Saint Patrick's College () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

all-male

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It was founded in 1871 as a minor and major seminary for the Diocese of Kilmore. It was officially opened by the

Bishop of Kilmore The Bishop of Kilmore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore, County Cavan in Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bisho ...

, Dr Nicholas Conaty in 1874 for the Diocese of Kilmore, replacing St Augustine's Seminary (Kilmore Academy) established by Dr James Browne in 1839. Kilmore Academy had both clerical and non-clerical students, over 100 clerical students went on to

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland. The college and national seminary on its grounds are often referred to as Maynooth College. The college was of ...

to be priests. It was a day and boarding school, ceasing in 1998 as a boarding school. The Kilmore Diocese Pastoral Centre opened in 2005 and is based in the old boarding school wing.Kilmore Diocesan Pastoral Centre, Cavan
/ref> The year 2010 saw planning permission given for a new school building reportedly estimated to cost €8.6 million, which the school took possession of in summer 2012.

Subjects

The school offers leaving certificate subjects such as Irish, English, French, German, Mathematics, Physics & Chemistry, Biology, Agricultural Science, Computer Studies, Accounting, Economics, Business, History, Geography, Art, Construction Studies, Music, Technical Drawing, as well as Career Guidance, P.E., and Religion. The schools Junior Cert cycle includes Irish, English French, German, Computer Studies, Mathematics, Science, Business Studies, Home Economics, History, Geography, Art, Materials Technology, Music, Technical Graphics, as well as Civil, Social and Political Education, Religion and P.E.

Sport

The school has won the Ulster

MacRory Cup The MacRory Cup is an inter-college (school) Gaelic football tournament in Ulster at senior "A" grade. The MacLarnon Cup is the competition for schools at senior 'B' grade. Players must be under nineteen at the start of the tournament. The winn ...

on twelve occasions, firstly in 1935, in Gaelic football. In 1972, it went on to win the all-Ireland schools

Hogan Cup The Hogan Cup (), also known as the All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior A Football Championship, is the top level Gaelic football championship for secondary schools (sometimes referred to as colleges) in Ireland. The competition itself is re ...

. Hurling and soccer are also played as well as, more recently, chess and golf.

Presidents/Principals

Dr Liam McNiffe announced his retirement in 2012 and was replaced by Mr Christopher Rowley in August 2013. Previous Presidents/Principals of the college have included, Rev James Dolan, Rev Colm Hurley, Rev Dan Gallogly, Rev. John McTiernan and Rev Gerard Alwill (1997–2003). Mr Patsy Lee (2003–2008) was the first lay principal of the college.

Past pupils

* Seán Brady, cardinal, who was a student at St Patrick's returned as a professor to the college. * Francis Joseph MacKiernan, bishop * Philip Leo O'Reilly, bishop * Francis Duffy, bishop * T. P. McKenna, actor *

Myles Dungan Myles Dungan is an Irish broadcaster and author. He has presented many arts programmes on RTÉ Radio, and has also been a sports broadcaster on RTÉ Television. Since October 2010 he has been the presenter of "The History Show" on RTÉ Radio One ...

, broadcaster *

Seán Gallagher Seán Gallagher (born 7 July 1962) is an Irish businessman and former reality television personality. He was a co-founder in 2000 of Smarthomes, which after initial success, failed in 2008–2010, and Gallagher departed in 2010–11. He was a p ...

, broadcaster * Joe O'Reilly, politician * John Joe O'Reilly, footballer * Justin McKenna, politician

References

'Pounding Praying Playing: A Personal Account of Boarding School in St. Pat's Cavan' by Liam McNiffe 'I'm Not One to Gossip, But...' by John McEntee {{DEFAULTSORT:St. Patrick's College, Cavan Catholic secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in County Cavan Cavan (town)