Gonzaga College

This article is about the school in Dublin. For the school in Washington, D.C., see Gonzaga College High School. For the school in Spokane, Washington, see Gonzaga University. For the school in Jakarta, Indonesia, see Kolese Gonzaga.

Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland.^[2] Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ireland. The curriculum is traditional, with a broad general programme of subjects including Latin and Greek at junior cycle and the opportunity in senior cycle to study eight subjects for the Leaving Certificate.

Gonzaga College SJ Coláiste Gonzaga
Crest based on Duchy of Mantua coat of arms
Location
Sandford Road Ranelagh , Dublin , D06 KF95 Ireland
Coordinates	53°19′0.52″N 6°14′57.58″W / 53.3168111°N 6.2493278°W / 53.3168111; -6.2493278Coordinates: 53°19′0.52″N 6°14′57.58″W / 53.3168111°N 6.2493278°W / 53.3168111; -6.2493278
Information
School type	Voluntary Secondary school
Motto	Semper et Ubique Fidelis ^[1] (Faithful always and everywhere)
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic, Jesuit
Founded	1950; 73 years ago (1950)
School number	[phone]
Principal	Damon McCaul
Age range	12-18
Classrooms	84
Colour(s)
School fees	€6,605 (2019-2022)
Website	www.gonzaga.ie

The school is named after the early Jesuit Saint Aloysius Gonzaga and takes its emblem from the coat of arms of the Gonzaga family. The school has a liberal, intellectual, and Jesuit ethos.^[3][4][5]

The annual fee for the 2019–2020 academic year is €6,605.^[6]

Campus

The school is located 4.4 km (2.7 mi) from Dublin city centre^[7] on a large area of land including a front lawn with cricket crease, rugby pitches and tennis courts. The school buildings include a library, chapel, clock tower, theatre, priests' residence, science block, and 84 individual classrooms. The architecture of the school mixes modern copper-roofed buildings with older period houses. Some sections of the school grounds were sold to developers for housing estates in 1984.

In 2007, the school began to work on a major extension project, increasing the size of the school building by 84%. The new building opened to students for the 2009–10 school year.

Academic performance

Gonzaga College has a reputation for academic excellence.^[8] The use of examinations to select pupils for admission has been discontinued following government intervention^[9] (the state part-funds the school by paying most teachers' salaries), although boys and parents are interviewed ("the interview is a sharing of ideas").^[10] In 2018 it was the top all-boys secondary school in Ireland in terms of the percentage of students who progressed to university, with 85.9% of all students doing so.^[11] In 2019, 36.1% of students progressed to UCD, while 38.1% progressed to TCD and 19.6% progressed to TUD.^[12]

Visual arts, theatre, and music are emphasised in the curriculum; pupils are encouraged to study Latin and Greek.^[13]

Sports and games

The school chess team has been particularly successful, winning national and international awards.^[14] Notably, their achievements include dozens of Leinster and All-Ireland titles as well as winning the prestigious Millfield International Chess Tournament, held in Somerset, UK, in 1992, 1999, 2014 ^[15] 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

 

Grounds of Gonzaga College in Ranelagh, Dublin

Sports

 

St Joseph's House (classrooms and administration block) and clock tower

The primary sport focused on in Gonzaga is rugby, however many other sports such as hurling, tennis, golf, cricket, badminton, and athletics are also played within the school.

The Junior Cup Rugby teams of 1989, 2003, and 2006 reached the final of the Leinster Schools Junior Cup. The Senior Cup Team (SCT) have reached three semi finals and two finals. The SCT of 2019 reached the final of the Senior Cup for the first time in the college's history, losing to Saint Michael's College.^[16] They have, however, won the Senior League (for middle-ranking schools) on several occasions. The school has produced a small number of professional rugby players and seven Irish internationals: Tony Ensor, John Cooney, Barry Bresnihan (who went on to represent the British and Irish Lions), Padraig Kenny, Kevin McLaughlin, Dominic Ryan, and Matt Healy (Conor McKeon).

