Saint Eunan's College

Coordinates: 54°57′06″N 7°44′44″W / 54.951737°N 7.745554°W / 54.951737; -7.745554

Saint Eunan's College Coláiste Naomh Adhamhnáin
Saint Eunan's College, taken from a distance In hoc signo vinces Latin for "in this sign you will conquer"
Location
Letterkenny, County Donegal Ireland
Information
Established	1906
Principal	Christopher Darby
Deputy principal	Anne Coll
Gender	male
Colour(s)	Red and Black
Website	www.sainteunans.com

View of the College

Saint Eunan's College (Irish: Coláiste Adhamhnáin) is an all-male voluntary secondary school in County Donegal, Ireland. Located in the Glencar area of Letterkenny, it is an imposing three-storey structure resembling a castle, and is known as "the castle on the hill".^[1] It was designed by renowned Irish architect Thomas Francis McNamara. Noted also for the peculiar nature of its architecture, with four turreted round towers and flying buttresses modelled on the nearby Cathedral, it is divided by a capacious central courtyard, adjoined to an immense stone chapel and home to some unusual flora, fauna and fungi, completed by the conspicuous presence of a large monkey puzzle tree on its front lawn. Named after the Abbot of Iona Saint Eunan, a native of Donegal and patron saint of the Diocese of Raphoe, it celebrated its centenary in 2006.^[2] Saint Eunan's College is a prolific sporting institution, having produced numerous footballers who have gone on to play for the Donegal senior football team at the highest level of the game. Current Donegal captain Michael Murphy and former captain Neil Gallagher, who led the team to the 2007 National Football League title, are among these. Among the current staff are All-Ireland winning Gaelic football All Star Colm McFadden, football manager Gary McDaid (currently of Glenswilly), football manager and former Donegal selector Mickey Houston and Ollie Horgan, who has managed Finn Harps and the Republic of Ireland schoolboys.

History

Saint Eunan's College was founded as a boarding school in 1906 by the then Bishop of Raphoe, Patrick O' Donnell. Originally intended as a minor seminary, it was designed to prepare students for the Roman Catholic priesthood. Diocesan colleges became an increasingly popular feature at the time and were designed to give the best possible Catholic education to boys of every class.

The student population expanded in the 1920s and it was necessary to build a new extension to the College in the early 1930s. The current recreation hall was built in 1958 and the science block in 1968. The College Chapel was designed by J.J. Robinson, the architect of Galway Cathedral. It was completed in 1961 at a cost of £42,000.^[3]

The 'new building' was opened in 1979 to cater for the 500 students enrolled at the time. Due to the growth of other second level schools in the area the number of boarders dropped extensively and in 1992, the boarding wing was finally shut down. Saint Eunan's College continues to this day as a Catholic School under the trusteeship of the Bishop of Raphoe.

The school currently serves approximately 900 students from Letterkenny and its surrounding area, and is one of the few remaining all-male schools in the north-western part of Ireland. The president, since 2009, is Christopher Darby and the vice principal, since 2010, is Mary Cunningham.

In 2007, the school came to the attention of the national media. Retailers were urged not to sell eggs and flour to students following a spate of attacks on passing cars.^[4]

In 2009, Christopher Darby became the first lay person to become president of the college, taking over from Father Michael Carney.^[5]

Centenary celebrations

Centenary celebrations began on Friday 6 October 2006 with an exhibition of photographs and the launch of the centenary booklet. The photographic exhibition included photographs from down through the years. It included photos of past and present staff and students as well as sports teams from the past one hundred years. Books, uniforms and other memorabilia were on display. The exhibition was opened by Séamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, a past student and a former patron of the school. On Saturday a sporting exhibition took place on the pitch. A veterans soccer match was organised along with a veterans gaelic football match. Mass was celebrated on Sunday by Philip Boyce, Bishop of Raphoe in St. Eunan's Cathedral. A dinner dance was held in the Mount Errigal Hotel later that evening.^[6]

On Sunday 8 April 2007, golfer Paul McGinley launched the College Centenary Golf Classic. It was the final event in the centenary year celebrations and was played at Letterkenny Golf Club.^[7]

Proposed extension

In recent years there has been an attempt to build a new extension.^[8] Two plans were drawn up, but an approach has not yet been confirmed.

