St Comhghall's Secondary School54°15′40″N 7°27′11″W / 54.261°N 7.453°W
St. Comhghall's College was a Roman Catholic co-educational school providing secondary level education to pupils from age 12 to 18 years. The school was situated outside Lisnaskea, a small town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The college opened in September 1970.[1] The college was named after St. Comhghall an early Irish saint based on Lough Erne. The college motto was "Pray and Work Together". Most of the students were from Lisnaskea, Maguiresbridge, Newtownbutler, the Knocks and Donagh. The last principal of the college was Gary Kelly and the last vice principal was Brian Armitage.[2] St. Comhghall's College closed its doors to students in July 2017. It amalgamated with St. Eugene's College Roslea to form a new school called St. Kevin's College, following a decision made by the CCMS and passed by the then Education Minister John O'Dowd. The new school is situated on the old site of St. Comhghall's College. The school was officially unveiled in January 2017 and the event was attended by special guests such as Monsignor Joseph McGuinness and DUP Leader Arlene Foster. SportSt. Comhghall's College made local headlines in 1996 after the Under 16 boys team won the All-Ireland. In 2006 the Under 16 girls team made it to the final in the All Ireland.[3][4] In 2014/15 the U16 boys won the Fermanagh GAA schools championship, which was played in derrylin. Academics and the CurriculumIn years 8 to 10 the college provided Key Stage 3 education, then from years 11 to 12 the college provided a selection of GCSEs (see table below) and finally in years 13 to 14 the college provided a selection of A Levels (see table below).The college has been noted in the media for having a 100% pass rate at A-Level, meaning all students who studied A-Levels and at the college achieved at least a grade C.[5] At GCSE the school has also had a 100% pass rate meaning all pupils achieved 5 or more GCSEs grades A*-C ranking it as Northern Ireland's best achieving post primary school.
College PrincipalsPearse Mulligan served as college principal from the opening of the school in 1970 until 1982. Gary Kelly was principal from 2006 to 2017. Kelly implemented various changes such as introducing more subjects to the school curriculum.[6]
MergerIn March 2010 the Northern Ireland Commission for Catholic Education published a report which outlined plans that would see St Eugene's College, Rosslea and St. Aidan's High School Derrylin merged into one single college on the site of St. Comhghalls college in Lisnaskea.[6] Principal of St. Comhghall's Gary Kelly said regarding the future merger
This merger happened in 2017 with St. Aiden's Derrylin being allowed to stay open and serve the local community with education up to GCSE level. Both St. Comhghall's and St. Eugene's Closed their doors in July 2017 and St. Kevin's College[8] opened in 2017 on the site of St. Comhghall's in Lisnaskea. Mr. Gary Kelly continued on as Principal however there is a new Vice Principal Mrs. McDonald. Visit from the PresidentThe President of Ireland, Mary McAleese and her husband, Dr. Martin McAleese, who has maternal (McElgunn) roots in Fermanagh[9] paid a visit to St. Comhghalls College on 15 September 2007. In the President's address to the student body of the college, she recalled the bad old days when people were forced by poverty and politics to emigrate.
Notable former pupils
See also
References
External links
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