St Mel's College is an all-boys secondary school in

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

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 ...

History

The college opened in September 1865 with 48 boarders and 20 dayboys. The architect was Than Ourke with a total cost of 16,000 euro. In the beginning, it was actually a seminary, where students studied to become priests. Fr. James Reynolds was the first president. Previously he had been Superior of St Mel's Day School in the Market Square. The school shares its name with

St Mel's Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Mel is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, located in the town of Longford in Ireland. Built between 1840 and 1856, with the belfry and portico as later additions, it has been ...

in Longford and it is situated to the rear of the cathedral. The cathedral and the college are named after Saint Mél of Ardagh. St Mel's was originally a boarding school since its foundation, later becoming a day school. Due to financial implications and decreasing demand for boarding schools it stopped taking in boarders in the early 2000s.

Sports

St Mel's won its first All Ireland Senior Final, beating St Patrick's College,

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

in Croke Park by 4-7 to 3-3. The college has won the All Ireland Schools

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 ...

championship the

Hogan Cup The Hogan Cup ( ga, Corn Uí Ógáin), also known as the All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior A Football Championship, is the top level Gaelic football championship for secondary schools (sometimes referred to as colleges) in Ireland. The com ...

in 1948, 1962, 1963, and 1987 (they also were runners-up in 1961 and 1988). They hold the record for the most wins, 29, in the Leinster Colleges Senior Football Championship. St Mel's have an all-weather pitch provided by PST Sport. In February 2020, it was announced that Longford Athletics Club and the College would build an Indoor facility on the college grounds.

Past pupils

Micheál Carrigy Micheál Carrigy is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel since April 2020. Early life and education Carrigy attended St. Mel's College, Longford. He worked as a postmaster. Politica ...

, Senator elected 2020 * Conor Connelly (1975–2020),

er *

James Patrick Farrell James Patrick Farrell (13 May 1865 – 11 December 1921) was an Irish nationalist politician and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1895 to 1918, taking his seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He was also ...

(1865–1921), Nationalist MP for Cavan 1895–1900 and North Longford 1900–1918 *

Ray Flynn Raymond Leo Flynn (born July 22, 1939) is an American politician who served as 52nd Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts from 1984 until 1993. He also served as United States Ambassador to the Holy See from 1993–1997. Flynn was an All-American c ...

(b. 1957), athlete * Rev. Joseph Guinan (1863–1932), priest, teacher (at St Mel's) and novelist *

John Leydon John Leydon (17 January 1895 – 2 August 1979) was an Irish civil servant, who served in a number of significant roles in ministerial departments and was involved in the setting up and development of a number of semi-state organisations such as I ...

(1895–1979), civil servant, involved in setting up Aer Lingus,

IMI IMI may refer to: Companies and organizations * IMI plc, a British engineering company * IMI Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer * Indian Music Industry, a trust that represents the recording industry distributors in India * Indonesian Motor ...

and

IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners ...

Pádraic McCormack Pádraic McCormack (born 15 May 1942) is a former Irish Fine Gael politician, who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway West constituency from 1989 to 2011, and as a Senator from 1987 to 1989. McCormack is a native of Kenagh, County ...

, former TD for Galway West and Senator * Bishop James Moynagh S.P.S. (1903–1985), missionary priest and bishop to NigeriaNew biography charts Irish priest’s role in Nigeria
By Sarah Mac Donald, www.catholicireland.net, 26 March 2015. * Liam Mulvihill, former director general of the GAA *

Declan Nerney Declan Nerney (born c. 1959) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Born in Drumlish, County Longford, he started at the age of 16 in a local band, "The Hi-Lows". His big break came with his autobiographical song "''The Marquee in Drumlish''". His e ...

, Irish country singer *

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (; born Peter Roger Casement Brady; 2 October 1932 – 5 June 2013) was an Irish republican political and military leader. He was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) from 1958 to 1959 and again from 1960 to 19 ...

, Former TD (1957–1961), President of Sinn Fein (1970–1983), President of

Republican Sinn Féin Republican Sinn Féin or RSF ( ga, Sinn Féin Poblachtach) is an Irish republican political party in Ireland. RSF claims to be heirs of the Sinn Féin party founded in 1905 and took its present form in 1986 following a split in Sinn Féin. RS ...

(1987–2009) * Bishop

Colm O'Reilly Colm O'Reilly (born 11 January 1935) is an Irish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise from 1983 to 2013. Early life and education The youngest of seven children, O'Reilly was born to John and A ...

, Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise The Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise ( ga, Deoise Ardach agus Chluain Mhic Nóis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Ireland. Geography The diocese is entirely within the Republic of Ireland and contains most of counties Longford and Leitrim, wit ...

* John Wilson (1923–2007), TD for Cavan Monaghan and government minister

References

External links

St Mel's College website
1865 establishments in Ireland Educational institutions established in 1865 Longford (town) Secondary schools in County Longford {{Ireland-school-stub