St Patrick's Classical School () is a Roman Catholic-run school for boys in Navan, County Meath. It has produced a number of politicians, journalists, Irish sports personalities, broadcasters and two winners of the Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Fringe.

History

St Patrick's Classical School was founded in 1930 when the Diocese of Meath's seminary, St. Finian's College, which had previously been the main provider of denominational education for boys locally, moved from Navan to the new diocesan capital, Mullingar in

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

. The school's patron is the

Roman Catholic Bishop of Meath The Diocese of Meath ( ga, Deoise na Mí) is a diocese of the Catholic Church that is located in the middle part of Ireland. It is one of eight suffragan dioceses of the ecclesiastical province of Armagh. Thomas Deenihan has been bishop of the di ...

. The school was previously located in a small building on Academy Street in the centre of the town, but in 1970 it moved to a new campus at the outskirts of the town. As its name indicated, it placed an emphasis on the teaching of the classics, Latin and Greek, rather than vocational subjects. Until the granting of "free education" by the Irish Minister for Education, Brian Lenihan (his predecessor who proposed free education, Donogh O'Malley died before he could implement the plan), the school operated as a fee-paying school. Its education is now free. Though predominantly Roman Catholic, the school also has pupils of other religions and no religion. Although the Roman Catholic Bishop of Meath remains the school patron, the school has long been under lay control and the last member of the clergy that was principal of the school was Fr Michael Sheerin in 1988. The school no longer has any priest on its teaching staff. In March 2013, the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'' newspaper published a "lifestyle" article in which the writer described St Patrick's Classical School as the town's "most prestigious" secondary school, which runs a waiting list of more than 200 students. In 2015, the school completed the construction of several new classrooms and an additional storey. These rooms were designed to accommodate science, woodwork, and music classes.

Notable staff

* Colm O'Rourke, former member of the Meath county football team and panelist on Gaelic games coverage on

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

Shane O'Rourke Shane O'Rourke (born 3 May 1988) is a former Gaelic footballer who played for the Simonstown Gaels club and for the Meath county team. He is the son of Meath footballing legend Colm O'Rourke and a cousin of former Meath goalkeeper Paddy O'R ...

, footballer son of Colm, physical education *

Ronan Moore Ronan Moore is a politician and school teacher, and the author of a number of books with a focus on quirks of Irish culture. Personal life Moore was born in, and his family comes from, Trim, County Meath. As of 2015, he lives with his wife Fran ...

, writer, politician

Notable past pupils

Among the school's ex-pupils are James Tully, the Labour Party Deputy Leader and Irish government minister in the 1970s and early 1980s; Jim Fitzsimons, a longtime Fianna Fáil Member of the European Parliament; Jim Duffy, a journalist; Simon Cumbers, a broadcast journalist killed by

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

in 2004; David Beggy, a

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er turned

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player;

David Gough David Gough ( ; born 1983) is a Gaelic football referee from County Meath. He is a member of the Slane club. His four umpires are father Eugene, brother Stephen, uncle Terry and cousin Dean, who have assisted him with every game since he started. ...

, that sport's first openly gay elite referee; comedians

Dylan Moran Dylan William Moran ( ; born 3 November 1971) is an Irish comedian, writer, actor, artist and poet. He is best known for his observational comedy, the comedy series ''Black Books'' (which he co-wrote and starred in), and his work with Simon Peg ...

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

and Michael Fry; and Irish radio and television presenter Hector Ó hEochagáin. The school was also attended by the trance DJ and producer

John O'Callaghan John O'Callaghan may refer to: * John O'Callaghan (Medal of Honor) (1850–1899), American soldier and Medal of Honor recipient * John O'Callaghan (politician) (died 1913), secretary of the United Irish League * John O'Callaghan (musician), Irish ...

. Ham Sandwich members Brian Darcy and John Moore met while attending the school.

Sporting activities

Sporting facilities at the school include two full sized Gaelic football pitches, one full size astro-turf pitch, a sports arena, a sports hall, a table tennis room, and a weights gym. Sport has been played at St Patrick's since the foundation of the school.

Gaelic football

The senior

team has won the Hogan Cup (All Ireland Schools "A" competition) three times, in 2000, 2001 and 2004. The current coaches include Colm O'Rourke. The juvenile football team won the North Leinster Juvenile Championship 2011 against St Mary's School in Mullingar, and the Junior team also won a "Leinster Junior A Title" in 2011/2012. In the 2012/2013 season the senior team won the Leinster final and in the All-Ireland final in April 2013 it lost to St Patrick's of Maghera.

Rugby

In 2010, the junior rugby team won the Junior Duff Cup against Skerries Community School. In 2012, the junior rugby team won the Division A league and Junior Duff cup for the first time.

Basketball

The U-19s and U-16s basketball teams both made it to the north-east regional finals in 2011/2012. The U-19s won their final but were knocked out in the qualifiers for the All-Ireland. The U-16s lost their final but were able to advance to All-Ireland qualifiers but were knocked out.

Charity work

In 2014, five students from 5th year raised €1300 for the Donal Walsh #LiveLife Foundation by selling wristbands in honour of Kerry teenager Donal Walsh, who had terminal cancer. In 2019 they also organised a sleep out to raise money for Focus Ireland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patrick's Classical School, Navan 1930 establishments in Ireland Boys' schools in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in Navan Catholic secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland Educational institutions established in 1930 Schools in County Meath Secondary schools in County Meath