St. Colman's College, Fermoy

St. Colman's College
Coláiste Cholmáin
Location
Kevin Barry Hill, Fermoy
Republic of Ireland
Coordinates 52°08′14″N 8°16′45″W / 52.137192°N 8.27903°W / 52.137192; -8.27903Coordinates: 52°08′14″N 8°16′45″W / 52.137192°N 8.27903°W / 52.137192; -8.27903
Information
Motto Dilis do Dhia agus d'Eirinn
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
Established 1858 (1858)
Principal Veronica O'Donoghue
Gender Male
Colour(s)          Green & White
Former pupils Colmanites
Website stcolmanscollege.com

The old building of St. Colman's College

St. Colman's College (Irish: Coláiste Cholmáin) is a private all-boys voluntary secondary school, and former boarding school, in Fermoy, County Cork. The College was founded in 1856 and opened in 1858 as the diocesan college of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne. Archbishop Thomas Croke, after whom Croke Park is named, became the school's first President in this year. The College is renowned for its sporting links, especially in the field of hurling.

History

The site upon which St. Colman's was built was bought by Fr. Timothy Murphy in 1856. Murphy commissioned John Pine Hurley to design the new College building. Twenty months after construction began, St. Colman's opened its doors to its first students in 1858. The original College building is three storeys in height and boasts an impressive six-storey tower. The facade of red sandstone with limestone facings. The building, with its tall tower, has since become an iconic structure in Fermoy and looms over the town's skyline. A west wing was added in 1887 while the school chapel was added in the early 1900s. A new classroom block was added to the College in 1969. This new block boasted a large assembly hall and twenty-two classrooms. A library in the College, known among the students and faculty as the Priest's Library, houses many rare manuscripts and books. From the very beginning, St. Colman's welcomed boarders from all over Munster; however, boarding ceased in the College in 2003.[1]

Sport

The College has a strong hurling tradition and has won the Dr. Harty Cup nine times (1948, 1949, 1977, 1992, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002 & 2003). The 2016/17 school year saw much success with the Junior team lifting a first Dean Ryan Cup since 2003 and the Senior side reaching a first Dr Harty Cup final since 2003. Today all teams are represented by local club players. Today the sport is as strong as ever but the College also has a much more diverse sporting ethos. The College has successful in competition with sports as diverse as equestrian, pitch and putt, tennis, rugby (former Leinster and Ireland prop Mike Ross being a past pupil), cricket, basketball, and badminton in recent years.

The St. Colman's Health & Fitness Campus, a huge redevelopment of the College's sports grounds, was opened in 2015. The project included the building of brand new dressing rooms and showers, three full sized tennis courts and a fitness walkway around the Harty pitch.[2]

Notable alumni

6 Dean Ryan Cups 1992,93,94,2000,01,03 6 Dr Harty Cups 1992,96,97,2001,02,03 3 Dr Croke Cups 1997,2001,02

One of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, Thomas McDonagh, taught in St. Colman's for a period of time.[4]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.stcolmanscollege.com/fund_raising.htm
  2. ↑ http://www.stcolmanscollege.com/buildingthefuture/index.htm
  3. ↑ Wyse Jackson, John; Costello, Peter (1997). John Stanislaus Joyce: The Voluminous Life and Genius of James Joyce's Father. Fourth Estate. p. 37. ISBN 9781857026924. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  4. ↑ https://books.google.ie/books?id=0rvDBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=thomas%20mcdonagh&pg=PP37#v=onepage&q=Colman's&f=false
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