co-educational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
independent day and boarding school founded in 1843 located in
Whitechurch, County Dublin
Whitechurch (), is a small suburban area on the south side of Dublin, situated south of Ballyboden, east of Edmondstown and west of Marlay Park. The greater part of the area lies north of the M50 semi-orbital motorway, with some remote parts ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
. Among the founders of the college were Viscount Adare (who later became The 3rd
Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl
Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl (usually referred to as Earl of Dunraven) was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 5 February 1822 for Valentine Quin, 1st Viscount Mount-Earl. Quin had already been created a Baronet, of Adare ...
in 1850),
William Monsell
William Monsell, 1st Baron Emly, PC (21 September 1812 – 20 April 1894) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and Liberal politician. He held a number of ministerial positions between 1852 and 1873, notably as President of the Board of Health in 185 ...
James Henthorn Todd
James Henthorn Todd (23 April 1805 – 28 June 1869) was a biblical scholar, educator, and Irish historian. He is noted for his efforts to place religious disagreements on a rational historical footing, for his advocacy of a liberal form of Prot ...
.
The school is affiliated with the
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the sec ...
and caters to 300+ pupils, aged 11 to 19. Alumni are organized in the Old Columban Society. Its campus consists of on the edge of Dublin and the M50 motorway.
The school has grown up around a series of quadrangles, and major developments since the 1993 150th anniversary have provided it with many modern facilities. In 2004 it opened the Grange Building, housing over 100 boarders, as well as classrooms and house staff accommodation. In 2006, the 19th century Argyle buildings in the heart of the College were refurbished.
The old Cadogan Building opened in January 2008 as a new music school. Academic standards are high; in 2006, the average points score by all
Leaving Certificate
A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination.
For each leaving certifica ...
candidates was 440 out of 625, and in 2007 this went up slightly to 442. In 2008 it was 424, in 2009 446, and in 2010 the highest yet at 459. Over the past five years the average has been: 442 points. Average class size is 12 pupils per teacher. The ''
Sunday Independent
''Sunday Independent'' may refer to:
* ''The Independent'' (Perth)
* ''Sunday Independent'' (South Africa)
* ''Sunday Independent'' (England), in south-west England, UK
* ''Sunday Independent'' (Ireland), in Ireland
See also
*'' The Independent on ...
'' newspaper has identified it as the most expensive school in Ireland.
School fees continued to rise in 2015-16.
History
The school was originally established at Stackallan House in County Meath in 1843 but moved to its current location at Whitechurch, County Dublin in 1849.
House system
St Columba's operates a
house system
The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...
. Each pupil is placed in one of seven houses; Stackallan, Glen or Gwynn for all boys Form II to VI; Hollypark or Iona for all girls; Beresford for junior girls; Tibradden for boys under 13. The size of house ranges from 20 to 65 pupils. A
Housemaster
{{refimprove, date=September 2018
In British education, a housemaster is a schoolmaster in charge of a boarding house, normally at a boarding school and especially at a public school. The housemaster is responsible for the supervision and care ...
or
Housemistress
{{refimprove, date=September 2018
In British education, a housemaster is a schoolmaster in charge of a boarding house, normally at a boarding school and especially at a public school. The housemaster is responsible for the supervision and care ...
, assisted by at least one resident House Tutor, is in charge of each house, and acts ''in loco parentis'' in every aspect of the children's welfare throughout their time at the college.
Tibradden and Beresford occupy separate buildings in the centre of the college. Like the senior houses each has its own living and sleeping quarters and routine. Older boys and girls, selected by the house staff, help to provide an existence more structured and more protected than that of the rest of the school.
Terms
The school year is divided into three terms of which the first, the
Michaelmas Term
Michaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic year in a number of English-speaking universities and schools in the northern hemisphere, especially in the United Kingdom. Michaelmas term derives its name from the Feast of St Micha ...
(September to December) is the longest. The
Hilary Term
Hilary term is the second academic term of the University of OxfordTrinity Term, from April to June, and this is when external public examinations are taken. The Michaelmas Term has a substantial holiday at half-term, when the college closes down.
There are also shorter half-term breaks in the other terms, including following the St Columba's Day celebrations in late May or early June. Each term there is a three- or four-day ''Exodus'' during which the college closes; most pupils from outside of Ireland stay with their guardians, or Irish school friends.
Old Columban Society
Founded in 1909, the Old Columban Society is the
alumni
Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...
organization of the college. The first president of the society was Acting-Warden R M Gwynn supported by OCs W.F.S. Bantry White and Cecil L. Smith. It keeps members in touch with each other and the college and has also published books about the history of the college. The school magazine The''Columban'' was first published in 1879. During the First World War it denounced the
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with t ...
. Many OCs were officers in the British Army, so that when one of them died the bell in college was rung in commemoration. In 1917, a Treasurer was appointed to oversee editorials and printing.
