Gonzaga College

Coordinates: 53°19′0.52″N 6°14′57.58″W / 53.3168111°N 6.2493278°W / 53.3168111; -6.2493278
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the school in Dublin. For the school in Washington, D.C., see Gonzaga College High School. For the school in Spokane, Washington, see Gonzaga University.

Gonzaga College SJ
Coláiste Gonzaga
Jesuit
Founded1950; 74 years ago (1950)
School number+353-1-497-2931
PrincipalDamon McCaul
Age range12-18
Classrooms84
Colour(s)
School fees€6,605 (2019–2022)
Websitewww.gonzaga.ie

Gonzaga College SJ is a

Leaving Certificate
.

The school is named after the early Jesuit Saint Aloysius Gonzaga and takes its emblem from the coat of arms of the Gonzaga family. The school has a liberal, intellectual, and Jesuit ethos.[3][4][5]

The annual fee for the 2019–2020 academic year was €6,605.[6]

Campus

Grounds of Gonzaga College in Ranelagh, Dublin

The school is located 4.4 km (2.7 mi) from Dublin city centre[7] on a large area of land including a front lawn with cricket crease, rugby pitches and tennis courts. The school buildings include a library, chapel, clock tower, theatre, priests' residence, science block, and 84 individual classrooms. The architecture of the school mixes modern copper-roofed buildings with older period houses. Some sections of the school grounds were sold to developers for housing estates in 1984.

In 2007, the school began to work on a major extension project, increasing the size of the school building by 84%. The new building opened to students for the 2009–10 school year.

Academic performance

Gonzaga College has a reputation for academic excellence.[8] The use of examinations to select pupils for admission has been discontinued following government intervention[9] (the state part-funds the school by paying most teachers' salaries), although boys and parents are interviewed ("the interview is a sharing of ideas").[10] In 2018 it was the top all-boys secondary school in Ireland in terms of the percentage of students who progressed to university, with 85.9% of all students doing so.[11] In 2019, 36.1% of students progressed to UCD, while 38.1% progressed to TCD and 19.6% progressed to TUD.[12]

Visual arts, theatre, and music are emphasised in the curriculum; pupils are encouraged to study Latin and Greek.[13]

Sports and games

Sports

The primary sport at Gonzaga College is

athletics
are also played within the school.

The Junior Cup Rugby teams of 1989, 2003, and 2006 reached the final of the

British and Irish Lions), Padraig Kenny, Kevin McLaughlin, Dominic Ryan, and Matt Healy
.

The school golf team won Leinster titles in 1999 and 2006. Previously, the team reached the semi-finals of the junior cup. In 2010, the Senior Team won the Leinster Schools Senior Matchplay competition, beating Blackrock College 3½ to 1½.[16][dead link] They went on to win the All-Ireland Golf Championship in April 2010.

Gaelic games were not played in the past but, in recent years, a team has been entered in a Gaelic football blitz involving other rugby-playing schools. Hurling has also been introduced in recent years.

The school is occasionally represented by a

soccer
team in friendly matches, but association football is not an official sport of the school.

The main sports in the college during the summer term are

lawn tennis and cricket. Gonzaga College has a strong tennis tradition, producing many of Ireland's finest tennis players including Barry King, Seán Molloy and Jerry Sheehan. The college has also produced three cricket internationals, most recently bowler George Dockrell
, as well as Ireland internationals in bridge, lawn bowls and fencing. The school also has a rich history of competition in Ultimate Frisbee, winning several Schools Cups and providing the starting point for many players who have gone on to compete internationally at various age levels.

Chess

The school has a tradition of strong chess teams which have been victorious in numerous Leinster and national championships. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, they were Leinster and All Ireland champions at minor, junior and senior levels – an unprecedented clean sweep of Irish schools chess. Of the school chess teams' many achievements, most noteworthy was winning the prestigious Millfield International Chess Tournament in England in 1992, 1999, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 while also winning the Eton College Rapidplay in 2016. Many school chess players have built on their experiences at the college and after graduating continued to greater success, including International Masters Sam Collins and Mark Quinn.

Gonazga Chess Club, which includes pupils and adults competes in the Leinster Chess Union leagues, with the club being very successful in recent years, winning the first division Armstrong Cup 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Buildings

St Joseph's House (classrooms and administration block) and clock tower

Initially the school consisted of the three Bewley buildings on the site, one being used for the school, one as a Jesuit house of residence, and one as a lunch room, changing rooms, science laboratories, etc. In the 1950s, Andrew Devane of Robinson Keefe Devane Architects prepared a masterplan with a school hall between the two main houses and classroom wings extending to the two main houses. The masterplan included a chapel in front of the hall and main entrance. Over the 1950s the classroom wing linked to the school house was built along with the hall and main entrance. In the 1960s the chapel was built. In the 1980s an additional wing of classrooms was constructed. The school's renovation project finished in time for the 2009–10 school year: the first stage was a complete renovation of the science facilities, while the second stage almost doubled the floor area of the school with new buildings. The extension included the new Purdy Dining Hall, the new Coulson Theatre, a gym changing area, and classrooms. The old school hall was completely renovated into a modern library named the Sutherland Library with meeting rooms and study facilities. In 2019-2020 there are tentative plans for a major development of the older section of the school.

