Clonkeen College is a Christian Brothers secondary school for boys in

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Great Britain and Ireland it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is c ...

, South

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

History

The

Ordnance Survey Ireland Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI; ) was the national mapping agency of the Republic of Ireland. It was established on 4 March 2002 as a body corporate. It was the successor to the former Ordnance Survey of Ireland. It and the Ordnance Survey of ...

map 1837–1842 shows ''Clonkeen School Ho se', located in the present day

Cornelscourt Cornelscourt () is a small suburban area within the traditional County Dublin, now in the jurisdiction of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. Situated between Cabinteely, Carrickmines and Foxrock, it is a primarily residential area, but is perhaps best ...

Village. Although the same building appears on the OSI 1888–1913 map, it is not named as a school any more. The original junior school was St. Joseph's Private Preparatory School, built in September 1965 close to where the present Clonkeen College stands. It was run by a staff of three Christian Brothers until the school was closed in 1975. The secondary school was also called St. Joseph's, until renamed Clonkeen College. The present school stands on the site of

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

’s second last public meeting. The first pupils to the current school were admitted in the autumn of 1970, there was one fifth-year class and two third-year classes (there was no fourth year then). Thirteen students completed the first

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certificate ...

. The school principal was Br. Jo Hogan; other original teachers were Br. Collins and Mr. B. Toomey. The school was officially opened by David Andrews TD on 31 January 1972. In 2019, Clonkeen College underwent substantial renovations, adding facilities including a gym, sports hall and new science classrooms.

Facilities

*One indoor basketball court (in the gymnasium) *Four science labs *A General Purpose hall *A sports hall *A functioning gym *An art room *2 computer rooms *Special needs unit *A library *A common room for sixth year students

Subjects offered

Junior cycle subjects

* Irish *

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

*French *

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

*Science *

Business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource manageme ...

*Art * Civic, social and political education *

Religious education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to t ...

Physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

*Music

Senior cycle subjects

* Irish *

*French *

*History *

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

*Business *Economics *Accounting *Art *

*Music *Design communication graphics *

Applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematics, mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and Industrial sector, industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a ...

– extracurricular * LCVP – extracurricular

Transition year (TY)

The year's main outing is a tour organised by the TY coordinator. Classes have visited the

Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; , ) or The Arans ( ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the historic barony (Ireland), barony of Aran in ...

, and have gone skiing in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. A number of city trips to cities such as

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

have also occurred. During the year, the students have the opportunity to do courses such as:

Self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...

, ECDL,

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

, FAI coaching, and

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

. New subjects in the transition year are cooking, music, effective communication, Spanish and technical drawing. The students have an opportunity to attain a Gaisce\Presidents Award. Students visit educational and historical sites like

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Irish: ''Ardeaglais Theampall Chríost''), is the cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the e ...

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

Kilmainham Gaol Kilmainham Gaol () is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising (Patrick Pea ...

and the National Art Gallery.

Clonkeen Student Council

Students have input into the schools running in the form of a

Student Council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

of class representatives from all years, who are elected by their peers. Since its inception, the Clonkeen College Student Council has shown a large involvement in the running of the school. The council meets weekly to discuss projects or issues. The council is composed of twenty four representatives. Representatives carry out a variety of tasks and act as the link between the students and the management of the school. The council focuses on projects in the school. In the past, they have had water fountains installed; they have also had formal shoes and school jackets introduced to the uniform. Council meetings are chaired by the chairman, and the Secretary takes minutes. Students also elect a head boy and deputy head boy each year. These roles are filled by 5th-year students, who are elected by the entire student body, parent teachers' association and teachers.

Social events

Annually, the school hosts a "Clongitude" music competition (named for the popular "

Longitude Festival Longitude Festival is a music festival that takes place during July every year in Dublin, Ireland. Since 2013, Marlay Park has been home to the festival. It is organised by MCD Productions and Festival Republic. When the festival first started i ...

") in which students perform to win prizes. Each year in May, a graduation mass and ceremony are held, to celebrate the outgoing 6th-year students. Every September, past pupils and friends of the school are invited to a "Golf Day" (and night).

