Coláiste Iognáid The Jes |
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Location | |
Galway Republic of Ireland |
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Information | |
Motto | Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (For the greater glory of God) |
Established | 1645 |
Principal | Shane Daly Acting principal Catherine Hickey |
Number of students | ~624 |
Website | colaisteiognaid |
Scoil Náisiúnta Iognaid | |
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Address | |
Bothar Na Sliogan Galway City Co. Galway |
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Information | |
Type | National school, primary |
Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic |
Patron saint(s) | St Ignatius of Loyola |
Established | 1971 |
Gender | Coeducational |
Enrollment | 550 |
Coláiste Iognáid (English: Ignatius College), a bilingual secondary school, is located on Sea Road/Bóthar na Mara in Galway, Ireland. It was founded in 1645 and has had numerous locations over the years before its current home. The college is a co-educational, non-fee-paying secondary school and one of a number of Jesuit schools in Ireland. There are approximately 600 pupils in the school.
Coláiste Iognáid is run by a board of management comprising parent, teacher, and Jesuit representatives. It is non-fee-paying, co-educational, and has no school uniforms. Students study there from ages thirteen to eighteen and sit the Junior and Leaving Certificate examinations. Each of the six-year groups is divided into four classes. The four groups are Gaeilge ("Irish Stream"), Xavier, Loyola, and Collins (G, X, L, C). Students are taught in similar ability classes throughout the school. The school is known locally as the 'Jes'.
In the fourth year ("Transition Year"), all students are reassigned into one of four classes, Brebeuf, Gonzaga, Ricci, or Claver (B, G, R, C). The classes return to the initial four groups in the fifth year for Irish classes only. The reorganisation of the groups for the fourth year is part of the school's "Transition Year" programme. While the Transition Year is optional in some Irish schools, it is compulsory in Coláiste Iognáid.
Since 1620, the Jesuits have, with some involuntary intermissions, been working with and for the people of Galway. In 1645 their first school was founded through the generosity of Edmund Kirwan. While the language of the classroom was Latin, only the Jesuits with a fluent command of Irish were sent on the “Irish Mission”.
The school, which was incorporated into a Jesuit residence in the present Abbeygate Street, continued in Galway through a time of political upheaval and military activity.
In 1859, at the request of the Bishop of Galway, the Jesuits once more took up residence in the city, this time in Prospect Hill and served in the nearby St. Patrick’s Church. Within a year they had opened a college near the site of the present Bank of Ireland at 19 Eyre Square. The college’s present location on Sea Road dates from 1863, when it was built the same year as the Jesuit church next door, St Ignatius Church.