Each year in May the ''Old Columban Bulletin'' is published, containing about 25 pages of news of Old Columbans and the college. Regular dinners and drinks parties are organised, in Dublin,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
. An Old Columban Scholarship is awarded to children of Old Columbans, who are all entitled to a discount on College fees.
Currently they have over 3,000 members, of whom over 50% live in the Republic of Ireland, 5% in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
, 16% in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
, 5% in
continental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
and 7% in the rest of the world. Old Columbans Germany has established a website, and is organizing events for Old Columbans from Germany as well as Old Columbans living in Germany.
Arthur W. Barton
Arthur Willoughby Barton (14 September 1899 – 24 August 1976) was a headmaster, academic author and association football referee.
Early life and education
Barton's father was Edwin H Barton, professor of physics at University College, Nott ...
The Boat Race
The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's ...
Dermot Boyle
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Dermot Alexander Boyle, (2 October 1904 – 5 May 1993) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the Second World War initially as a staff officer with the Advanced Air Striking Force in Reims ...
, Marshal of the Royal Air Force
* Thomas Chamney, former Olympic track and field athlete
*
Adam Clayton
Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. C ...
Brian Faulkner
Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, (18 February 1921 – 3 March 1977), was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972. He was also the chief executive ...
,
Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
The prime minister of Northern Ireland was the head of the Government of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920; however, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, as with governo ...
Stephen Gwynn
Stephen Lucius Gwynn (13 February 1864 – 11 June 1950) was an Irish journalist, biographer, author, poet and Protestant Nationalist politician. As a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party he represented Galway city as its Member of Parliame ...
Joseph Hone
Joseph Hone (25 February 1937 – 15 August 2016) was a British writer of the spy novel. Born in London in 1937 he was "given away" by his parents and taken to Dublin. The story of his unusual start in life is recorded in an autobiography "Wicked ...
Richard Claverhouse Jebb
Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb (27 August 1841 – 9 December 1905) was a British classical scholar.
Life
Jebb was born in Dundee, Scotland. His father Robert was a well-known Irish barrister; his mother was Emily Harriet Horsley, daughter of ...
, classicist
*
Roy Johnston
Roy H. W. Johnston (11 November 1929 – 13 December 2019) was an Irish theoretical physicist and republican political activist. He was a Marxist who as a member of the IRA in the 1960s argued for a ''National Liberation Strategy'' to unite the ...
, Irish physicist
*
William John Leech
William John Leech (10 April 1881 – 16 July 1968) was an Irish painter.
Biography
Leech was born in Dublin the son of Anne Louisa née Garbois (1847–1921) and Professor Henry Brougham Leech LLD (1843–1921). He went to school at St Col ...
, painter
* Charles Marriott, International cricketerhttps://www.espncricinfo.com/player/charles-marriott-16903
*
Ian McKinley
Ian McKinley (born 4 December 1989) is a retired Irish-born, Italian rugby union player. He played at fly-half and he represented Italy on 9 occasions.
Career
In 2011, after playing 6 times for Irish province Leinster, McKinley was forced t ...
, International rugby player
*Sir
Kenneth O'Connor
Sir Kenneth Kennedy O'Connor KBE MC QC (21 December 1896 – 13 January 1985, aged 88) was a soldier, lawyer and judge who served in the British Colonial Service.
Biography Early life
O'Connor was born in Ranchi, Jharkhand, British India. H ...
Victoria Smurfit
Victoria Smurfit (born 31 March 1974) is an Irish actress. She is known for playing Orla O'Connell in the BBC television series ''Ballykissangel'', Detective Chief Inspector Roisin Connor in the ITV police procedural '' Trial & Retribution'' a ...
, actress
* Holly Somerville, botanical illustrator and artist
*
William Trevor
William Trevor Cox (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2016), known by his pen name William Trevor, was an Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer. One of the elder statesmen of the Irish literary world, he is widely regarded as one of th ...
Michael Yeats
Michael Butler Yeats (22 August 1921 – 3 January 2007) was an Irish barrister and Fianna Fáil politician. He served two periods as a member of Seanad Éireann.
His father was the poet W. B. Yeats, who likewise served in the Seanad, and hi ...
, barrister and Fianna Fáil politician
Wardens
* Robert Corbet Singleton (1843–47)
* M.C. Morton (1848–50)
* George Williams (1850–56)
* John Gwynn (1856–64)
* John Longden (1864–67)
* Robert Rice (1867–91)
* Percy Whelan (1891-1904)
* William Parker (1904–08)
* R.M. Gwynn (1909-09), Acting-Warden
* William Blackburn (1909–19)
* R.M. Gwynn, (1919-1919) Acting-Warden
* C.B. Armstrong (1919–33)
* C.W. Sowby (1933–49)
* F.M. Argyle (1949–74)
* D. Gibbs (1974 - 1988)
* T. E. Macey (1988 - 2001)
* ? Haslett (2001-2016)
* M. Boobbyer (2016–present)