St. Colman's College, Fermoy
| St. Colman's College Coláiste Cholmáin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
|
Kevin Barry Hill, Fermoy Republic of Ireland | |
| Coordinates | 52°08′14″N 8°16′45″W / 52.137192°N 8.27903°WCoordinates: 52°08′14″N 8°16′45″W / 52.137192°N 8.27903°W |
| Information | |
| Motto | Dilis do Dhia agus d'Eirinn |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic |
| Established | 1858 |
| Principal | Veronica O'Donoghue |
| Gender | Male |
| Colour(s) | Green & White |
| Former pupils | Colmanites |
| Website | stcolmanscollege.com |
 The old building of St. Colman's College | |
St. Colman's College (Irish: Coláiste Cholmáin) is an all-boys secondary school in Fermoy, County Cork. The College was founded in 1856 and opened in 1858 as the diocesan college of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne. Archbishop Thomas Croke became the school's first President in this year. The College is renowned for its sporting links, especially in the field of hurling.
History
The site upon which St. Colman's was built was bought by Fr. Timothy Murphy in 1856. Murphy commissioned John Pine Hurley to design the new College building. Twenty months after construction began, St. Colman's opened its doors to its first students in 1858. The original College building is two-storeys in height and boasts an impressive six-storey tower. The facade of red sandstone with limestone facings. The building, with its tall tower, has since become an iconic structure in Fermoy and looms over the town's skyline. A west wing was added in 1887 while the school chapel was added in the early 1900s. A new classroom block was added to the College in 1969. This new block boasted a large assembly hall and twenty-two classrooms. A library in the College, known among the students and faculty as the Priest's Library, houses many rare manuscripts and books. From the very beginning, St. Colman's welcomed boarders from all over Munster, the boarders made up the majority of the student population until boarding ceased in the College in 2003.[1]
Sport
The College has a strong hurling tradition and has won the Dr. Harty Cup nine times (1948, 1949, 1977, 1992, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002 & 2003). Today the sport is as strong as ever but the College also has a much more diverse sporting ethos. The College has successful in competition with sports as diverse as pitch and putt, tennis, rugby, basketball and badminton in recent years.
The St. Colman's Health & Fitness Campus, a huge redevelopment of the College's sports grounds, was opened in 2015. The project included the building of brand new dressing rooms and showers, three full sized tennis courts and a fitness walkway around the Harty pitch.[2]
Notable alumni
- John Stanislaus Joyce, father of writer James Joyce
- Peadar Ua Laoghaire, writer and priest
- Canon Sheehan of Doneraile, writer and priest
- Mike Ross, Irish rugby player
- Stephen Molumphy, Irish hurler
One of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, Thomas McDonagh, taught in St. Colman's for a period of time.