The school golf team won Leinster titles in 1999 and 2006. Previously, the team reached the semi-finals of the junior cup. In 2010, the Senior Team won the Leinster Schools Senior Matchplay competition, beating Blackrock College 3½ to 1½.^[17] They went on to win the All-Ireland Golf Championship in April 2010.

Gaelic games were not played in the past but, in recent years, a team has been entered in a Gaelic football blitz involving other rugby-playing schools. Hurling has also been introduced in recent years.

The school is occasionally represented by a soccer team in friendly matches, but association football is not an official sport of the school.

The main sports in the college during the summer term are lawn tennis and cricket. Gonzaga has a strong tennis tradition, producing many of Ireland's finest tennis players including Barry King, Seán Molloy and Jerry Sheehan. The college has also produced three cricket internationals, most recently bowler George Dockrell, as well as Ireland internationals in bridge, lawn bowls and fencing.

Chess

The school has a tradition of strong chess teams which have been victorious in numerous Leinster and national championships. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, they were Leinster and All Ireland champions at minor, junior and senior levels – an unprecedented clean sweep of Irish schools chess. Of the school chess teams' many achievements, most noteworthy was winning the prestigious Millfield International Chess Tournament in England in 1992, 1999, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 while also winning the Eton College Rapidplay in 2016. Many school chess players have built on their experiences at the college and after graduating continued to greater success, including International Masters Sam Collins and Mark Quinn.

Gonazga Chess Club, which includes pupils and adults competes in the Leinster Chess Union leagues, with the club being very successful in recent years, winning the first division Armstrong Cup 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Buildings

Initially the school consisted of the three Bewley buildings on the site, one being used for the school, one as a Jesuit house of residence, and one as a lunch room, changing rooms, science laboratories, etc. In the 1950s, Andrew Devane of Robinson Keefe Devane Architects prepared a masterplan with a school hall between the two main houses and classroom wings extending to the two main houses. The masterplan included a chapel in front of the hall and main entrance. Over the 1950s the classroom wing linked to the school house was built along with the hall and main entrance. In the 1960s the chapel was built. In the 1980s an additional wing of classrooms was constructed. The school's renovation project finished in time for the 2009–10 school year: the first stage was a complete renovation of the science facilities, while the second stage almost doubled the floor area of the school with new buildings. The extension included the new Purdy Dining Hall, the new Coulson Theatre, a gym changing area, and classrooms. The old school hall was completely renovated into a modern library named the Sutherland Library with meeting rooms and study facilities. In 2019-2020 there are tentative plans for a major development of the older section of the school.

 

School campus panorama

Notable past pupils

Academia

• Anthony Clare — psychiatrist and broadcaster^[18]
• Peter Clinch — Jean Monnet Professor of European Policy at University College Dublin and economic adviser to former Taoiseach Brian Cowen^[19]
• George K. Miley — Professor of Astronomy, Leiden University^[20]
• Diarmuid Rossa Phelan — Associate Professor, Law, Trinity College Dublin^[21]

Arts and media

• Finghin Collins — concert pianist^[22]
• Conor Deasy — lead singer with The Thrills^{[citation needed]}
• Paul Durcan — poet^[23]
• Aidan Mathews — poet, dramatist, novelist.^[24]
• Redmond Morris, 4th Baron Killanin — film producer^[25]
• Fionn O'Shea — actor^[26]
• Andrew Scott — actor^{[27][unreliable source?]}
• Ronan Sheehan — novelist, short story writer, essayist, and former copyright lawyer^[28]
• Hugh Tinney — concert pianist^[29]

Law

• Paul Carney — Irish High Court judge^[30]
• Kevin Feeney — Irish High Court judge^[31]
• Charles Lysaght — lawyer and obituary writer^[32]

Politics and diplomacy

• Patrick Costello — Green Party TD^[33]
• Ciarán Cuffe — Green Party MEP and former TD and Minister of State for Horticulture, Sustainable Travel, and Planning and Heritage^[34]
• Jim O'Callaghan — Fianna Fail TD^[35]
• Eamon Ryan — Green Party TD and Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources^[36]
• Ossian Smyth — Green Party TD and Minister of State for Public Procurement and eGovernment^[37]
• Peter Sutherland — EU Commissioner,^[38] former Director General of the World Trade Organization, former Attorney General of Ireland, former Chairman of BP and Chairman of Goldman Sachs

