St Conleth's College
Encyclopedia
St. Conleth's College is a fee-paying Catholic school in Dublin, Ireland
, founded in 1939, by Bernard Sheppard, who ran the school from 16 Clyde Road until due to demand the school was upgraded to the larger premises at 28 Clyde Road.
St. Conleth's initially opened on the day Germany declared war on Poland. The sons of both the Polish and German ambassadors to Ireland attended St. Conleth's together on that day.
Kevin D. Kelleher (former international rugby referee) is the current headmaster of the school and has been for over 40 of his 66 years in the school. Ann Sheppard (the daughter of Bernard Sheppard and step-daughter of Kevin Kelleher) was school principal from 1988–2001 and is now Director of Development within the school, a post that has overseen two major additions to the school. Peter Gallagher is the current principal of the secondary school.
Pat Murphy is the principal of the junior school, which was recently developed to include junior and senior infants, allowing Conlethians to study in St Conleth's from Junior Infants until their Leaving Certificate
.
The school was named after St. Conleth, a sixth-century Irish monk who was a moulder of precious metals and whose feast day is 4 May. The senior school has about 260 pupils (boys only until 4th year, and co-educational in 5th and 6th year) and a teaching staff of 20. It has grown steadily since it opened its doors and the school building at 28 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge
, Dublin 4
, is now significantly different from its original state.
The Millennium extension saw the addition of a half court school hall, canteen and additional classrooms as well as a computer lab and resurfacing of playing facilities. In 2009, the school underwent reconstruction again, resulting in an additional floor and re-modelling of the interior.
Subjects offered by the school for the Leaving Certificate include but are not limited to: Maths, English
, Irish
, French
, Biology
, Chemistry
, Physics
, Business
, Economics
, Spanish
, Geography
, Classical Studies, Latin, History
, Applied Mathematics
and Art
.
is considered the primary sport of the school and both a junior and senior cup team represent the school in section C. Figure skating
is very much a secondary sport but in recent years students such as Conor Keane have excelled on the international stage.
St. Conleth's has always had a strong debating tradition, which can be seen in the minutes of the school's Literary and Debating Society dating back to the 1960s. Growing on this tradition the 2000s have seen St Conleth's have no fewer than four Irish Worlds Schools representatives, a decade that culminated in the 2008 victory in the Denny's All Ireland Schools Debating Championship, followed in close succession by victories in the Trinity College
Schools Mace and the University College Dublin
School's Mace.
As of 2010, St. Conleth's has begun hosting an annual junior Mace Debating competition.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, founded in 1939, by Bernard Sheppard, who ran the school from 16 Clyde Road until due to demand the school was upgraded to the larger premises at 28 Clyde Road.
St. Conleth's initially opened on the day Germany declared war on Poland. The sons of both the Polish and German ambassadors to Ireland attended St. Conleth's together on that day.
Kevin D. Kelleher (former international rugby referee) is the current headmaster of the school and has been for over 40 of his 66 years in the school. Ann Sheppard (the daughter of Bernard Sheppard and step-daughter of Kevin Kelleher) was school principal from 1988–2001 and is now Director of Development within the school, a post that has overseen two major additions to the school. Peter Gallagher is the current principal of the secondary school.
Pat Murphy is the principal of the junior school, which was recently developed to include junior and senior infants, allowing Conlethians to study in St Conleth's from Junior Infants until their Leaving Certificate
Leaving Certificate
The Leaving Certificate Examinations , commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert is the final examination in the Irish secondary school system. It takes a minimum of two years preparation, but an optional Transition Year means that for those students it takes place three years after the Junior...
.
The school was named after St. Conleth, a sixth-century Irish monk who was a moulder of precious metals and whose feast day is 4 May. The senior school has about 260 pupils (boys only until 4th year, and co-educational in 5th and 6th year) and a teaching staff of 20. It has grown steadily since it opened its doors and the school building at 28 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge
Ballsbridge
Ballsbridge is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, named for the bridge spanning the River Dodder on the south side of the city. The sign on the bridge still proclaims it as "Ball's Bridge" in recognition of the fact that the original bridge in this location was built and owned by a Mr...
, Dublin 4
Dublin 4
Dublin 4 is a postal district of Dublin, Ireland including the suburbs of Sandymount, Ballsbridge, Donnybrook, Ringsend and Irishtown on the South side of Dublin....
, is now significantly different from its original state.
The Millennium extension saw the addition of a half court school hall, canteen and additional classrooms as well as a computer lab and resurfacing of playing facilities. In 2009, the school underwent reconstruction again, resulting in an additional floor and re-modelling of the interior.
Academics
The school topped the fee-paying schools league table in 2003. However, St. Conleth's academic excellence is seen more by its ethos, which aims to develop students to the maximum of their potential. Similarly, due to its relatively small size St. Conleth's has suffered recently on league table due to students who have chosen to study abroad being represented as non-achievers.Subjects offered by the school for the Leaving Certificate include but are not limited to: Maths, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, Business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
, Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, Classical Studies, Latin, History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, Applied Mathematics
Applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...
and Art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
.
Sport and debating
RugbyRugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
is considered the primary sport of the school and both a junior and senior cup team represent the school in section C. Figure skating
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
is very much a secondary sport but in recent years students such as Conor Keane have excelled on the international stage.
St. Conleth's has always had a strong debating tradition, which can be seen in the minutes of the school's Literary and Debating Society dating back to the 1960s. Growing on this tradition the 2000s have seen St Conleth's have no fewer than four Irish Worlds Schools representatives, a decade that culminated in the 2008 victory in the Denny's All Ireland Schools Debating Championship, followed in close succession by victories in the Trinity College
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
Schools Mace and the University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
School's Mace.
As of 2010, St. Conleth's has begun hosting an annual junior Mace Debating competition.