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The Jesuits in Galway (16 04 2015)
The Jesuits have been working in Galway since the early 1600’s. Even before then, men from the west of Ireland had been joining the Order. It was the policy of the Order at the time that only priests with a fluency in the Irish language would be sent to work in their native areas.
The first Jesuit college in Galway was set up in 1645 and was located where Powells, The Four Corners is today. The language of the classroom was Latin, but Irish, as the language of the people, held a special place. The college was founded against a background of wars and dissensions, but somehow, it flourished. However, when Galway surrendered to Cromwell, Catholic life virtually came to an end in the city and all priests were banished. Some of them managed to come back around 1660 but little or no progress in the field of education was made in the following years.
During the Williamite Wars of 1688-91, all members of the Jesuit Community again left Galway but they returned in 1727. Due to a lack of manpower, the Galway residence was closed in 1768. They returned yet again (this time for good) in 1859 and were based in Prospect Hill and later Eyre Square before moving to the newly constructed school and residence on Sea Road in 1862. The following year the Church of St. Ignatius was dedicated. Attendances at Mass and ceremonies grew rapidly with devotions and confessions often going on until midnight. The college was more of a challenge. Numbers were small at first but academic standards were high. Some ground at the rear of the school was purchased in the early 1900’sand provided adequate ground for a much needed playing pitch. Numbers were growing as was the competition from St. Joseph’s College and now St. Mary’s College. The total number of boys in the city available for secondary education was estimated at 270 students and because of this and a stressful financial situation, it was decided to close the Jes in 1926. This was not a popular decision and a period of intense lobbying began which rsulted in the college re-opening in 1929. Since then it has evolved into the institution it is today.
It has gone through many changes: It became Coláiste Iognáid where all the subjects were taught through Irish, it became co-educational, established a dedicated bun-scoil, introduced classes through English, added new subjects to the curriculum and greatly expanded extra-curricular activities. Our 1968 photograph shows one of the major changes, the building of a new school to be named The Griffin Building in honour of a long serving charismatic teacher, Danny Griffin. Since then, a brand new state-of-the-art building has been constructed and was formally opened last year by President Michael D. Higgins.
The college are organising an “Inaugural Jes Gathering” in the Ardilaun on Friday May 1st, a fundraising dinner dance with lots of fun and entertainment, so if you would like to meet up with some of your old school buddies, why not book your tickets by calling Jacinta O’Gorman at 086 1031420 , Siobhán Casey at 083 1029020 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
All of the above information is taken from an essay by Paddy Lydon in a beautifully illustrated book entitled “The Jes, 150 years of the Jesuits in Galway 18162-2012” which is highly recommended and available at the school and in good bookshops at 30 euro.
