St. Joseph's College, Garbally Park ( Irish: ''Coláiste Sheosaimh'') is an Irish

voluntary Voluntary may refer to: * Voluntary (music) * Voluntary or volunteer, person participating via volunteering/volunteerism * Voluntary muscle contraction See also * Voluntary action * Voluntariness, in law and philosophy * Voluntaryism Volunt ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

secondary school situated in Garbally Park, the former seat of the

Earl of Clancarty Earl of Clancarty is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was created for the first time in 1658 in favour of Donough MacCarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry, of the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty. He had ...

, near

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway, Ireland. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-centur ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

. It is a single-sex boys day school which has previously served as a boarding school. It is more commonly known as Garbally College ( Irish: ''Coláiste Ghearrbhaile'').

History

St Joseph's College was founded as a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

in 1892 to help educate priests for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clonfert. Today, it is a voluntary Catholic Secondary School under the patronage of the Catholic Bishop of Clonfert. It is managed by a Board of Management in accordance with the Articles of Management for Catholic Secondary Schools. The college was established at Cartron with funds provided by James Madden. Due to expansion the college was changed to

Esker An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Amer ...

, near

Athenry Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th-century street-plan. The town is also well known by virt ...

in 1894. In 1901, it moved to the building known locally as "The Pines", at Creagh, Ballinasloe. In 1923, it moved to its present site at Garbally, once seat of the

Earls of Clancarty Earl of Clancarty is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was created for the first time in 1658 in favour of Donough MacCarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry, of the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty. He had ...

. The Diocese purchased Garbally Court (built in 1819) and estate from the trustees of the Earls of Clancarty for £6,750 in 1922. In the 1940s, 50s and 60s two other members of the same Madden family, brothers John Madden of Killimor and George Madden of London bestowed many gifts on Garbally, including the funds to build the present science halls, study hall, extra classrooms and dining hall. Bishop John Kirby taught mathematics and coached the senior rugby team at the school in the late 1960s, and was later appointed as president and principal of the college in September 1979. In September 2008, Garbally College's boarding facility officially ended after almost 85 years in existence. A consultation process began in early 2023 for Garbally College and Ardscoil Mhuire regarding the future of Catholic secondary school provision within Ballinasloe, conducted by their patrons the Diocese of Clonfert and the

Catholic Education an Irish Schools Trust Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust (CEIST) is the trustee body for 107 Catholic Voluntary Secondary Schools in Ireland. CEIST provides the moral and legal framework that enable its schools to offer second level Catholic education in Ire ...

(CEIST). In October 2023, it was announced that the two schools would be amalgamated to form a new co-educational school which will open in September 2025 named Clonfert College, with principal Pauric Hanlon, former principal of Ardscoil Mhuire. In May 2025, a group of Garbally College alumni launched a campaign to preserve the school's legacy in the amalgamated school's name, calling for the adoption of the name 'Clonfert College at Garbally Park' and for the school's sports teams to continue playing under the name 'Garbally'. A survey was conducted to assess support for the petition, with 88% of respondents backing to retain the Garbally name, including former Ireland rugby captain

Ciaran Fitzgerald Ciaran Fitzgerald is an Irish former rugby union player. He captained Ireland to the Triple Crown in 1982 and 1985, and the Five Nations Championship in 1983. Fitzgerald also captained the Lions on their 1983 tour. After the conclusion of h ...

, ex-rugby international Noel Mannion,

Connacht Rugby Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial men's rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht B ...

scrum-half Colm Reilly, a son of former Garbally College principal Stephen Reilly, Galway hurlers

Iggy Clarke Iggy Clarke (born 1952 in Mullagh, County Galway) is an Irish former hurler who played for his local club Mullagh and at senior level for the Galway county team from 1972 until 1984. Clarke is regarded as one of Galway's greatest-ever play ...

, Seán Silke,

Conor Hayes Conor Hayes (born 11 May 1958) is an Irish former hurler who played as a full-back at senior level for the Galway county team. Born in Kiltormer, County Galway, Hayes first played competitive hurling in his youth. He made his first impressio ...

, Michael Duignan and Damien Joyce. However, the Board of Management of Clonfert College confirmed the next month that Garbally would not be retained, stating it would "elevate" one founding school over the other.

Curriculum

The school offers both the

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

and

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 ...

cycles and was one of the first schools to implement a

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. ...

programme when it was introduced in 1973. Garbally offers all the mandatory subjects, along with

woodwork Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by ...

metalwork Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

, technical graphics,

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 ...

, design & communication and music.

Sport

Garbally College is known for its sporting tradition in

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. The college has won several Connacht Schools Senior Cups and

Connacht Schools Junior Cup The Connacht Schools Junior Challenge Cup is an under-age rugby union competition for schools affiliated to the Connacht Branch of the IRFU. Competition is confined to students under the age of 16. The final is held in March each year in the ...

s and has produced a number of Irish Rugby Internationals. Garbally has won the Senior Cup 47 times, with their most recent and final win in 2020. Garbally have won the Junior Cup 43 times, last claiming the title in 2019. The last team to include borders, which won the cup, was in 2007. The final team to play as St. Joseph's College, Garbally competed in 2025, before the school's amalgamation into Clonfert College.

