However, depending on school population and funding it may not be available, and in other sch ...

was introduced into the college in 1989. Marist College offers all the mandatory subjects, along with technical graphics, business studies, technology and design & communication. Marist College is involved in a variety of sports, including

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. It is also involved in the

F1 in Schools ''F1 in Schools'' is an international STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) competition for school children (aged 11–19), in which groups of 3–6 students have to design and manufacture a miniature car out of the official F1 ...

competition, with five previous teams reaching the world finals and the 2016 team emerging as winners.

Notable past pupils

Robbie Benson Robert Benson (born 7 May 1992) is an Irish people, Irish professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder, for Dundalk F.C., Dundalk in the League of Ireland Premier Division. He has also played for his hometown club, At ...

– footballer for

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

* Jack Carty – rugby union player *

Robbie Henshaw Robbie Henshaw (born 12 June 1993) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays primarily as a centre, although he can also play fullback. Henshaw currently plays for Irish provincial team Leinster in the United Rugby Championship, and internatio ...

– rugby union player for

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 ...

* Ralph Kenna – Professor of theoretical physics

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...

* Brian Lenihan – former Minister for Foreign Affairs and

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Taoi ...

* John McCormack –

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

Hugh Milling Hugh Milling (4 September 1962 – 18 February 2003) was an Irish first-class cricketer. Milling was born at Carrickfergus and was educated at Marist College, Athlone, from there, he went up to Trinity College, Dublin. While studying in ...

– cricketer *

Feargal O'Rourke Feargal “Sake” O'Rourke (born 3 August 1964) is an Irish accountant and corporate tax expert, who is the managing partner of PwC in Ireland. He is considered the architect of the ''Double Irish'' tax scheme used by U.S. firms such as Apple ...

– Managing Partner of PwC Ireland, architect of the

double Irish The Double Irish arrangement was a base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) corporate tax avoidance tool used mostly by United States multinationals since the late 1980s to avoid corporate taxation on non-U.S. profits. It was the largest tax ...

tax scheme * Mark Rohan – Paralympic gold medal winner for

* Fergal Wilson – Retired GAA player for Tubberclaire GAA & Westmeath GAA

References

External links

* {{Athlone 1884 establishments in Ireland Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in Athlone Educational institutions established in 1884 Education in Athlone Marist Brothers schools