St. Conleth's College is a private co-educational Catholic school founded on 4 September 1939 by Bernard Sheppard.

History

The school was named after

Conleth Saint Conleth (; sga, Conláed ; Modern Irish: ''Naomh Connlaodh''; also ''Conlaeth; Conlaid; Conlaith; Conlath; Conlian, Hugh the Wise'') was an Irish hermit and metalworker, also said to have been a copyist and skilled illuminator of manuscr ...

, a sixth-century Irish monk who was a moulder of precious metals and whose feast day is 4 May. The senior school has about 300 pupils and is co-educational. It has a teaching staff of 25. The junior school has about 160 pupils and is also co-educational. It has grown steadily since it opened and the school building at 28 Clyde Road,

Ballsbridge Ballsbridge () (from historic Ball's Bridge) is an affluent neighbourhood of the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The area is largely north and west of a three-arch stone bridge across the River Dodder, on the south side of the city. Th ...

Dublin 4 Dublin 4, also rendered as D4 and D04, is a historic postal district of Dublin, Ireland including Baggot Street Upper, the southernmost fringes of the Dublin Docklands, and the suburbs of Ballsbridge, Donnybrook, Irishtown, Merrion, Ringsend ...

, is now significantly different from its original state. The Millennium extension saw the addition of a half court school hall, canteen and additional classrooms as well as a computer lab and resurfacing of playing facilities. In 2009 the school underwent reconstruction again, resulting in an additional floor and re-modelling of the interior. In November 2017, the Kevin Kelleher Wing was opened which added a performance room and study area on top of the gymnasium.

Management

Kevin D. Kelleher (1921 - 2016), former international rugby referee, was the headmaster of the school for over 46 years. Ann Sheppard (the daughter of Bernard Sheppard and step-daughter of Kevin Kelleher) was school principal from 1988–2001 and was CEO until 2021. Donal Ó Dúlaing is the principal of the Senior School. Angelina Hopkins is the deputy principal of the Senior School. Tony Kilcommons was principal of the junior school until he became CEO of St. Conleth's in 2021. Dolores Kelly is the head of Preparatory School (Junior Infants - 1st Form)

Academics

The school first topped the fee-paying schools league table in 2003. However, due to its relatively small size some newspapers omit the school from league tables. Subjects offered by the school for the Leaving Certificate include but are not limited to:

maths Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical s ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

Sport

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 ...

is considered the primary sport of the school and both Junior and Senior Cup Team are represented in the Leinster Cups. Leinster Rugby did a focus on rugby in St. Conleth's in 2016 to recognise its successes that year. St. Conleth's won the Basketball Ireland National Cup and League double in 2009 at the U16 Boys B level. The school hasalso won several South Dublin Basketball League Championships, the most recent being the 2013 First Year (Minor) Championship. St. Conleth's have participated in fencing for decades and is available as a sport in the school for both boys and girls from a young age. In June 2019, a past pupil, Philip Lee, became Ireland's first-ever European Champion in Fencing. Hockey is the latest sport to be played in St. Conleth's. The Minor Girls Hockey team played their first game on a full pitch in October 2018 and 5 months later they beat Loreto Beaufort in the final having seen off Dundalk Grammar in the semi final and Mount Anville in the quarter finals.

Debating

St. Conleth's debating tradition is recorded in the minutes of the school's Literary and Debating Society dating back to the 1940s. The 2000s saw St Conleth's win four Irish World's Schools representatives followed by victories in the

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Schools Mace and the

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

School's Mace. In 2010, St. Conleth's began hosting an annual Junior Mace Debating competition. In 2014 there were three Conlethians representing Team Ireland at the World Schools Debating Championship in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2019, St. Conleth's had two winners in the grand final of the Irish Times Debate with Kevin Roche (representing the Kings Inns) winning the individual competition and Daniel Gilligan (representing TCD Hist Society) won the team competition. Another past pupil, Conor White, was a losing finalist.

Past pupils' union

St.Conleth's Past Pupils' Union has been active for over 70 years and every year holds a dinner, a black tie event, at the school on the last Friday of February or the first Friday of March (depending on when the Irish rugby team do not have a fixture).

References

External links

School's website

Past Pupil's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Conleth's College Secondary schools in Dublin (city) Private schools in the Republic of Ireland Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland