St Mel's College

St. Mel's College Coláiste Naomh Mel
Location
Longford, County Longford Ireland
Information
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1865
Principal	Mr. Declan Rowley
Gender	Boys
Trustee	Catholic Education an Irish Schools Trust School
Website	http://www.stmelscollege.ie/

St. Mel's College is an all-boys secondary school in Longford, Ireland.

History

The college opened in September 1865 with 48 boarders and 20 dayboys. The architect was Than Ourke with a total cost of 16,000 euro. In the beginning, it was actually a seminary, where students studied to become priests. Fr. James Reynolds was the first president. Previously he had been Superior of St. Mel's Day School in the Market Square. The school shares its name with St. Mel's Cathedral in Longford and it is situated to the rear of the cathedral. The cathedral and the college are named after Saint Mél of Ardagh.

St. Mel's was originally a boarding school since its foundation, later becoming a day school. Due to financial implications and decreasing demand for boarding schools it stopped taking in boarders in the early 2000s.

Sports

St. Mel's won its first All Ireland Senior Final, beating St. Patrick's College, Cavan in Croke Park by 4-7 to 3-3. The college has won the Gaelic football championship Hogan Cup in 1948, 1962, 1963 and 1987.

Presidents/Principals

• Rev. James Reynolds, 1865-1871
• Rev. Matthew Columb, 1871-1874
• Rev. Joseph Hoare, 1874-1881
• Rev. James O’Farrell, 1881-1891
• Rev. Patrick McGauran, 1891-1893
• Canon James Fullam, 1893-1908
• Canon Michael J. Masterson, 1908-1921
• Rev. Denis O’Kane, 1921-1933
• Rev. Edward McCormack, 1933-1940
• Rev. James Reynolds, 1940-1944
• Rev. Michael Kearney, 1944-1956
• Rev. James J. Griffin, 1956-1963
• Rev. John J. Lennon, 1963-1970
• Rev. James Faughnan, 1970-1978
• Rev. James Bland, 1978-1983
• Rev. Peter Brady, 1983-1989
• Rev. Frank Garvey, 1989-2002
• Denis Glennon, 2002-2008, first lay principal
• Damian Cunningham, 2008-2013
• Declan Rowley, 2013-present

Past pupils

• Conor Connelly (1975-2020) - Gaelic footballer
• James Patrick Farrell (1865-1921) - Nationalist MP for Cavan 1895-1900 and North Longford 1900-1918.
• Ray Flynn (b. 1957) - athlete
• John Leydon (1895–1979), civil servant, involved in setting up Aer Lingus, IMI and IPA
• Tom McGuire - former head of RTE Radio 1, and RTE Current Affairs editor
• Declan Nerney - Irish country singer
• John Wilson (1923-2007) - TD for Cavan Monaghan and government Minister.

External links

• St. Mel's College website