News of The Past

14th November 2023

On September 2, 2023, the Rhetoric ’93 boys drove up the avenue in a Bartons bus, feeling the mix of apprehension and excitement we all have felt after a long break.  This break was slightly longer.  On a gloriously sunny day this moderately older bunch of young lads were greeted in front of the castle…read article

26th June 2023

Dr Pat McCarthy, Joe Rooney & Antoinette Kelly. As we conclude the 209th Academic year since the foundation of Clongowes Wood College 100+ Old Clongownians and their guests took the opportunity to revisit the college on June 14th.  This annual event which celebrates the founding of the College by Fr Peter Kenney in 1814 is…read article

7th February 2022

To mark the 140th anniversary of the birth of James Joyce, Fr Bruce Bradley SJ shares an insight into life at Clongowes during Joyce’s time at the school: James Joyce was a student at Clongowes Wood College near Clane, in Co. Kildare, for three years and a term, from the autumn of 1888 until just…read article

30th July 2021

The following is information published by the Jesuit Province for past pupils impacted by Joseph Marmion SJ   Barbara Walshe and Catherine O’Connell have worked extensively both as practitioners and as academics in the advancement of restorative justice processes. They are now engaged in an independent process with survivors of abuse by Joseph Marmion SJ….read article

9th July 2021

The Foundation and College are deeply grateful to the late Richard (Dick), Robinson who in his will, generously bequeathed a substantial legacy to the Foundation.  Born in 1920, Dick lived into his 100th year. Richard Robinson of Newberry Hall, Carbury, County Kildare, attended Clongowes between 1932 and 1938, where his uncle Fr. Mathias Bodkin S.J….read article

22nd June 2021

It is with great sadness that we learnt of the death of Professor J. Peter Neary. Born in Drogheda in 1950, Peter left Clongowes in 1967. He was the Rhetoric Imperator winning prizes in Latin, Irish, Mathematics, French and History and was secretary of the House Debating Society. He went on to study economics at…read article

17th June 2021

James Lambe – 7th July 1998 –  17th May 2021     It should come as no surprise to anyone if I say that the past month has been a very special God-given time during which we were blessed to see Him putting the finishing touches to one of His rare masterpieces – as we gathered…read article

19th May 2021

You will have heard by now the sad news [for his Family and for us] that James bade us farewell Monday afternoon – and we pray that the Lord will bring him safely home. As we come to terms with this painful reality – let us share our thanks for the gift that he was…read article

13th May 2021

Please see below a link to a statement from the Jesuit Order regarding an independent restorative process that has been put in place following the naming of Joseph Marmion, a former teacher at this school. Central to the process is the involvement of past pupils who may have been harmed or impacted by Joseph Marmion….read article

20th April 2021

40th Anniversary of the Twinning of Portora Royal School and Clongowes Wood College 1980-2020   An Old Clongownian remembers[1] My family used to go to Donegal for holidays in the years after WWII and we had to pass through Enniskillen on the last stage of the journey from Belfast. As you leave the town driving…read article