Rockwell College
Rockwell College, founded in 1864, is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school near Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland.
| Rockwell College Coláiste Charraig an Tobair | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Information | |
| Type | Voluntary day and boarding school |
| Motto | Inter Mutanda Constantia ("Constancy in the midst of change") |
| Established | 1864 |
| President | Fr. Jack Meade, C.S.Sp. |
| Principal | Ms. Audrey O’Byrne[1] |
| Years offered | 1st - 7th |
| Gender | Male and Female |
| Age | 12 to 19 |
| Number of students | 500 |
| Colour(s) | Blue and White |
| Religious compiliation | Roman Catholicism (Spiritans) |
| Website | www.rockwellcollege.ie |
The school has a rugby tradition and has won the Munster Schools Senior Cup 26 times and the Munster Schools Junior Cup 20 times. Rockwell is run by the Spiritans. Its list of former pupils and teachers includes two Presidents of Ireland.
History
Rockwell College was founded in 1864 by two Spiritan priests (also known as the Holy Ghost Fathers) to provide education to the sons of Roman Catholics during a time when Penal Laws were still in place against the Catholic majority in Ireland.[2]
Rockwell College played a important role in the development of the Irish State in the several prominent figures of the Irish Revolutionary period taught at or attended the school. Éamon de Valera taught mathematics there as a young teacher and fellow 1916 Proclamation signatory Thomas MacDonagh attended as a pupil. In 1964 as part of the centenary celebrations President Éamon de Valera returned to the schoo, 60 years after he taught there.[3]
In 1997, Pat O'Sullivan became Rockwell's first lay principal, and in 2012 Audrey O'Byrne became the College's first female principal.[4]
Sister schools
- Templeogue College, Dublin
Notable past pupils
Politics
- Tadhg Crowley, Irish revolutionary and Fianna Fáil Senator and TD for Limerick
- Éamon de Valera, Taoiseach and President of Ireland, was a mathematics teacher at the school.
- Michael Ahern, former Junior Minister for Industry and Commerce and former TD for Cork East
- Henry Barniville, Senator and Professor of Anatomy in University College Dublin
- Andrew Boylan, former Fine Gael TD for Cavan–Monaghan
- Ruairí Brugha, Fianna Fáil TD, Senator and MEP
- Patrick Hillery, President of Ireland 1976–1990
- Maurice Manning, Chancellor of National University of Ireland, former Fine Gael Senator and President of the Irish Human Rights Commission
- Enda Marren, Fine Gael trustee and Member of Irish Council of State
- Seán McCarthy, former Minister of State for Finance and Technology
- William Quirke, former Fianna Fáil Senator and Tipperary IRA leader during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War.
- Thomas Walsh, former Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow–Kilkenny
- William Mulcahy, former Chairman of the Irish Industrial Development Association (1931)
- James John O'Shee, former member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, MP for the constituency of West Waterford (1895-1918) and co-founder of the Irish Land & Labour Association.
Legal
- Fionán Lynch, Circuit Court Judge and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael
- David Keane, Judge of the High Court
- John Rogers, former Attorney General of Ireland between 1984-1987
- John L. Murray, former Chief Justice of Ireland, former judge of the Irish Supreme Court, former judge of the European Court of Justice, former Attorney General of Ireland, and former Chancellor of the University of Limerick
Business
- Richie Boucher, CEO of the Bank of Ireland
- Brody Sweeney, CEO of O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bars and Fine Gael candidate in 2007 election
- Frank Mulcahy, former Director of Ardfinnan Woollen Mills
Sport
- Jake Flannery, rugby international
- Paddy Butler, rugby player
- Jack Clarke, footballer
- Michael Dargan, cricketer and rugby player
- Willie Duggan, rugby international
- Denis Fogarty, rugby player
- John Fogarty, rugby international
- Gary Halpin, rugby international
- Denis Leamy, rugby international
- Pat McGrath, hurler
- Paul McNaughton, manager of the Irish rugby team
- Mark Melbourne, rugby player
- Walter Swinburn, jockey, who won 8 British Classics, including the 1981 Derby with Shergar
- Diarmuid Barron,rugby player
Clergy
- Cardinal Michael Browne, O.P.
- Monsignor Pádraig de Brún, former President of National University of Ireland, Galway
- Fr Denis Fahey
- Bishop Henry Aloysius Gogarty C.S.Sp.
- Fr Aengus Finucane, former Chief Executive of Concern Worldwide, was a teacher
- Fr. Jack Finucane
- Archbishop John Joseph McCarthy C.S.Sp.
Others
- John Crowley, Irish revolutionary and hunger striker
- Professor John J. Collins, Biblical scholar, was a Spiritan for nine years, professor in Yale
- John M. Feehan, author and publisher
- Thomas MacDonagh - poet, teacher and co-leader of 1916 Rising, for which he was executed.
- Lieut. General Colm Mangan - former Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces,
- Pádraic Ó Conaire, writer
- Liam O'Flaherty, writer
- Kevin Roche, architect
- Gabriel Rosenstock, writer
References
- "Female principal for Rockwell College". Irish Times. February 3, 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- "About Us - Rockwell College Cashel Tipperary Ireland". rockwellcollege.ie. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
- "Rockwell College Centenary". RTÉ Archives. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
- "Female principal for Rockwell College". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2020-06-18.