Saint Patrick's College ( ga, Coláiste Padraig) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

all-male

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

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 ...

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 ...

. It was founded in 1871 as a minor and major seminary for the Diocese of Kilmore. It was officially opened by the

Bishop of Kilmore The Bishop of Kilmore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore, County Cavan in Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishopr ...

, Dr Nicholas Conaty in 1874 for the Diocese of Kilmore, replacing St Augustine's Seminary (Kilmore Academy) established by Dr James Browne in 1839. Kilmore Academy had both clerical and non-clerical students, over 100 clerical students went on to

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

to be priests. It was a day and boarding school, ceasing in 1998 as a boarding school. The Kilmore Diocese Pastoral Centre, opened in 2005, is based in the old boarding school wing.Kilmore Diocesan Pastoral Centre, Cavan
/ref> 2010 saw planning permission given for a new school building reportedly estimated to cost €8.6 million, which the school took possession of in summer 2012.

Subjects

The school offers leaving certificate subjects such as Irish, English, French, German, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Physics & Chemistry, Biology, Agricultural Science, Computer Studies, Accounting, Economics, Business, History, Geography, Art, Construction Studies, Music, Technical Drawing, as well as Career Guidance, P.E., and Religion. The schools Junior Cert cycle includes Irish, English French, German, Computer Studies, Mathematics, Science, Business Studies, Home Economics, History, Geography, Art, Materials Technology, Music, Technical Graphics, as well as Civil, Social and Political Education, Religion and P.E.

Sport

The school has won the Ulster

MacRory Cup The MacRory Cup is an inter-college (school) Gaelic football tournament in Ulster at senior "A" grade. The MacLarnon Cup is the competition for schools at senior 'B' grade. Players must be under nineteen at the start of the tournament. The win ...

on twelve occasions, firstly in 1935, in Gaelic football. In 1972, it went on to win the all-ireland schools

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 ...

. Hurling and soccer are also played as well as, more recently, chess and golf.

Presidents/Principals

Dr Liam McNiffe announced his retirement in 2012 and was replaced by Mr Christopher Rowley in August 2013. Previous Presidents/Principals of the College have included, Rev James Dolan, Rev Colm Hurley, Rev Dan Gallogly, Rev. John McTiernan and Rev Gerard Alwill (1997-2003). Mr Patsy Lee (2003-2008) was the first lay principal of the college.

Past pupils

* Seán Brady, cardinal, who was a student at St Patrick's returned as a professor to the college. *

Francis Joseph MacKiernan Francis Joseph MacKiernan (1926–2005) was an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the Bishop of Kilmore from 1972 to 1998 and chaired the coordinating committee for the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland. Early life and mi ...

, bishop *

Philip Leo O'Reilly Leo O'Reilly (born 10 April 1944), D.D., is the emeritus Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kilmore. He was installed as Bishop of Kilmore on 15 November 1998 and retired on health grounds in December 2018. Early life A native of Kill, C ...

, bishop * Francis Duffy, bishop * T. P. McKenna, actor *

Myles Dungan Myles Dungan is an Irish broadcaster and author. He has presented many arts programmes on RTÉ Radio, and has also been a sports broadcaster on RTÉ Television. Since October 2010 he has been the presenter of "The History Show" on RTÉ Radio One ...

, broadcaster *

Seán Gallagher Seán Gallagher (born 7 July 1962) is an Irish businessman and former reality television personality. He was a co-founder in 2000 of Smarthomes, which after initial success, failed in 2008–2010, and Gallagher departed in 2010–11. He was a p ...

, broadcaster *

Joe O'Reilly Joe O'Reilly (born 1 April 1955) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Leas-Chathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann since August 2020. He has served as a Senator for the Labour Panel since April 2016, and previously from 2007 to 2011 for ...

, politician * John Joe O'Reilly, footballer *

Justin McKenna Justin McKenna (9 June 1896 – 23 March 1950) was an Irish politician and lawyer. Born in Mullagh, County Cavan, McKenna's shopkeeper father, Thomas P. McKenna, was prominent in public life having held the offices of Chairman of Cavan County ...

, politician

References

'Pounding Praying Playing: A Personal Account of Boarding School in St. Pat's Cavan' by Liam McNiffe 'I'm Not One to Gossip, But...' by John McEntee {{DEFAULTSORT:St. Patrick's College, Cavan Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in County Cavan Cavan (town)