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Clongowes Wood College is a private secondary boarding school for boys, located near Clane in County Kildare, Ireland. Founded by the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits) in 1814, it is one of Ireland's oldest Catholic schools, and featured prominently in James Joyce's semiautobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Its current headmaster is Fr. Leonard Moloney S.J.; Fr. Michael Sheil S.J. retired as rector in 2006 and Fr. Bruce Bradley (headmaster 1992-2000) is his successor. Clongowes is one of a number of Jesuit schools in Ireland. It currently has 450 students. 2007 is its 194th academic year.

In 1886 St Stanislaus College, Tullamore, was amalgamated to Clongowes Wood College. Relatively recent histories of the college were written by Fr. Roland Burke Savage S.J. (published in The Clongownian school magazine during the 1980s) and Peter Costello (Clongowes Wood: a History of Clongowes Wood College, 1814-1989, published by Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1989). An important earlier history is The Clongowes Record 1814-1932 by Fr. Timothy Corcoran, S.J. (Browne and Nolan, Dublin, 1932). Currently there are 12 jesuits living in the castle.

Contents 1 History 2 Buildings 3 Aspects of Life at Clongowes 4 Alumni 4.1 Military 4.1.1 Victoria Cross Holders 5 Partner schools 6 External links

The school traces its history back to a 799-acre estate owned by the Wogan family in 1418 under the reign of Henry IV. The name "Clongowes" comes from the Irish for "meadow" (cluain) and for "blacksmith" (gobha). The estate was originally known as "Clongowes de Silva" (de Silva meaning "wood" in Latin).

The estate later passed to the Eustace family and became part of the fortified border of the Pale in 1494. The Eustaces lost their estates during the Restoration.

The estate was sold by the Wogan-Brownes to the Jesuits in March 1814 for £16,000.

The school accepted its first pupil, James MacLorinan, on 18 May 1814.[1]

The medieval castle, which is the residence of the religious community, was improved by a "chocolate box" type restoration in the 19th century. it is situated astride the Ramparts, which are the ditch and wall constructed for the defense of the Pale in the 14th century. It was completely refurbished in 2004 and the reception was moved back there from the 1999 building.

The castle is connected to the modern buildings by an elevated corridor hung with portraits, the Serpentine Gallery referred to by James Joyce. This gallery was completely demolished and rebuilt in 2004 as part of a redevelopment programme for the school buildings.

In 1929 another new building was built costing £120,000, which is now the main façade of the school. It houses the main classrooms and the Rudiments, Grammar, Syntax, and Humanities dormitories.

The Boys' Chapel has an elaborate redos, a large pipe-organ in the gallery, and a sequence of Stations of the Cross painted by Sean Keating. It is rumoured that on the 12th station, Pontious Pilot resembles the rector of Clongowes at that time, a mark of spite when the rector refused to pay Mr Keating his asking price.

There are six class or year forms, namely Rudiments, Grammar, Syntax, Humanities, Poetry and Rhetoric. These are grouped into three Lines - Third Line, Lower Line and Higher Line.

• John Bruton former Fine Gael TD and Taoiseach [2]
• Richard Bruton Irish politician deputy leader of Fine Gael TD, brother of John
• Brian Carney (born 1976) rugby player for Munster and Ireland
• Hugh Coveney (1935-1998) former Fine Gael TD, government minister and yachtsman
• Simon Coveney (born 1972) Fine Gael TD and MEP
• Gordon D'Arcy rugby player for Leinster and Ireland
• Sir Edmund Dwyer-Gray, 29th Premier of Tasmania
• Denis Gwynn (1893-1973) journalist, writer and professor of Modern Irish History
• Nick Hewer advisor to Alan Sugar and appears on BBC's The Apprentice
• James Joyce (1882-1941)
• Robert Kearney (born 1986) Leinster rugby player
• Thomas Kettle (1880 - 1916), writer, barrister, Nationalist politician and economist.
• Msgr.Dermot Lane (born 1945) President of Mater Dei Institute of Education
• Paul McGuinness manager of U2
• James Patrick Mahon (1800-1891) Politician and mercenary
• Charles Mitchel (1920-1996) Irish actor and newsreader on RTE
• Kevin O'Higgins former Minister of Justice [3]
• Michael O'Leary chief executive of Ryanair
• Kieran Prendiville (born 1947) writer/actor
• Willie Redmond (1861-1917) Irish nationalist politician, brother of John
• John Redmond (1856–1918) leader Irish Parliamentary Party (1900-1918)
• Patrick Reid (1910-1990) prisoner of war who escaped from Colditz
• Michael Smurfit (born 1936) industrialist and businessman
• J. T. Walsh (1943-1998) American film actor
• Tron Kelly (1999-2000) Hollywood actor / Master Debator

Four alumni have won the Victoria Cross:

• Victoria Cross
  • Crimean War
    • Captain Thomas Esmonde VC (1829 to 1873). He later achieved the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.
  • Boer War
    • Surgeon Captain Thomas Joseph Crean VC DSO (1873 to 1923). He later achieved the rank of Major.
  • First World War
    • Lieutenant John Vincent Holland VC (1889 to 1975).
  • Second World War
    • Lieutenant Commander Eugene Kingsmill Esmonde VC DSO (1909- 1942) He was the Great-GrandNephew of Thomas Esmonde VC.

• Aloisiuskolleg, Jesuit boarding school in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany
• Collegium Augustianium Gaesdonck, boarding school in Goch, Germany
• Kolleg St. Blasien, Jesuit boarding school in St. Blasien, Germany
• Portora Royal School, voluntary grammar school in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh
• Saint Ignatius' College Riverview, Jesuit boarding school in Sydney, Australia

• Clongowes Wood College website
• Clongowes Youth Club