Gurteen College is an agricultural college in

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Founded as Gurteen Agricultural College by the

Methodist Church in Ireland The Methodist Church in Ireland ( Ulster-Scots: ''Methody Kirk in Airlann'', ) is a Wesleyan Methodist church that operates across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on an all-Ireland basis. It is the fourth-largest Christian denom ...

in 1947 it was officially opened by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Patrick Smith, on October 11, 1947. The college provides training courses in agriculture and equine studies for farms and rural enterprises. It is a charity registered in Ireland. The farm covers 380 hectares of land.

Courses

Courses provided in Agriculture in Crops & Machinery Management, Dairy Herd Management, and Drystock Herd Management. The

Teagasc Teagasc (, meaning "Instruction") is the State-sponsored bodies of the Republic of Ireland, semi-state authority in the Republic of Ireland responsible for research and development, training and advisory services in the agri-food sector. The offici ...

Green Cert. is also available. The Equine department opened in 1999. A Higher Certificate and a bachelor's degree are available from Gurteen in conjunction with

Athlone Institute of Technology The Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Bhaile Átha Luain) was an institute of technology, located in Athlone, Ireland. Established in 1970, the institute's campus was located on University Road. A cons ...

. Also offered in association with Athlone IT is the Bachelor of Science (Veterinary Nursing).

Limerick Institute of Technology The Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Luimnigh) was an institute of technology, located in Limerick, Ireland. The institute had five campuses that were located in Limerick, Thurles, Clonmel, as well as a r ...

(LIT) offers a BSc degree in Environmental Management in Agriculture, in co-operation with Gurteen College.

Latest developments

Gurteen college students were crowned Annual Colleges Challenge Day Champions on 2 February 2012. Wood -chip boilers were installed to provide heat in September 2010. Groves of willow will provide fuel for the boilers from 2013.

Met Éireann Met Éireann (; meaning " Met of Ireland") is the state meteorological service of Ireland, part of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. History The history of modern meteorology in Ireland dates back to 8 October 1860, whe ...

opened an

automatic weather station An automatic weather station (AWS) is an automated version of the traditional weather station, either to save human labour or to enable measurements from remote areas. An AWS will typically consist of a weather-proof enclosure containing the data ...

in 2008 within the grounds of the College. On 26 January 2010 a 50 kW wind turbine was officially commissioned to provide power to the college.

Past pupils

Simon Coveney Simon Coveney (born 16 June 1972) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment since December 2022 and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael since 2017. He previously served as Minister for Foreign Affai ...

, Irish politician and government minister * Tom Parlon, Irish lobbyist, former president of the Irish Farmers' Association, and a former politician *

Noel Treacy Noel Treacy (18 December 1951 – 2 February 2022) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway East constituency from 1982 to 2011. He served as Minister of State in a number of departments over his c ...

, former Irish politician *

Ivan Yates Ivan Yates (born 23 October 1959) is an Irish broadcaster, businessman and former politician. He was elected as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency at the 1981 general election and at each election until his retirement fr ...

, Irish businessman, broadcaster, and former politician (he served as Minister of Agriculture)

Principals

Jon Parry was appointed principal in 2019, the college's sixth principal succeeding Mick Pearson who served as principal for twenty years. Rev. James Wesley McKinney was first Principal in 1947 until he retired in 1959, when Rev. R. G. Livingstone became principal. Mr. Oscar H. Loane became principal in 1963 serving until 1988 when John Craig became principal, retiring in 2000.

References

External links

* {{coord, 52.662680, -7.802230, region:IE, display=title Education in County Tipperary Educational institutions established in 1947 Agricultural universities and colleges in Ireland Further education colleges in the Republic of Ireland 1947 establishments in Ireland Methodist Church in Ireland Protestant buildings and structures in the Republic of Ireland