Sports

• Barry Bresnihan — former Irish Rugby international, British and Irish Lions player and renowned doctor^[39]
• Sam Collins — International Master of chess^[40]
• Tony Ensor — Irish rugby international^[41]
• Matt Healy - Connacht Rugby player and Ireland international^[42]
• Osgar O'Hoisin - Irish Davis Cup Tennis Player
• Mark Dowling - Irish Tennis Player
• George Dockrell - Ireland Cricket Team

See also

• List of Jesuit schools
• List of Jesuit sites in Ireland

References

1. "Mission Statement", Gonzaga College SJ, retrieved 15 February 2022
2. "Gonzaga College, Dublin City 6 on SchoolDays.ie". www.schooldays.ie. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
3. "Gonzaga College SJ".
4. The Characteristics of Jesuit Education 2010-06-02 at the Wayback Machine. Seattle University. Retrieved: 2010-09-03.
5. The Characteristics of Jesuit Education. World Union of Jesuit Alumni(ae). Retrieved: 2010-09-03.
6. "Fees for private schools jump as enrolments return to boom-time high". The Irish Times. 28 December 2019.
7. Wikimapia Distance measured precisely to G.P.O. as crow flies.
8. "Irish Times Article:Free schools score highly in third-level feeder list".
9. Dáil question to minister for education on use of entrance exams 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
10. Admissions policy: (E) Decision making, gonzaga.ie. June 2010. Retrieved: 2010-11-29.
11. "The top 25 schools in Ireland have been revealed". JOE.ie.
12. "Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin | The Irish Times Feeder Schools". www.irishtimes.com.
13. . Archived from the original on 8 September 2007.
14. Millfield International Chess Tournament - 15 December 2005 Archived 27 September 2007 at archive.today
15. "Roundcube Webmail :: Welcome to Roundcube Webmail". webmail.email.hosting.
16. "St Michael's College win third Leinster Schools' Senior Cup". 17 March 2019.
17. Short game by Shay Keenan, The Irish Times, 2010-02-16. Retrieved: 2010-09-01.
18. "The chair man: the Anthony Clare profile". the Guardian. 13 May 2001.
19. He's the last big hope for nation on its knees, Sunday Independent, 2008-06-29. Retrieved: 2010-08-25.
20. "George K. Miley".
21. "Diarmuid Rossa Phelan".
22. . Archived from the original on 11 November 2007.
23. "Poetry and emotion".
24. Aidan Mathews, Ricorso. Retrieved: 2012-01-06.
25. "Unison Engineering". 26 August 2016.
26. "Fionn O'Shea". IMDb.
27. "Andrew Scott". IMDb.
28. Ronan Sheehan, Ricorso
29. . 27 October 2007. Archived from the original on 27 October 2007.
30. Judge with one eye on the Media 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
31. Clash of Wigless Titans 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
32. Photo Gallery 2011-08-17 at the Wayback Machine Gonzaga Union. Retrieved: 2011-11-18.
33. . Archived from the original on 16 February 2015.
34. . Archived from the original on 17 February 2007.
35. "Gonzaga past pupils were 'extremely drunk' at match". independent.
36. FF's strength in numbers 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
37. "Ossian Smyth". Linkedin.
38. Secretary-General Appoints Peter Sutherland as Special Representative for Migration, United Nations Press Release, 2006-01-23. Retrieved: 2010-08-25.
39. Barry Bresnihan Obituary The Telegraph, 2010-07-26.
40. "The chess games of Sam E Collins". www.chessgames.com.
41. Old dogs and new tricks
42. Team, The42. "Mixed feelings for Connacht's Healy after Ireland debut in defeat to Boks". The42.

Further reading

• Parent Power: Zealous ethos drives Gonzaga to the top, The Sunday Times.(subscription required)
• A Short History of Gonzaga College, 1950–2000, Christopher J. Finlay, Dublin, September 2000, Eneclann Ltd. ISBN 978-0-9537557-1-4.

External links

• School website
• Gonzaga past pupils union