Clongowes Stories

17th September 2018

Not paddling their own canoes… The ancient and noble sport of canoeing has been rekindled in Clongowes in recent years and last Saturday (15th September) was another red letter day as the father and son pairing of Eddie Martin (OC’86) and Oscar (Poetry) completed the Liffey Descent 2018, just 33 years after the senior partner last…read more

14th September 2018

On Wednesday (12th) the five Rhetoric students – Brian Gallagher, James Hoey, Hugo O’Donnell, Harry Arkwright and Michéal Beirne (left to right below) – who had travelled to Lourdes as part of the Dublin Diocesan Annual Pilgrimage returned home tired but happy. They had been accompanied by Mr Francis Marron, Mrs Eileen Lumb and one of our GAP students, Matthew…read more

12th September 2018

In early 2017, in gale force nine and lashing rain, the car lights appeared down the avenue and out trundled 17 brave and bewildered parents and staff not quite sure what they were getting themselves into. It was the first night of the ‘The Very Senior Choir’ and after many an ‘i’ was dotted and…read more

10th September 2018

Yesterday, Sunday (September 9th) Fr Bernard ‘Barney’ McGuckian SJ, Vice Rector of Clongowes, concelebrated Mass in the company of his two brothers, Alan (Bishop of Raphoe) and Michael – both Jesuits. The company was completed by the Rector, Fr Michael Sheil SJ, who – just three days earlier – had presented Fr Barney to the…read more

7th September 2018

An Old Clongownian and a Knight of the Realm On Thursday September 6th Clongowes was privileged to be visited by Sir William Sargent (OC’73) the founder and CEO of the visual effects giant, Framestore. With clients ranging from big Hollywood studios to major brands such as Coca-Cola, Volkswagen and Nokia, Framestore – the world-leading digital story-telling…read more

5th September 2018

Legendary American author Damon Runyon may have quipped that, while ‘the race is not always to the swift that’s how the smart money bets’ most of the time, but the author of Guys and Dolls, had he been on the playing fields of Clongowes today, would have had to admit that there is often more…read more

3rd September 2018

Elements Opening Week At lunchtime on Tuesday 28th of August the corridors of Clongowes Wood College sj became home to the 205th class in the school’s history. While many of the young men will have felt nervous energy course through them as they drove up the beautiful avenue for the first time, the presence of 20 welcoming…read more

1st September 2018

It’s that time of year again, when the young men of Clongowes begin to don the purple and white to represent the school on the rugby field and there is nothing to quicken the pulse quite so much as the sight of 15 young men striding out on to the pitch ready to give their…read more

30th August 2018

On Thursday (30th August) the young gentlemen of Rhetoric 2024 filed into the chapel to take pole position at the front – the 205th Elements class to enter the school in this, our third, century. They were shortly joined by the rest of the students from Rudiments to Rhetoric, the majority returning for another academic year, while…read more

28th August 2018

A day before the new Elements made their first tentative steps in the school and two days in advance of the return of the more seasoned campaigners up the school, the academic and prefecting staff assembled for the first of two staff days to ready themselves for the forthcoming year… The Opening Prayer was led…read more