| St. Kieran's College Coláiste Chiaráin |
|
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Motto | Hiems Transiit The Winter Has Passed |
| Established | 1782 |
| President | Mgr. Kieron Kennedy |
| Homepage | www.stkieranscollege.ie |
St. Kieran's College, Kilkenny, Ireland is primarily a Secondary school for boys. It has long been a nursery for hurling,[1] and is located on College Road in Kilkenny in County Kilkenny, Ireland.
Contents |
Saint Kieran's College was founded in Kilkenny, in the diocese of Ossory in 1782,[2] after the passing of the Relief Act of 1782. This act enabled Catholics to found schools for the first time since the Irish penal laws were introduced. Prior to this only Protestants could found educational institutions. Saint Kieran's College was founded as the diocesan school and was the first of its kind in the country.
The school's motto is “Hiems Transiit,” Latin for “The Winter Has Passed,” It is a metaphor for the repeal of the penal laws which had kept Catholics as second class citizens in Ireland. It is taken from chapter 2 verse 11 of the Song of Solomon book of the bible:
| “ | "My beloved speaks and says to me: Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone." | ” |
|
—RSV |
||
The saint after which the school was named was Saint Kieran Saighir, "first-born of the saints of Ireland" (Promogenitus Sanctorum Hiberniae).
By the 1790s upheaval on the continent led to the demand for the provision of education for priests at home and in 1792 the college opened its doors to students of philosophy and theology, the first college in Ireland to do so.
The first location of the college was at Burrell's Hall, James Street, Kilkenny, which is now the location of Saint Mary's Cathedral (the seat of the Bishop of Ossory) and the CBS secondary school. It was later moved to the present location of the Loreto Convent Girls' Secondary School on the Granges Road, Kilkenny. Until eventually between 1811 and 1845 a new permanent building was constructed on what is now called College Road. The architect of the school was William Deane Butler who also designed Saint Mary's Cathedral; he was assisted by George Ashlin. The tower which rises from the centre of the cathedral was actually originally intended for the college. Some distinguishing features of the building include the Clock Tower, the Chapel and the Glass-Hall.
As a seminary the college educated many priests who went on to be ordained to serve in Ireland and abroad(some 600 in the United States). Unlike Maynooth College St. Kieran's was not supported by the British government financially.[3] During the 19th century following the example of St. Patrick's College, Carlow students were able to sit degree examinations for the University of London,[3] where the name of the college was sometimes misspelled as St. Kyrans. St. Kieran's as a seminary closed in 1994.
The College had originally catered for seminarians and boarding students but eventually day students were allowed to attend. This led to the abolishment of a five-days-a-week class structure and the introduction of the three day week school time. In 2003 it ceased boarding students and became solely a day-student secondary school.
As well as being a secondary school, the college also houses the NUI Maynooth Adult Education "Outreach Campus" and the CREIDIM Centre, which both give adult education in community studies, business, Irish, theology, philosophy, psychology etc. Since 1997 a BA in Local studies has been offered, and recently a new MA in Local History has commenced.[4] In association with the Catholic Diocese of Ossory, 2011 seen the commencement of a Certificate in Theological Studies[5] accredited by St. Patrick's College, Maynooth.[6] In association with the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cashel and Ossory a Certificate in Christian Studies[7] for lay anglicans, accredited by St. Patrick's College, Maynooth.[8]
The Bachelor of Business Studies (Hons) is offered in conjunction with the Institute of Technology, Carlow.
Saint Kieran's College also provides services and class-room usage for the "City Vocational School" and "Pobail Scoil Osraí"- the city's wholly Irish-speaking secondary school. Also within the walls of Saint Kieran's College are the Diocesan Archives and the Carrigan Room. The Carrigan Room contains all of the documents and pictures collected by William Carrigan for his four-volume encyclopaedia on the history of the diocese. The archives also contain documents collected by Carrigan for an intended second edition. These were never used for that purpose after Carrigan died of Spanish Flu.
Saint Kieran's College is a noted hurling school, winning numerous cups and leagues. Other sports that the school partakes in are handball, gaelic football, soccer, basketball, equestrian trials, swimming, golf, tennis, and rugby.
Other than sports, there are poetry workshops with a writer-in-residence, poet Mark Roper, has helped compile poetry broadsheets and advised people on the way to being published. Their own theatre/auditorium means the school always has a location for performances/readings.
Musical and Artistic Studies are also part of the school curriculum. The school also has a film-editing suite, which was used to complete a feature-length film about the Great Famine. This project was undertaken as part of a Schools Integration Project in Kilkenny. Farming and agriculture has always been a large part of Kilkenny's heritage and for the school as well. The farming facilities within the college's city campus have been removed but the school still retains areas of farmland in rural Kilkenny.
On 7th Of May 2009 the U-16 soccer team won the All-Ireland for the first time in the school's history.
The motto of the school is “Hiems Transiit,” Latin for “The Winter Has Passed.” The school crest is the diocese’s crest emblazoned on a Celtic Cross. The coat of arms of the diocese has a representation of St. Kieran between two pillars. It appears on Episcopal arms from the 18th century and on a beautiful book plate of Archbishop Troy as well as the college crest.
Notable students to have attended the school include actor Ralph Fiennes, economist Raymond Crotty, Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey, Wexford hurler Nicky Rackard and members of Kerbdog. Patrick Neary, who resigned as Chief Executive of the Financial Regulator, following the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank, was educated at the school.[9]