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St Colman's College is a Roman Catholic English-medium grammar school for boys, situated in Newry, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The college was founded in 1823 as the Dromore Diocesan Seminary by Father J. S. Keenan and placed under the patronage of
Colmán of Dromore Saint Colmán of Dromore, also known by the pet form Mocholmóc, was a 6th-century Irish saint. Life Colman was a native of Dalriada, born roughly a generation after Patrick's apostolate to Ireland, and was baptized by a bishop, bearing his ow ...
. The College stands on Violet Hill, the same 60 acre (243,000 m²) site it has occupied since 1829, next to the Bishop of Dromore's residence, and the school itself is often referred to colloquially as Violet Hill.


Motto

The school motto is ''Bonitas, Disciplina, Scientia'' which can be translated as ''Kindness, Discipline and Knowledge''.


College buildings

In the 1930s one of the most iconic buildings in the College complex was completed: the Chapel of Mary, the Immaculate Mother of God, constructed at he western end of the present frontage was solemnly consecrated by Bishop
Edward Mulhern Edward Mulhern (28 January 1863 – 12 August 1943) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Dromore, Northern Ireland. He was a native of Ederney in County Fermanagh and after a local education was ordained priest in Maynooth College 1 ...
on 26 October 1938. Further work continued in the post-war era as new science rooms, a dedicated design and technology block were all added to the college estate. In January 2008, 15 new classrooms and a multi-purpose hall became available for student use. A refurbishment of the existing College building and classrooms was completed in 2009, with all classrooms now equipped with interactive whiteboards. In addition to this, the grounds were developed with two tennis courts, 60 additional car parking spaces for students and teachers.


Enrolment

As a grammar school, St Colman's selects on the basis of academic ability, primarily through the
GL examination GL, Gl, or gl may refer to: Businesses and brands * Air Greenland, IATA airline designator * Germanischer Lloyd, a classification society *GlobalLogic, a Digital Product Engineering Services company Government and military * GreenLeft, a Dutch ...
; it currently has 860 students attending. Enniskillen-born Cormac McKinney was appointed the first lay principal of the College in 2010.


Academic results

In 2020, all of its 129 students who entered five or more GCSEs passed with grades A* to C including the core subjects English and Maths. Of the 109 students who entered A-level exams, 105 obtained at least 3 A-C* grades.


Sports


Gaelic football

Aside from its academic work, St. Colman's is known as a nursery for Gaelic footballers for the senior men's teams of both
Down Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland, a ty ...
and
Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...
. The school is the most successful Ulster team in schools' Gaelic Football. In 2011 the College's senior
Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
team was Ulster and All-Ireland champions. The College has a distinguished history in
Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
winning the premier colleges' trophy, the Hogan Cup, eight times in 1967, 1975, 1986, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2010 and 2011. Only St Jarlath's College, Tuam has won the All-Ireland competition on more occasions. The college remains the most successful Ulster college winning the MacRory Cup for the 19th time in 2011.


Other sports

Other sports offered at the College include, but are not limited to: *
handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
* basketball * golf – St Colman's were Irish & Ulster Schools Champions in 1992 and former past pupil's Rory Leonard & Hilary Armstrong are current and former Irish Internationals. In 2017 St Colman's reached the Darren Clarke School Golf League Final in Lisburn Golf Club. They won on the day 3.5-3.5, winning by holes won. *
hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
* rugby union


Music


Orchestra

The school has a sixty-member orchestra, run by the music teachers and with the help of additional instrumental tuition from local musicians. The school also has two
string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...
s, a
flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
quintet, a woodwind quintet, a brass quintet and a band. St Colman's won the 2005, 2013, 2014 and 2019 Newry Feis Orchestra group Cup.


Choir

The school choir has worked with St George's Singers, Belfast and the Ulster Orchestra, the Irish College in Paris and Le Bec-Hellouin, mother house of the Order of Saint Benedict of Holy Cross Abbey, Rostrevor. The choir has taken part in six editions of ''Morning Service'' for BBC Radio Ulster, broadcast live from the College's Chapel and St Brigid's Church, Newry. The trebles have performed live in Broadcasting House, Belfast as part of BBC Radio Ulster's ''Sounds Classical''. The choir has also recorded with
BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...
for the programmes ''O Little Town'' and ''Our Wee World''. The choir were winners of the Southern Grammar School Regional Heat of the UTV School Choir of the Year 2005. Also in 2005 the choir took part in the 20th anniversary of ''Sing Carols'' which was broadcast on BBC NI and BBC Radio Ulster. Their live BBC Radio Ulster's performance of
Elaine Agnew Elaine Agnew (born 1967) is an Irish composer. Early life Elaine Agnew studied composition at Queen’s University Belfast with Kevin Volans and at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with James MacMillan. Career Agnew was a commissioned compose ...
's commissioned work ''Blessed'' was used on the promotional CD for the European Chamber Orchestra's educational programme throughout the European Union.


Organ

The College Chapel has a two-manual pipe organ, originally built by Rieger Orgelbau and rebuilt and installed in the college chapel by Kenneth Jones & Associates, for the use of the students.


Traditional Group

The Traditional Group has two All-Ireland standard Uilleann pipers, two button accordion players, two mandolin players, six tin whistlers, a fiddler, a bodhrán player and a guitarist.


Abuse of pupils

In October 2017, the Diocese of Dromore settled the "biggest ever pay-out in a historical abuse case in Northern Ireland" over claims that Fr Malachy Finnegan, who was President of the College between 1976 and 1987, sexually abused a pupil. Finnegan, who died in 2002, was the subject of twelve abuse allegations made between 1994 and 2016. In the weeks following the scandal, the school removed all photographs depicting Fr Finnegan from the interior of its building.


Notable former pupils


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Colman's College, Newry Catholic secondary schools in Northern Ireland Educational institutions established in 1823 Education in Newry Secondary schools in County Down Boys' schools in Northern Ireland Grammar schools in County Down Specialist colleges in Northern Ireland