St. Flannans College

Saint Flannan's College Coláiste Fhlannáin Naofa Collegium Sancti Flannani
Crest of the college(Top)
Location
Ennis, County Clare, Republic of Ireland
Information
Patron saint(s)	Saint Flannan
Established	1846
President	Rev. Joe McMahon
Principal	Carmel Honan
Chaplain	Rev. Damien Nolan
Staff	85 (2011)
Number of students	c. 1200
Website	http://www.stflannanscollege.ie
View of the front of the College

Saint Flannan's College is an Irish co-educational secondary school located in Ennis, County Clare, which takes its name from the 7th century patron saint of the Dál gCais. Formerly an all-boys boarding school, the first girls class was entered in 2002 and in 2005 the boarding school was closed. In 2003 an extension which added over 20 new rooms to the college was completed. A measure of the expansion that has taken place over the past thirty years is that in 1962, there were some 370 pupils, 140 of whom were day boys. Only 37 teachers were in attendance. By 2004, enrollment had risen to more than 1,001 students. Staff numbers had risen to 60. In September 2002, co-ed classes were introduced in First Year. In September 2003, a new wing containing extensive new facilities was opened. In the 2010-11 school year there were 1,206 students.

In 1846, the Diocese of Killaloe lent its prestige and patronage to the private academy conducted at Springfield House, Ennis by a Mr Fitzsimons. Fortified by diocesan support, the school would henceforth function as both a diocesan seminary and as a day and boarding school for Catholic boys. Under this arrangement, the Springfield House school flourished, and by the early 1850s was already enticing pupils away from Erasmus Smith College, College Road. Springfield pupils were conspicuously successful in obtaining scholarships to the Queen's Colleges at Galway and Cork (now NUI Galway and University College Cork). In 1859, Fitzsimons added a new wing to the college in order to cater for the increased number of students. The same year, Springfield affiliated to the newly established University of London as a preparatory college. In 1862, financial difficulties caused Fitzsimons to terminate his connection with Springfield, and under his successor the College changed directions sharply. The affiliation with the University of London was dropped for one with Newman's Catholic University in Dublin. Fitzsimons, for his part, embarked on a new career in Argentina, and within the space of a few years set up four schools. Fitzsimons died there in 1871 during an outbreak of yellow fever.