Sports

Inter-school sports

*Athletics (track and field) The school participates in east Leinster

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

competitions. *Cross country running Clonkeen enters runners in the under-15 and under-17 east Leinster

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

competitions. *Gaelic football The school enters

gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

teams into 1st year, under-14, under-16 and under-18 competitions. They have won three Dublin titles in 1975, 1976 and 2003, the under14 team also came runner up in the Leinster championship of 2003. *Golf 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students take part in the Dublin junior match play

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

competition. *Hurling The hurlers play in 1st year, under-14, under-16 and under-18

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

competitions. *Soccer The school has soccer teams entered into competitions at under-14, under-16 and under-18 level.

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

Junior Champions, runner up to

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

in 1981–1982 *Chess The first Clonkeen College

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

team was formed in 2007 and took part in the Scholastic Chess All-Ireland. *International Rules Football In 2006, Clonkeen hosted Southern Cross college, and the two schools competed in a friendly

international rules football International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...

match, which Clonkeen won.

Club sports

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

Rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Extracurricular activities

*Debating The Clonkeen Debating society is an active, student run club within the school, that has participated in a number of debates for both junior and senior debaters. *Drama Clonkeen has long had the tradition of performing annual drama and musical productions, including

Footloose (musical) ''Footloose'' is a 1998 musical based on the 1984 film of the same name. The music is by Tom Snow (among others), the lyrics by Dean Pitchford (with additional lyrics by Kenny Loggins), and the book by Pitchford and Walter Bobbie. Plot Act 1 ...

in 2012 and

Disco Inferno (musical) ''Disco Inferno'' is a 2004 jukebox musical written by Jai Sepple. Set in the East End of London in 1976, the show features songs from the 1970s and is loosely based on the story of ''Faust''. Original productions The musical debuted at the Que ...

in 2013. Various plays and musicals are performed by

Transition Year Transition Year (TY) () is an optional one-year school programme that can be taken in the year after the Junior Cycle in Ireland. However, depending on school population and funding it may not be available, and in other schools it is compulsory. ...

students annually. *Other activities The school has an annual

sports day Sports Day (British English & Canadian English), field days (American English), or play days (Canadian English) are events staged by many schools and offices in which people participate in competitive sporting activities, often with the aim of w ...

open to entry from all the students.

Notable alumni

* Stephen Byrne – (

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

) presente

*

Oisin Gough Oisín (, approximately ) is an Irish male given name; meaning "fawn" or "little deer", derived from the Irish word ("deer") + (diminutive suffix). It is sometimes anglicized as Osheen ( ) or spelt without the acute accent (''fada''), as Oisi ...

– Dublin Hurler * Alan Judge – professional footballer * Jason Knight - professional footballer for

Bristol City F.C. Bristol City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

national team * Tommy Lyons – former Dublin football manage

*

Colum McCann Colum McCann (born February 28, 1965) is an Irish writer of literary fiction. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, and currently resides in New York. He is known as an international writer who believes in the "democracy of storytelling." He has won ...

– international writer and novelis

* Kevin Nolan (Gaelic footballer), Kevin Nolan – Dublin Gaelic Footballer *

Darren O'Dea Darren O'Dea (born 4 February 1987) is an Irish retired professional football player, who is the assistant head coach of Swansea City. O'Dea has played as a centre back for clubs in Scotland, England, Canada, Ukraine and India, and represente ...

– professional footballer *

Glenn Quinn Glenn Martin Christopher Francis Quinn (28 May 1970 – 3 December 2002) was an Irish actor, best known for his portrayal of Mark Healy on the 1990s family sitcom ''Roseanne'' and his role as the half-demon Allen Francis Doyle on ''Angel'', a s ...

– television and film actor (deceased) * David Treacy – Dublin Hurler * Prof. Philip Nolan - Director General of

Science Foundation Ireland Science Foundation Ireland (SFI; ) was a statutory body in Ireland. It was an agency of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, with responsibility for funding oriented basic and applied research in th ...

, former NPHET chair, former president of

Maynooth University Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

, former deputy president of

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

References

External links

Clonkeen College website
{{Authority control Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland Educational institutions established in 1965 Secondary schools in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Congregation of Christian Brothers secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland 1965 establishments in Ireland