Marist College is a secondary school for boys in

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

, Ireland.

History and development

The school was founded in 1884 by the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute of Religious brother, brothers. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from Fr ...

, a French Order, and the first principal was Brother Mungo. The original school was based in Glesson Street/Saint Mary's Square. The college had a seminary for Juniorate training between 1915 and 1936 located at

Bailieborough Castle Bailieborough Castle was located in Bailieborough, County Cavan, Ireland. It was built in an enclosed demesne by 1629. Also known as Castle House, Lisgar House, or simply 'The Castle', the country house was located just to the south-west of Castl ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) 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 Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

. In 1973, the school moved to its current location on Retreat Road. In January 2022, the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

gave the go-ahead for a new school building to be developed at the college. Speaking to the ''

Westmeath Independent The ''Westmeath Independent'' is a local newspaper, founded in 1846, serving County Westmeath, Ireland. It is based in the town of Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, ...

'', principal Michael Dermody said this was an important milestone in the history of the school.

Curriculum

The school offers both the

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

and

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 certificate ...

cycles.

Transition Year Transition Year (TY) () is an optional one-year school programme that can be taken in the year after the Junior Cycle in Ireland. However, depending on school population and funding it may not be available, and in other schools it is compulsory. ...

was introduced into the college in 1989. Marist College offers all the mandatory subjects, along with technical graphics, business studies, technology and design & communication. Marist College is involved in a variety of sports, including

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. It is also involved in the

F1 in Schools STEM Racing (formerly F1 in Schools) is an international STEM competition endorsed by Formula One, Formula 1 for students aged 9–19. Groups of 3–6 students have to design and manufacture a miniature F1 car using Computer-aided design, CAD/C ...

competition, with six previous teams reaching the world finals. The schools most successful team, Catalyst Racing, hold the Irish and UK fastest track time record, achieved during the 2022 National Finals. Catalyst Racing went on to come 5th at the F1 in Schools World Finals 2023

Notable past pupils

Robbie Benson Robert Benson (born 7 May 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Derry City in the League of Ireland Premier Division. He has also played for his hometown club, Athlone Town, UCD, St Patrick's Athletic and ...

– footballer for

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

* Jack Carty – rugby union player *

Robbie Henshaw Robert Anthony Henshaw (born 12 June 1993) is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and the Ireland national team. He previously played for Connacht until 2016. Early life ...

– rugby union player for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

* Ralph Kenna – Professor of theoretical physics

Coventry University Coventry University is a Public university, public research university in Coventry, England. The origins of Coventry University can be linked to the Coventry School of Art and Design, Coventry School of Design in 1843. It was known as Lancheste ...

* Anthony Kelly - Cambridge scientist, government advisor and Professor of Education at the University of Southampton. Fellow of the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, and the Academy of Social Science. Leaving Cert class of 1975.
Profile
at southampton.ac.uk * Brian Lenihan – former Minister for Foreign Affairs and

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the second-ranking member of the government of Ireland and the holder of its second-most senior office. It is the equivalent of the deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems. The Tánaiste is appointed by the P ...

* John McCormack –

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

* Hugh Milling – cricketer *

Feargal O'Rourke Feargal O'Rourke (born 3 August 1964) is an Irish accountant and corporate tax expert, who was the managing partner of PwC in Ireland. He is considered the architect of the ''Double Irish'' tax scheme used by U.S. firms such as Apple, Google an ...

– Managing Partner of PwC Ireland, architect of the

double Irish The Double Irish arrangement was a base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) corporate tax avoidance tool used mainly by United States multinationals since the late 1980s to avoid corporate taxation on non-U.S. profits. (The US was one of a sma ...

tax scheme * Mark Rohan – Paralympic gold medal winner for

* Fergal Wilson – Retired GAA player for Tubberclaire GAA & Westmeath GAA

References

External links

* {{Athlone 1884 establishments in Ireland Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland Educational institutions established in 1884 Marist Brothers schools Schools in Athlone