St. Patrick's Classical School (Navan)
| St. Patrick's Classical School Scoil Clásicach Naomh Pádraig |
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In Christo Confido
Latin for "I trust in Christ" |
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| Location | |
| Moatlands, Navan, Co. Meath |
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| Information | |
| Established | 1930 |
| Principal | Mr. Colm O'Rourke |
| Gender | Boys |
| Number of students | c. 850 |
| Colour(s) | Navy, Blue |
| Patron | Bishop of Meath |
| Website | St. Pat's Navan Homepage |
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St. Patrick's Classical School in Navan, County Meath is a prominent Roman Catholic Church-run school for boys in Ireland. It has produced a number of prominent politicians, journalists, Irish sports personalities, broadcasters and two winners of the famous Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Fringe.
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[edit] History
St. Patrick's Classical School was founded in 1930 when the Diocese of Meath's seminary, St. Finian's College, which had previously been the main provider of denominational education for boys locally, moved from Navan to the new diocesan capital, Mullingar in Co. Westmeath. The school's patron is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Meath. The school was previously located in a small architecturally distinctive building on Academy Street in the centre of the town, but in 1970 it moved to a new campus at the outskirts of the town.
As its name indicated, it placed heavy emphasis on the teaching of the classics, Latin and Greek, rather than vocational subjects. Until the granting of free education by the Irish Minister for Education, Brian Lenihan, (his predecessor who proposed free education, Donogh O'Malley died before he could implement the plan) the school operated as a fee-paying school. Its education is now free. Though predominantly Roman Catholic, the school attracts many pupils from other religions and none. It particularly attracts members of the local Islamic community.
Although the Roman Catholic Bishop of Meath remains the school patron, the school has long been under lay control and has not had a member of the clergy as its principal since 1970. Following the decline in numbers of people entering the priesthood in Ireland, the school no longer has any priest on its teaching staff.
In the two previous years, the school has been visited by two German students from the organisation Experiment in International Living.[citation needed]
On 27 November 2009, Uachtáran na hÉireann Mary McAleese visited the school.
The school uniform consists of a light blue shirt, a navy jumper and grey slacks for junior students. Senior students wear navy slacks.
The school has often been credited for its success in National Competitions and Leagues.
[edit] Notable alumni
The school has produced many prominent figures in Irish politics, business, the international media and comedy. Among its most prominent ex-pupils were James Tully, the Labour Party Deputy Leader and Irish government minister in the 1970s and early 1980s, Jim Fitzsimons, a longtime Fianna Fáil Member of the European Parliament, Jim Duffy, a journalist, Simon Cumbers, a prominent broadcast journalist (killed by al-Qaeda in 2004), David Beggy, a Gaelic football star turned successful Rugby player, Tommy Tiernan and Dylan Moran, both winners of the famous international Perrier Award for Comedy at the Edinburgh Festival who had award-winning comedy shows on British television, London West-End star Willy Byrne and Irish television presenter Hector Ó hEochagáin.
The successes of Tiernan, Moran, Darcy, Moore, Byrne and McManus were credited to the passion for stage and theatre of one of the school teachers, Richie Ball, whose success in the 1980s in inspiring teenagers to opt for careers in the arts, earned considerable media attention. Another teacher, Kevin Mallon, became a Gaelic games radio and television commentator, while another teacher, and the current school principal, Colm O'Rourke, became famous throughout Ireland as a prominent member of the longtime successful Meath Gaelic Football team, before becoming one of the top panellists on Gaelic games coverage on Ireland's national broadcaster, RTÉ. The school has itself produced many current stars in Irish sport, especially in Gaelic games, including several past and present Meath Gaelic footballers.
[edit] Sports
St. Patrick's Classical School takes part in many sports including Gaelic Football, Hurling, Rugby, Athletics and Basketball.
[edit] Gaelic Football
The Senior Gaelic Football team has won the Hogan Cup (All Ireland Schools "A" competition) three times, in 2000, 2001 and 2004. The team is coached by Colm O'Rourke and Paul Byrne. Also, the Juvenile Football team won the North Leinster Juvenile Championship 2011 against St Mary's School in Mullingar by 2-18(Pat's) to 1-5(St. Mary's).
[edit] Rugby
In 2010, the Junior Rugby team won the Junior Duff Cup against Skerries Community School. The score was 8-3.
[edit] Basketball
St. Pat's has won many basketball tournaments over the years. The U-19's and U-16's basketball teams both made it to the north-east regional finals in 2011/2012. The U-19's won their final but were knocked out in the qualifiers for the All-Ireland. The U-16's lost their final but were able to advance to All-Ireland qualifiers but unfortunately lost and were knocked out. The 1st year team are currently playing in the north-east regionals while the 2nd year team were knocked out.
[edit] Controversy
In early March 2008 the tabloid The Sunday World carried an article entitled "School Fight Club" in which a journalist exposed a Bebo site set up by students of St. Patrick's Classical School in order to prearrange fights and other acts of anti-social behaviour and also talked to several parents whose children were allegedly involved in serious acts of bullying within the school. The Bebo page, according to the article, hosted photos of minors (some in school uniforms). Both students and teachers of the school were outraged at the false allegations and a letter of complaint was sent to the newspaper requesting an apology.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
