St Mary's Knockbeg College
History
St Mary's Knockbeg College is one of the oldest secondary schools in Ireland. It traces its origins back to 1793 when a lay school for boys was established in St.Patrick's College, Carlow in conjunction with the seminary there. In 1847 it was decided that the young pupils in the school should come out to Knockbeg, which had been a gentry estate on the banks of the River Barrow before being purchased by the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin . The initial school had about 40 pupils but the numbers grew as all the lay pupils from St Patrick's transferred out. In 1898 the school became the official junior seminary for the diocese. To this day the aim of the college is to offer a holistic Catholic education. Through the years the boarding numbers in the school built up to the around 160 mark and has since increased in the 1980s when Day-Boys were taken in. At present, there are well over 350 pupils attending the school.[1]
Sports
Knockbeg College is famous within Ireland, due to its great sporting tradition. In 2005, Knockbeg claimed the Leinster Senior Football College's title after a gap over 50 years. Following this, they went on to claim the Hogan Cup for the first time in their history.[2] Knockbeg has produced many quality footballers throughout the years, playing inter-county football for their respective counties. Knockbeg's hurling and basketball teams have also achieved moderate success over the years.
Famous people who attended Knockbeg
Knockbeg College has educated many people of note over the years:
- William Hoey Kearney Redmond, Irish nationalist and Irish Parliamentary Party MP for 34 years
- Kevin O'Higgins, Irish Nationalist and Pro-Treaty TD for Laois-Offaly, Minister for Home Affairs/Vice-President of the Executive Council in the first Dáil
- Tommy Murphy, one the greatest Laois footballers of all time
- Charles Flanagan, current Fine Gael TD for Laois-Offaly
Others include members of the current Laois GAA teams : Brian McDonald, Chris Conway (currently teaching in the college), Ross Munnelly and Donie Brennan
Colm Begley, now playing Australian Rules Football for the Brisbane Lions, also attended the college.
Also the 16 year Donie Kingston who currently attends is being touted as a future Laois footballing great.
Dispute over location
Over the years many people have disputed whether Knockbeg is in Laois or Carlow. Although its postal address is Carlow, geographically it is in Laois. The River Barrow is the border line between Laois and Carlow and Knockbeg is on the Laois side. However the school has many pupils from both Laois and Carlow as well as boarders from Kilkenny, Kildare, Wexford, Wicklow and further afield.
Staff
The college's principle is currently Mr Cyril Hughes, a past pupil of Knockbeg and also an ex-Carlow footballer. The vice principle is Mr Seán Killoren. The boarding school is under the care of the college's rector, Fr Michaél Murphy. The Housemaster is Mr. Bernard Cashman.
As of September 2007, the staff list of St. Mary's Knockbeg College is as follows:
| Name | Subject(s) | Other Postion(s) | Misc. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fr Michéal Murphy | Rector | ||
| 2 | Mr Cyril Hughes |  French
|
Headmaster | |
| 3 | Mr Seán Killoran |  Irish
|
Vice-Principal | |
| 4 | Mr Bernard Cashman | French,  Classical Studies
|
Housemaster | |
| 5 | Mr Philip Leahy |  Economics, File:Moneybillscoins3.jpg Business,  Maths
|
Assistant Principal | |
| 6 | Mr Frank Lyons |  Chemistry,  Biology,  Agricultural Science, Maths
|
Assistant Principal | |
| 7 | Mr John O'Sullivan |  Geography,  Environmental Studies,  Life Skills
|
Assistant Principal | |
| 8 | Ms Louise Dillon-Reeves |  German, French,  CSPE,  European Studies
|
Assistant Principal | |
| 9 | Mr Declan Ó'Faoláin | Irish,  Technical Graphics, Maths
|
||
| 10 | Mr John Behan |  English
|
Basketball Coach | |
| 11 | Mrs Anne-Marie Buckley |  Physics,  Science
|
||
| 12 | Mr Malcolm McNeill | Geography, English
|
||
| 13 | Ms Eleanor Fenelon-Doyle | Maths, Science,  Computers
|
||
| 14 | Mr Jarlath Bolger | Maths, Science,  Tourism
|
Hurling Coach | |
| 15 | Mr Philip Cody | File:Moneybillscoins3.jpg Business, Computers, File:File folder PGrand.jpg LCVP
|
Assistant Hurling Coach | |
| 16 | Mr Chris Conway |  Religion, File:250px-Theobald Wolfe Tone - Project Gutenberg 13112.png History, English, CSPE
|
Football Coach | |
| 17 | Mr John Rouse | File:250px-Theobald Wolfe Tone - Project Gutenberg 13112.png History, English
|
Assistant Football Coach | |
| 18 | Mr John Maye | Religion
|
Assistant Basketball Coach | |
| 19 | Mr Brendan Kehoe | File:Moneybillscoins3.jpg Business,  PE, Computers
|
||
| 20 | Mrs Anne Marie Dawson |  Art, Religion
|
||
| 21 | Mr Liam Osborne | Maths, File:Moneybillscoins3.jpg Business, Technical Graphics
|
||
| 22 | Mr Keiran Callaghan | File:250px-Theobald Wolfe Tone - Project Gutenberg 13112.png History, Geography, CSPE, Computers
|
||
| 23 | Miss Deirdre McCabe | Irish, French
|
||
| 24 | Ms Áine Ní Chuilín | Irish, French
|
||
| 25 | Mrs Aoibhinn Foley | File:TCD.jpg Careers,  SPHE
|
School counselor |
Boarding school closure
It has been recently announced that the boarding part of the school will be closing. It is predicted that it will take place around 2010. This is surely an end of an era for Knockbeg College, formerly a college only for boarders, it will become just a day-pupil school.