End of an era for famous Longford football nursery
December 04, 2024
The St Mels senior team 1946 -47. Front l-r: John Murphy, Frank Gilchriest, Bill McGinvey, Paddy Hanamy capt, Sean Gaffney, Tom Murtagh, Paddy Fitzmaurice. Middle l-r: Sean McWade, Frank Hyland, Eugene Boland, Fr Manning, Mick Delaney, Seamus Greene, Paddy Tierney. Back l-r: Vincent Tierney, Gerry Gearty, Brenadan Keaney, Paddy Fenlon, Colm Smith,
A famous name is set to disappear from the colleges football landscape.
St Mel’s College in Longford – which has four Hogan Cups to its name – is set to amalgamate with Meán Scoil Mhuire to create a new co-educational school for 1,200 students known as Coláiste Mel agus Mhuire.
The move comes after a six-month consultation process on the future of Catholic education in Longford town which involved the school communities of Meán Scoil Mhuire, Saint Mel’s College and local Catholic primary schools which was embarked on by the Patrons of Meán Scoil Mhuire and Saint Mel’s College, CEIST and the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois.
St Mel’s College opened in September 1865 with 48 boarders and 25 day pupils, and went on to produce many outstanding Gaelic footballers and teams. The first lay principal of the college, Denis Glennon, was appointed in 2002, which is the same year that the last boarding students left.
The news comes in the same week as the once-mighty Longford school was knocked out of the Leinster Post Primary Schools Senior ‘A’ Football Championship by four-in-a-row chasing Naas CBS following an agonising one-point defeat.
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