St Patrick's College, Cavan.
Many more news items from this school year can be found on our old news 2010 page.

New school gets green light.


St Patrick's College got the official go ahead for its new school building when
Minister Brendan Smith turned the first sod on site last Friday 17th December 2010.
Pictured fron left to right are Rev Fr Ray Brady (Trustee), Mr John O'Shea (Deputy Principal),
Dr Liam Mc Niffe (Principal), Minister Brendan Smith TD, Rev Bishop Leo O'Reilly and
Rev Fr Dan Sheridan (Bord of Management).

St. Patrick’s College: Building on Tradition

The Tanaiste and Minister of Education and Skills, Mary Coughlan, has authorised the Board of Management of St. Patrick’s College to commence construction of the new school. Building will begin in the next few weeks and is expected to take eighteen months to two years to complete.
As well as having  general classrooms the new state of the art school, catering for 625 students, will include the following specialist rooms:  Science labs (3),  metal work , woodwork (2) , design and communication graphics,  art, religion, computer, guidance, learning support, music, as well as a very large sports hall, including gym, library and large canteen.
The school will remain under the patronage of the Bishop  Leo O’ Reilly and the Trustees of the Kilmore Diocese. It will be built on what was called the Intermediate pitch, facing the main pitch, on the existing school grounds.

The beautiful neo- Gothic facade, originally built in the early 1870s, and traditionally associated with the College, will remain intact. This was mainly used by boarders until 2000, when boarding ceased. It was totally unsuited to the needs of a modern school. The Diocese of Kilmore undertook a major renovation and restoration  project and converted the building into a beautiful Pastoral Centre. For the last six or seven years the College has only used a few rooms, for administration purposes, in this building. The ‘new wing’ consisting of five storeys was built during the war years in the early 1940s. Five classrooms and an assembly hall were added in the late sixties and early seventies. St. Augustine’s wing was added in 1984. When the new school is completed, the ‘new wing’ of five storeys, as well as Killian’s five classrooms will be demolished. St. Augustine’s , which will be  in close proximity to the new school, will remain  intact and will be of great benefit with its existing three science labs, and other facilities.
The tendering process was carried out under the Department of Education and Skills strict guidelines, which stipulate that the project be awarded to the company that submits the lowest viable tender. Glenman Corporation, from Glenamaddy in Co. Galway secured the contract to build the new school.

Commenting on the final go-ahead from the Department, the school Principal, Dr. Liam Mc Niffe, expressed absolute delight at the news. He stated that a number of people had been working for a long time to reach this position. He thanked Bishop Leo O’ Reilly for his continuing support for this project, as well as  Minister Brendan Smith who has been a keen advocate of the new school.  The present Board of Management, under Fr. Dan Sheridan has been actively involved in furthering the project. Dr. Mc Niffe  also expressed gratitude to  previous Presidents/Principals of the College, Rev. John Mc Tiernan, Rev. Gerard Alwill, and Mr. Patsy Lee who all played a vital role in getting us to this stage today. He also praised the Parents’ Association, whose fundraising for ICT, gym and library resources means that the school will hopefully hit the ground sprinting in two years time.
Dr Mc Niffe concluded that amid the national gloom and fear, the prospect of such fine educational facilities was particularly welcome. It is hoped that the eight million euro project will employ between seventy and one hundred workers at the height of its construction.

Unfortunately some of the trees along the walk to the sand courts had to be removed. The new school will be sited to the right of the photo which was up to recently, Junior Pitch.

The surface water holding tank installation on Senior Pitch.

Meanwhile site works continue on junior pitch where the new school building will be constructed.

8/4/11



14/4/11


18/4/11

1/6/11

September 2011. Most of the block work done and roof ready in foreground for installation

December 2011 extra long roof cladding arrives on site.