School campus panorama

Sexual abuse

In 2020, former headmaster Patrick Potts committed suicide several days prior to a court appearance on charges of sexual abuse of students while he was vice-principal of Greendale Community School, a post he held before becoming headmaster at Gonzaga College.[17] At the time of his death, Gardaí confirmed they were also investigating complaints against Potts by former Gonzaga College pupils.[17]

Notable past pupils

Academia

Arts and media

Law

Politics and diplomacy

Sports

See also

References

  1. ^ "Mission Statement", Gonzaga College SJ, retrieved 15 February 2022
  2. ^ "Gonzaga College, Dublin City 6 on SchoolDays.ie". www.schooldays.ie. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Gonzaga College SJ".
  4. ^ The Characteristics of Jesuit Education Archived 2010-06-02 at the Wayback Machine. Seattle University. Retrieved: 2010-09-03.
  5. ^ The Characteristics of Jesuit Education. World Union of Jesuit Alumni(ae). Retrieved: 2010-09-03.
  6. ^ "Fees for private schools jump as enrolments return to boom-time high". The Irish Times. 28 December 2019.
  7. ^ Wikimapia Distance measured precisely to G.P.O. as crow flies.
  8. ^ "Irish Times Article:Free schools score highly in third-level feeder list". The Irish Times.
  9. ^ Dáil question to minister for education on use of entrance exams Archived 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Admissions policy: (E) Decision making, gonzaga.ie. June 2010. Retrieved: 2010-11-29.
  11. ^ "The top 25 schools in Ireland have been revealed". JOE.ie. 24 September 2018.
  12. ^ "Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin | The Irish Times Feeder Schools". www.irishtimes.com.
  13. ^ "Latin and Greek encouraged by headmaster". Archived from the original on 8 September 2007.
  14. ^ "St Michael's College win third Leinster Schools' Senior Cup". 17 March 2019.
  15. ^ O'Sullivan, John (17 March 2023). "Gonzaga win a first Senior Cup after dethroning champions Blackrock in final for the ages". The Irish Times.
  16. ^ Short game by Shay Keenan, The Irish Times, 2010-02-16. Retrieved: 2010-09-01.
  17. ^ a b O'Brien, Carl (6 November 2020). "Abuse allegations against ex-principal of Gonzaga 'Deeply disturbing'". The Irish Times.
  18. ^ "The chair man: the Anthony Clare profile". the Guardian. 13 May 2001.
  19. ^ He's the last big hope for nation on its knees, Sunday Independent, 2008-06-29. Retrieved: 2010-08-25.
  20. ^ "George K. Miley".
  21. ^ "Diarmuid Rossa Phelan".
  22. ^ "Finghin Collins ~ Concert Pianist". Archived from the original on 11 November 2007.
  23. ^ "The Secret History of the Thrills".
  24. ^ "Poetry and emotion".
  25. ^ "First encounters: Jack Gleeson and Matt Smyth". The Irish Times.
  26. ^ Aidan Mathews, Ricorso. Retrieved: 2012-01-06.
  27. ^ "Unison Engineering". 26 August 2016.
  28. ^ "Fionn O'Shea". IMDb.
  29. ^ "Andrew Scott". IMDb.
  30. ^ "The CALL".
  31. ^ "Great Scott: How it all began with a bowl of porridge". 27 April 2014.
  32. ^ Ronan Sheehan, Ricorso
  33. ^ "News Articles - Gonzaga Golden Jubilee Concert". 27 October 2007. Archived from the original on 27 October 2007.
  34. ^ Judge with one eye on the Media Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
  35. ^ Clash of Wigless Titans Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
  36. ^ Photo Gallery Archived 2011-08-17 at the Wayback Machine Gonzaga Union. Retrieved: 2011-11-18.
  37. ^ "Patrick Costello | Green Party – Rathgar Rathmines Local Election Candidate". Archived from the original on 16 February 2015.
  38. ^ "Green Party TD". Archived from the original on 17 February 2007.
  39. ^ "Gonzaga past pupils were 'extremely drunk' at match". independent. 3 March 2017.
  40. ^ FF's strength in numbers Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
  41. ^ "Ossian Smyth". Linkedin.
  42. ^ Secretary-General Appoints Peter Sutherland as Special Representative for Migration, United Nations Press Release, 2006-01-23. Retrieved: 2010-08-25.
  43. ^ Barry Bresnihan Obituary The Telegraph, 2010-07-26.
  44. ^ "The chess games of Sam E Collins". www.chessgames.com.
  45. ^ Old dogs and new tricks
  46. ^ Team, The42 (27 June 2016). "Mixed feelings for Connacht's Healy after Ireland debut in defeat to Boks". The42.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Further reading

External links
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