St Columb's College ( ga, Coláiste Naomh Colum Cille) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

boys'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in Derry, Northern Ireland and, since 2008, a specialist school in mathematics. It is named after Saint Columba, the missionary monk from

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

who founded a monastery in the area. The college was originally built to educate young men into the priesthood, but now educates boys in a variety of disciplines. St Columb's College was established in 1879 on Bishop Street (now the site of Lumen Christi College), but later moved to Buncrana Road in the suburbs of the city.

Early history

St Columb's College was preceded by several failed attempts to create such an institution in Derry. Repeated but sporadic efforts were made to maintain a seminary for almost a century; at Clady, near Strabane, in the late eighteenth century, at Ferguson's Lane in Derry in the early nineteenth century and at Pump Street (first reference to St Columb's College as such) in the city from 1841 to 1864. St Columb's finally opened its doors on 3 November 1879 with two priest teachers, Edward O'Brien and John Hassan. The school was considered to be quite large at the time and was expected to accommodate 20–30 boarders. The school quickly gained a reputation for academic achievement. On 18 September 1931 the ''

Derry Journal The ''Derry Journal'' is a newspaper based in Derry, Northern Ireland, serving Derry as well as County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. It is operated by a Johnston Press holding company entitled Derry Journal Newspapers. The paper is publis ...

'' listed St Columb's College's academic results. They were as follows: * 2 university scholarships * 3 exhibitions and prizes * 6 calls in King's Scholarship exam (calls to teacher training) * 2 pupil teacherships * 8 regional committee scholarships * 31 passed matriculation * 26 passed Senior Leaving Cert. exam * 52 passed Junior Leaving Cert. exam

The Education Act 1947 and expansion

One of the most notable alumni of St Columb's College,

John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the recent political history of Ireland, as one of the architects of the Northern Ire ...

, noted, "When the history of St. Columb's College in this century is written, it will be clear that one of its major transformations, if not its major transformation, took place as a result of the Eleven Plus examination." The Education Act 1947 provided for free secondary education to all throughout the United Kingdom. Entry to St. Columb's College, a grammar school, would be determined by one's performance in the

11-plus The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...

or Transfer Test. The immediate result was an explosion in pupil numbers, a shortfall in teaching staff and greater pressure on existing resources. In 1941 the student body numbered 263. By 1960 the number stood at 770 with a teaching staff of 35. In under twenty years the school's size had tripled. It was now clear that additional facilities would be needed. In September 1973 St. Columb's College opened a new campus on the Buncrana Road in the city. The new site would cater for the senior years; its initial enrolment was of 900. The new building was designed by Frank Corr of Corr & McCormick and constructed by J Kennedy & Co. The total cost was £762,000. This figure does not include the £56,000 spent employing W & J McMonagle Ltd to construct the playing fields.

Sport

The school has a long and successful sporting history, with its students competing in many events across the country. It has excelled in soccer, Gaelic football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and has produced many athletes.

Nobel Prize winners

The school claims two Nobel laureates amongst its

alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

. They are: *

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

– Nobel Prize in Literature, 1995 *

–

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

, 1998 (shared with David Trimble)

Notable former pupils

The college's former pupils association makes an annual award (the Alumnus Illustrissimus Award) to "a past-pupil who has achieved something of major significance or has made a considerable contribution in his own field". Notable winners of the award are as follows: Other alumni and names associated with St Columb's include:

''The Boys of St Columb's''

St Columb's featured in the film ''The Boys of St Columb's'' made by West Park Pictures and Maccana Teoranta for RTÉ. Following the lives of several Irish figures including Nobel laureates

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

and

who all attended the same small school in Derry in the 1950s and have helped transform modern Ireland. ''The Boys of St Columb's'' was released on DVD in early March 2010 by Digital Classics DVD.

Presidents of St Columb's College

References

External links

St Columb's College Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Columb's College Grammar schools in Derry (city) Catholic secondary schools in Northern Ireland Educational institutions established in 1879 Boys' schools in Northern Ireland 1879 establishments in Ireland Specialist colleges in Northern Ireland