St. Patrick's Classical School (Navan)
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St. Patrick's Classical School in Navan, County Meath is a prominent Roman Catholic Church-run school for boys in the Republic of 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 on vocational subjects. Until the granting of free education by the Irish Minister for Education, Brian Lenihan, (his predecessor who proposed free education, Donagh 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.
[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. Patricks 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 appology.
[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, an author and 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, Irish television presenter Hector Ó hEochagáin, two members of Meteor Award winning indie band Ham Sandwich, Brian Darcy and John Moore[1] and singer songwriter Paul McManus.
[edit] Uniform
The uniform consists of a light blue shirt, a navy jumper and gray slacks. Senior students wear navy slacks.
[edit] Notes
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 prominent Gaelic games radio sports 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 panelists on Gaelic games coverage on Ireland's national broadcaster, RTÉ. The school has itself produced many legends and current stars in Irish sport, especially in Gaelic games, including several past and present Meath Gaelic footballers.
Though the Catholic Bishop of Meath remains the school patron, the school had long been under lay control and has not had a member of the clergy as its president since 1970.
With 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 was visited by two German students, Hendrik Borgaes, from the organisation Experiment in International Living.