Notable alumni

;Academia * Patrick Gullane, Professor and Chair, Department of

Otolaryngology Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the surgical an ...

–Head and Neck Surgery,

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Philip Pettit Philip Noel Pettit (born 1945) is an Irish philosopher and political theorist. He is the Laurance Rockefeller University Professor of Human Values at Princeton University and also Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the Aust ...

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Professor of Politics at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

* Michael Tierney, 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 ...

;Arts and media * Jim Fahy, RTÉ western correspondent, journalist, broadcaster and documentary maker *

Desmond Hogan Desmond Hogan (born 10 December 1950) is an Irish writer. Awarded the 1977 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and 1980 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, his oeuvre comprises novels, plays, short stories and travel writing. The ''Cork Examiner'' said: ...

, novelist *

Seán Moncrieff Seán Moncrieff is an Irish people, Irish broadcaster, journalist and writer. He currently presents the weekday afternoon radio show ''Moncrieff'' on Newstalk and is a columnist for ''The Irish Times''. His television credits include his own R ...

, media broadcaster/presenter *

Ulick O'Connor Ulick O'Connor ( ; 12 October 1928 – 7 October 2019) was an Irish writer, historian and critic. Early life Born in Rathgar, County Dublin, in 1928 to Matthew O'Connor, the Dean of the Royal College of Surgeons, O'Connor attended Garbally ...

, writer, historian and critic *

Eoghan Ó Tuairisc Eoghan Ó Tuairisc (''Eugene Rutherford Watters'') (3 April 1919 – 24 August 1982) was an Irish poet and writer. Life Eugene Rutherford Watters was born at Dunlo Hill, Ballinasloe, County Galway, to Thomas Watters, a soldier, and his wife, Ma ...

, writer, poet, dramatist *

Tommy Tiernan Tommy Tiernan (; born 16 June 1969) is an Irish comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his stand-up career, hosting '' The Tommy Tiernan Show'' (2017–present) and playing Gerry in the sitcom '' Derry Girls'' (2018–2022). Early l ...

, comedian, actor and writer ;Business *

Ulick McEvaddy Ulick McEvaddy (born 1952) is an Irish aviation entrepreneur and former Irish army officer from Swinford, County Mayo. In 1984, along with his brother Desmond McEvaddy, he established Omega Air Inc; a Washington-based US Corporation that special ...

, businessman ;Politics * Patrick Beegan, former

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

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, former

Patrick Connolly Patrick James Connolly (25 May 1927 – 7 January 2016) was an Irish barrister who served as Attorney General of Ireland from March 1982 to August 1982. Early life and career Connolly was born on 25 May 1927, the elder of the two sons of a ...

, former Attorney General of Ireland. *

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and the former Leader of the Labour Party * Brendan Glynn, former

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

* Brian Hayes,

for

Dublin South-West Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, part of the Wicklow Mountains range. Dublin i ...

* Patrick Hogan, first

Minister for Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

* Seán Kenny, Labour Party

* Tony Kett, former

member of

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

* Gerry Reynolds, former

for Sligo–Leitrim * Michael Tierney, former

Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal (; ) was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. It was named after the original Cumann na nGaedheal organisation which merged with the Dungannon Clubs and the National Co ...

TD and president of

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, former

for Galway East ;Religious * Patrick Joseph Kelly, former Bishop of Benin City * John Kirby, former Catholic

Bishop of Clonfert The Bishop of Clonfert () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clonfert in County Galway, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title; but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with oth ...

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, Catholic priest, murdered by

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in 1920 * John Fahy, priest, republican, agrarian and radical ;Sports * Michael Duignan, All-Ireland winning former Offaly hurler, RTÉ Gaelic games commentator. *

, former Irish rugby international * Noel Mannion, former rugby player *

Ray McLoughlin Raymond John McLoughlin (21 August 1939 – 20 November 2021) was an Irish rugby union international who was capped 40 times at prop, an Irish record at the time. He began at tight head, moving to the open side on his return to the Ireland tea ...

, former Irish rugby international and chairman and chief executive of The Crean Group *

Johnny O'Connor Johnny O'Connor (born 9 February 1980) is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He is currently a strength and conditioning coach at his former club Connacht, having previously performed that role at football clubs Arsenal and Galway U ...

, Irish rugby international * Tiernan O'Halloran, Irish rugby international * Willie Ruane, rugby player, CEO of Connacht Rugby * Colm Reilly, rugby player * John Muldoon, rugby union coach, former player *

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, Irish rugby international * PJ Dwyer, Irish rugby international

Notable staff and former staff

* Ulick Burke, former

for Galway East * John Dignan, former

, served as president of the college * John Kirby, former Catholic Bishop of Clonfert, served as president of the college

References

External links

St. Joseph's College website (Colaiste Sheosaimh) Garbally College

{{Private schools in the Republic of Ireland Ballinasloe Private schools in the Republic of Ireland Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland Secondary schools in County Galway Educational institutions established in 1892 1892 establishments in Ireland