Athlone Community College

Athlone Community College is a mixed gender school in the town of Athlone in the Irish Midlands. Athlone Community College consists of a student body of over 1,300 students and employs more than 120 teachers.

Athlone Community College Coláiste Pobail Átha Luain
Location
Retreat Road, Athlone Ireland
Information
Motto	"Even while we teach, we learn"
Established	1974
Educational authority	Longford Westmeath Education Training Board
Principal	Eileen Donohoe
Gender	Mixed
Number of students	ca. 1147
Language	English
Colour(s)	Blue and Yellow
Website	athlonecc.ie

History

Prior to the development of the present co-educational system, the Sisters of Mercy opened the school for girls in 1893, leading to the expansion and introduction of Technical education. However, fund-raising was necessary and the Sisters organized several concerts to clear an IR£1,500.00 debt.^{[citation needed]} The noted tenor, John McCormack, was a frequent performer and helped alleviate some of the Sisters financial difficulties.^[how?]

In 1902, a Technical School for boys was opened by the Secretary of the Department of Education and Technical Instruction. In 1906, the committee set up the Athlone Woodworking and Industries Society offering their premises and equipment in Gleeson Street to the Society. In 1930, the technical scheme that had up to this been administered as a local scheme, now joined the wider county scheme. New premises were acquired in St. Mary's Place. Classes commenced and as numbers increased further extensions to the building were required.^{[citation needed]}

Eventually greater accommodation was necessary and in 1974 the work and students of the Old Vocational School transferred to a new building at Retreat Road where the present Community College stands.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, the Department of Education & Science gave approval for the building of a new school in place of the existing building. The school was completed in 2014 and opened by the Taoiseach in 2017.^[1]

Achievements

The Athlone Community college has had a number of achievements in sports, debating, science and literature since its opening.^{[citation needed]}

The school enters the Concern Debating Competition and the Mental Health Public Speaking Competition every year.^{[citation needed]} Athlone Community College has won the Concern Debating competition three times and it was the outright winner of the Mental Health Public Speaking Competition in 2010.^{[citation needed]} In addition the school enter teams into the Gael Linn Irish debating competition every year. It has been runner up in the All-Ireland on several occasions.^{[citation needed]}

The School is also a Prime School in the Area of Green Schools having been awarded 4 Green Flags. They have a strong committee and the organisation is well respected and known through out the school. The school has also won multiple green schools awards for Litter and Waste and Travel.

Athlone Community College is the sole community college to have won a Leinster 'A' Senior Colleges title in Gaelic football, doing so in 2008.^{[citation needed]}

In association football (soccer) the school won U14 and U16 Leinster & All-Ireland titles (in 2005 and 2006 respectively), and were finalists in the U16 and U18 Leinster Champions League Finalists (in 2007 and 2008).

The college is also involved in rugby, hurling, hockey, athletics, and equestrian sports.^[2][3]

References

1. "Westmeath Independent - Taoiseach to officially open new Athlone Community College". Westmeath Independent. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
2. . Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
3. . Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2012.

External links

Coordinates: 53°25′29″N 7°55′13″W / 53.4247°N 7.9202°W / 53.4247; -7.9202