St Michael's College, is an all-boys secondary school serving the town of

Listowel Listowel ( ; , IPA: �lʲɪsˠˈt̪ˠuəhəlʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the Central Statistics Of ...

, and the greater North

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

catchment area. The school is situated on the banks of the

River Feale Beach seine fishing for salmon in River Feale near by town Ballybunion, year 1975. The River Feale (''An Fhéil'' or ''Abhainn na Féile'' in Irish) rises near Rockchapel in the Mullaghareirk Mountains of County Cork in the southwest of Irelan ...

, and on the Cahirdown Road.

History

The school was founded by the Catholic Bishop of Kerry in 1879. The college was originally located in a town house in The Square, Listowel, but moved to the former fever hospital on the edge of the town, when that became available. With a student body of seventy mostly fee paying students, the college teachers were presided over by a president, who was a cleric up until 1989. Since, all principals/presidents have been lay persons. The school celebrated its centenary in 1979. The school retains its original home, and the old building still holds classes, offices and laboratories. Two extension programs have taken place since 1983. The first included the addition of ten new classrooms, an assembly hall, offices, a new staffroom and science laboratories. In 2003,

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

opened a new extension which contains a further five classrooms, woodwork and metalwork rooms and a chemistry demonstration room. Dressing rooms were added to the sports hall, and a new football pitch was inaugurated in 2009. In 2020 another extension was added which contained a new metalwork room and upgraded sports facilities.

Curriculum

The College runs a curriculum which follows a five-year cycle, with Junior Certificate for three years, and Leaving Certificate.

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 as an option in 2010.

Sport

Apart from classes in Physical Education, sport it is not compulsory. The traditional college sport is

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 ...

. There is also a provision for athletics, badminton, hurling, soccer, rugby, golf and swimming. Teams are entered for school competitions. Other activities include debating, music, bridge, science and general knowledge quizzes, literary and maths competitions.

Notable past pupils

Alfred O'Rahilly Alfred O'Rahilly, KSG (1 October 1884 – 1 August 1969) was an academic with controversial views on both electromagnetism and religion. He briefly served in politics, as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork City, and was later the president of Unive ...

, academic, President of

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

and

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for Cork City *

George Fitzmaurice George Fitzmaurice (13 February 1885 – 13 June 1940) was a French-born film director and producer. Career Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage. Beginning in 1914, and continuing until his death in 1940, he directed ...

, Abbey Theatre Playwright and author * Gerard Barrett, writer, director and producer * John B. Keane, poet, author, and playwright *

Jimmy Deenihan Jimmy Deenihan (born 11 September 1952) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister of State for the Diaspora from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht from 2011 to 2014 and Minister of State at the D ...

, Gaelic footballer, Teachta Dála, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs *

Páidí Ó Sé Páidí Ó Sé (, ; 16 May 1955 – 15 December 2012) was an Irish Gaelic football manager and player, whose league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen seasons from 1974 to 1988. Ó Sé is wide ...

, Gaelic Footballer and Kerry GAA manager * Bryan MacMahon, poet, author, playwright, and teacher * Bryan MacMahon, Irish High Court judge * T.F. O'Rahilly, Celtic languages scholar

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael's College, Listowel 1879 establishments in Ireland Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland Catholic secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland Educational institutions established in 1879 Listowel Secondary schools in County Kerry