St. Joseph's College is a boys' secondary school located in

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It lies within the Western

Education Authority The Education Authority ( ga, Údarás Oideachais) is a non-departmental body sponsored by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland. It was established under the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 (c. 12) which was passed by the North ...

area. The college is a member of the Fermanagh Learning Community with links to the

South West College The South West College operates in Northern Ireland on four campuses in Cookstown, Dungannon, Enniskillen and Omagh and, of the six new area based colleges, it is the smallest in size, but it covers the largest geographical area of counties ...

, Enniskillen.

History

The college opened in 1960 and was originally under the care of the

Presentation Brothers The Congregation of Presentation Brothers is an international Catholic congregation of laymen founded in 1802 in Waterford, Ireland, by a local Irish businessman, Edmund Ignatius Rice, now Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice. Presentation Brothers live a ...

. Bryan Gallagher was principal of St. Joseph's from 1972 until his retirement in 1996. He then became a successful author and popular radio guest on John Peel's ''

Home Truths ''Home Truths'' was a weekly BBC Radio 4 programme which began on 11 April 1998 and was usually hosted by the DJ John Peel until his death in October 2004. In the Saturday 910am slot, it gradually became one of Radio 4's most successful programm ...

'', a contributor to RTE’s ''Sunday Miscellany'', and a presenter for

Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It i ...

’s ''Thought for the Day''. In 2015, Helena Palmer was appointed the school's first female principal.

Location and Facilities

It is located on a nine acre site at Drumclay, Enniskillen. The school building includes specialist classrooms for science, art and design, computers, home economics and music.

Admissions

The college recruits students from the parishes of Enniskillen, Botha, Pobal, and Cleenish. Approximately 10% of students are from non-English speaking families including families from Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Moldova, Latvia and Syria.

Academics

Students have the opportunity of studying a broad range of subjects and to enter for GCSE, A-Level and BTech examinations. A total of 96% of the students who entered the GCSE exams were awarded five or more A*-C grades. In the same year, 63.6% of the students who entered the A-Level exams were awarded three or more A*-C grades. A 2011 ETI (Education and Training Inspectorate) inspection found that the quality of education provided at St. Joseph's was "very good".

Sporting activities

Students can participate in a range of sporting activities including Gaelic football, soccer, athletics and badminton.

Community activities

Students from the college have been involved in supporting a variety of local charitable organisations. These include Enniskillen Food Bank, Action Mental Health: New Horizons, and Pieta House.

Notable former pupils

Adrian Dunbar Adrian Dunbar (born 1 August 1958) is a Northern Irish actor, director and singer, known for his television and his theatre work. Dunbar co-wrote and starred in the 1991 film '' Hear My Song'', nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the BA ...

- actor * Declan O'Dare - architect

References

External links

St. Joseph's College website
{{DEFAULTSORT:ST Joseph's College, Enniskillen Secondary schools in County Fermanagh Enniskillen 1970 establishments in Northern Ireland Educational institutions established in 1970 Catholic secondary schools in Northern Ireland