In meeting with planning regulations, the school has installed a series of ramps and two chair-lifts for the benefit of those attending or visiting the school who may need them. Three prefabs were installed in the Summer of 2008 as well as four more Prefabs that were installed in the Summer of 2010 to cater for the growing number of incoming first-years.

Allegations of child abuse

In his autobiography, which was released in 2010, internationally renowned chef Conrad Gallagher told of the abuse he received at the college. He discussed how the Christian Brothers would feel him up and attempt to interfere with him. However he has decided not to press charges against the abusers. He expressed his wish to put it all behind him.^[9]

List of Presidents

Fr. Edward Maguire (1906–1910) Fr. Michael Ward (1910–1919) Fr. Patrick D. McCaul (1919–1929) Fr. John Kerr (1929–1940) Fr. Arthur McLoone (1944–1954) Fr. Christopher Finnegan (1954–1960) Fr. Daniel J. Cunnea (1961–1969)

In this photograph, taken from the front lawn of Saint Eunan's College, many of the cars driven by staff members are visible. Fr. Peter McMahon (1969–1971) Fr. P. Austin Laverty (1971–1982) Fr. Daniel Carr (1982–1988) Fr. Cathal Ó Fearraí (1988–1996) Fr. Michael Carney (1996–2009) Christopher Darby (2009–present)

Foreign exchange

Close-up view of the College's front gates with Coláiste Naomh Adhamhnáin, Leitirceanainn, and the motto In hoc signo vinces carved into the crest design

The college has taken part in a number of foreign exchange programmes involving schools in France and Austria.^[10] Many European students have also availed of the college, from as far away as Spain, France and Austria. Every year a selection of teachers and students head for the European ski-slopes during the holidays.^[11] The 2008 trip, when Neil Gordon led a troupe of skiers to the United States, proved eventful, as the plane home experienced engine difficulties and had to return to Boston. The aborted flight was covered by the media.^[12]

Academic

In common with the vast majority of secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland, St Eunan's currently provides the qualifications of the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate. It also provides the facilities for Transition Year which includes two work experience allotments and a choice between Computer or Sport GCSEs. The college is one of only 18 schools in the county that offers the LCA programme.^[13]

At Junior Certificate level, the school offers art, woodwork and technical drawing. The college currently offers two foreign languages, French and German, at Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate levels, but Irish is also compulsory, subject to some exemptions, as in all other secondary schools in Ireland. Spanish is offered during Transition Year along with French and German.

Transition Year modules (taken on a Friday afternoon) include first-aid, cooking, car maintenance, tourism and electronics. Yoga and juggling were introduced in 2007. Towards the end of the year, more diverse modules are offered such as tennis, karate, and drama (at An Grianán Theatre).

Junior and Leaving Certificate students usually undertake pre-test exams every February or March or April whilst the real exams follow swiftly in June.

Gaelic football

Turret

Physical education and team activities are important to the school, with a prolific record and several national titles in Gaelic football. Among the more important teachers to be found in the College are All-Ireland winning footballer Colm McFadden, Glenswilly manager Gary McDaid,^[14] Finn Harps and Republic of Ireland schoolboys manager Ollie Horgan,^[15] and Mickey Houston. Mickey is a former club manager and was also a team selector for the Donegal senior football team but quit after a row with the manager. He was enjoying the game when his authority was undermined and substitutions were made without his consultation.^[16]

MacLarnon Cup

The senior Gaelic football team has in the past eight years won the MacLarnon Cup twice, the latest occasion being 2007. On Sunday 25 March 2007, the College, beat Rathmore by 1-09 to 2-03 at Casement Park in Belfast, having travelled there six days earlier only for the match to be postponed. The senior team then went on to beat Rice College of Westport in the All-Ireland B Colleges semi-final but were beaten themselves by St. Mary's of Edenderry in the All-Ireland Final at Breffni Park, County Cavan on Saturday 21 April 2007. The match went to extra time after a penalty save by Saint Eunan's goalkeeper John Carr, but the College eventually lost by 2-12 to 0-14. The team reached the semi-final of the MacRory Cup in 2008, only to be defeated by St. Michael's College of Enniskillen 1-17 to 0-7 on 22 February 2008.

