St Colman's College, Fermoy

St Colman's College (Irish: Coláiste Cholmáin) is an all-boys voluntary secondary school, and former boarding school, in Fermoy, County Cork. The College was founded in 1856 and opened in 1858 as the diocesan college of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne. Archbishop Thomas Croke, after whom Croke Park is named, became the school's first President in this year. The College is renowned for its sporting history.

History
The site upon which St. Colman's was built was bought by Fr. Timothy Murphy in 1856. Murphy commissioned John Pine Hurley to design the new College building. Twenty months after construction began, St. Colman's opened its doors to its first students in 1858. The original College building is three storeys in height and boasts an impressive six-storey tower. The facade of red sandstone with limestone facings. The building, with its tall tower, has since become an iconic structure in Fermoy and looms over the town's skyline. A west wing was added in 1887 while the school chapel was added in the early 1900s. A new classroom block was added to the College in 1969. This new block boasted a large assembly hall and twenty-two classrooms. A library in the College, known among the students and faculty as the Priest's Library, houses many rare manuscripts and books. From the very beginning, St. Colman's welcomed boarders from all over Munster; however, boarding ceased in the College in 2003.

Sport
The College has a strong hurling tradition and has won the Dr. Harty Cup nine times (1948, 1949, 1977, 1992, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002 & 2003). Today all teams are represented by local club players. Today the sport is as strong as ever but the College also has a much more diverse sporting ethos. The College has successful in competition with sports as diverse as equestrian, pitch and putt, tennis, swimming, rugby (former Leinster and Ireland prop Mike Ross being a past pupil), cricket, basketball, and badminton in recent years.

The St. Colman's Health & Fitness Campus, a huge redevelopment of the College's sports grounds, was opened in 2015. The project included the building of brand new dressing rooms and showers, three full sized tennis courts and a fitness walkway around the Harty pitch.

The arts

 * John Stanislaus Joyce, father of writer James Joyce
 * Peadar Ua Laoghaire, writer and priest
 * Canon Sheehan of Doneraile, writer and priest

Sports

 * Liam Kearney, football player, League of Ireland champion 2005, FAI Cup winner 2007, Setanta Sports Cup winner 2008 (Cork City) League of Ireland champion 2006 (Shelbourne)
 * Canon Bertie Troy, Cork hurling manager, photographer, and faculty of the College (1957–1977)
 * Mike Ross, Irish rugby player
 * Andrew O'Shaughnessy, Kilmallock, Limerick Hurler. All Ireland Finalist 2007
 * Stephen Molumphy, Ballyduff, Waterford Hurler, All Ireland Finalist 2008
 * Aidan Kearney, Tallow, Waterford Hurler, All Ireland Finalist 2008
 * Timmy McCarthy, Castlelyons, Cork Hurler, All Ireland Champion 1999/2004/05
 * Brian Murphy, Bride Rovers, Cork Hurler, All Ireland Champion 2004/05
 * Fergal McCormack, Mallow, Cork Hurler, All Ireland Champion 1999
 * Mark Landers, Killeagh, Cork Senior Hurling Winning Captain 1999
 * Seánie O'Leary, Youghal, Cork Hurler, All Ireland Winner 1976/77/78/1984, All Ireland U21 1970/71/73 Minor 1969/1970
 * Barry Murphy, Scarriff, Clare All Ireland Hurling Champion 1997
 * Colm Spillane, Castlelyons, Cork Senior Hurler, Munster Winner 2017
 * Niall O'Leary, Castlelyons, Cork Senior Hurler, All Ireland Finalist 2021
 * Bertie Troy, also taught at the school

Christian mission

 * William Barry DD (1872–1929), Archbishop of Hobart, Tasmania
 * David Keane, Bishop of Limerick (RC) 1923–1945
 * Fachtna O'Driscoll, Superior General of the Society of African Missions worldwide, 2013–2019.
 * Rev. Fr. Jeremiah Dermot O'Connell, longest serving principal in Nigeria

Irish history
One of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, Thomas McDonagh, taught in St. Colman's for a period of time.