Saint Eunan's College, with future inter-county footballers Rory Kavanagh and Colm McFadden part of the team, (indeed McFadden himself was to become a future teacher at the school) also won the MacLarnon Cup in 2000 for the first time since 1979,^[17] as well as the Ulster Herald Cup in 2004.^[18] The Herald Cup win was the school's first in 25 years.

MacRory Cup

Saint Eunan's College also has a history in the MacRory Cup, going back to finals in the 1950s and 1960s. The College made it as far as the semi-final as recently as 2008.

All Stars

Seven students have achieved Ulster All Stars while playing for the college, Mark McGowan,^[19] Hugh Brendan Kerr Sean McEwen Michael Murphy Ciaran Cannon Shaun patton and Cormac Callaghan .^[20] Rory Kavanagh, Colm McFadden, Neil Gallagher and Michael Boyle, who all previously played with college teams, are now members of the Donegal senior football team, while Michael Murphy, the Donegal team captain, also captained his school team.^[21]

Other sports

The college has several national titles in soccer.^[22] It is now also the number one athletics and basketball school in the county, with many county titles in various age groups. Golf^[23] and swimming^[24] are also popular. Even hurling teams, a sport which is not seen as very popular in Donegal, have reached the semi-finals of some competitions.^[25] There is also a school rugby team and table tennis team.

After a number of years absent from the sport, Saint Eunan's College began competing in Rugby once again during the 2007-2008 academic year. The school started playing rugby competitively against other Donegal schools and developed U14, U16 and ultimately U18 squads. All age categories compete in their respective Donegal Schools Cup competitions against other schools: Abbey VS Donegal, Carndonagh CS, Coláiste Áiligh Leitir Ceanainn, Coláiste Cholmcille Ballyshannon, Loreto Milford, Mulroy College Milford, Rosses CS Dungloe, Saint Columb's College Derry and Saint Columba's College Stranorlar. Saint Eunan's College Rugby won its first ever silverware in January 2014 beating Saint Columba's College Stranorlar to win the Senior (U18s) Donegal Schools Cup.

Extra-curricular activities

The college offers chess to its students every Wednesday after school hours. This was once run by careers expert Paul O'Keefe (PO'K) who retired in 2009. The chess team has competed at national level.

The college's musical tradition can be seen every year in the annual Saint Eunan's College Rock Concert - held every May since 2002 in the local An Grianán Theatre.^[26]

The college library is open to students during lunch hours on certain days of the week.

The college has long sent debating teams to competitions across Ireland while maths and science students have taken part in national and international competitions.^[27] Students from the College also take part in the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition,^[28] with some success enjoyed in recent years.^[29][30]

Distinguished guests

• On Thursday 29 March 2007, the former Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern briefly visited the school. This followed on from a visit by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny in late 2006.
• On Sunday 8 April 2007, professional golfer Paul McGinley visited the school to formally launch the Saint Eunan's College Centenary Golf Classic. His father, Michael McGinley of Sigma Wireless Ltd, is a past student of the College and, having represented the College in the MacRory Cup final team of 1956, sponsored the prizes for the golf classic.^[7][31]
• On Friday 21 January 2011, Labour TD Pat Rabbitte visited the school. He was led around the college by Principal Chris Darby.

Selected past pupils

See also

• Loreto Convent

Footnotes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Eunan's College.

• Saint Eunan's College - official website
• Raphoe Diocese Education page
• Historic Buildings and Sites in Letterkenny
• McLarnon Cup

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