College Record 1966

EVENTS in the College have now been chronicled in this  biennial form for a decade for it was in 1956 that ST. KIERAN’S COLLEGE first made its diffident bow to the public. Set against the 183 years of the College’s existence, a span of ten years diminished into insignificance, yet the changes which have taken place in that decade match those of any other similar period one cares to name. These arc not evident in stone and wood and glass, though a closer scrutiny shows that the material structure is not so unchanging as a first glanre might suggest, but the changes lie in less tangible form. The Vatican Council and the Report of the Commission on Education, in their separate spheres, are both reacting on the kind of education that is being given today to students, lay and clerical – outward-looking, searching, challenging, optimistic. A teaching; staff of twenty-seven, as against twenty-two a decade ago, indicates the awareness of the College of its responsibility in keeping apace with the strides education is now making.

In this Golden Jubilee Year of the 1916 Rising, ST. KIERAN S COLLEGE RECORD pays tribute to the leaders of the Insurrection in the person of Thomas MacDonagh, one-time teacher in the College. Father Gerard Rice has dug deep into the character of the man and the Kilkenny of the period when MacDonagh walked between St. Kieran’s and his lodgings in High Street. The result is a critical and authoritative evaluation of the teacher, poet and soldier. The remammg articles, features, students’ reviews, news reports, miscellania, in their wide diversification, all have the purpose of entertaining our readers, and bringing them into closer touch with the College. Of one department at the end of the RECORD it is difficult to escape the feeling that it is the most popular of all – an idea that seems to reflect on the mentality of our readers and on the value of the more seriously considered pages which precede it. The department is titled “News from Far and Near.” It does not demand imaginative writing; its content is completely governed by the material sent in by correspondents. If some areas of the globe get more cover than others, this is not a measure of. their greater imJJOrtance, but merely that other parts, equally cherished, have less diligent correspondents. So let. us make a pressing appeal to our readers by qualifying the title of this department: “More News from Farther and N;arer.”

The 1964 issue of the RECORD had scarcely appeared when the College changed its President. Canon Gabriel Loughry made way for Canon John Holohan. May we wish both men ‘Ad multos annos’: the one on the banks of his beloved Nore at its most picturesque point, Inistioge, and the other in that most responsible and influential post, the President’s Room.

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Key Dates

Key Dates (Academic Year 2025/2026)

Please note: It may be necessary to reschedule some of the below times and dates. Please check the school website throughout the year for confirmation of the most up to date information.

August
Wednesday 20th
Staff Day (No school for students)
Thursday 21st
6th Years return at 8:50
Friday 22nd
3rd Year students return 8:50am / 1st Year Induction at 11am
Monday 25th
2nd / 5th Years and TY students return to school at 8:50am
September
Monday 15th
Open Evening (Provisional)
Friday 19th
Sports Day (Provisional)
Monday 22nd
Free Day (No school for students) (Provisional)
October
Monday 6th - Friday 10th
October Exams (Provisional)
Monday 13th - Friday 24th
TY Work Experience (Provisional)
Thursday 16th (4:15-6:45pm)
6th Year P/T Meeting (Provisional)
Friday 24th (1pm)
Midterm Break Begins
November
Monday 3rd (8.50 am)
School Reopens after Mid-Term Break
Thursday 13th (4.15pm - 6.45pm)
3rd Year P/T Meeting (Provisional)
Thursday 20th (4.15pm - 6.45pm)
5th Year P/T Meeting (Provisional)
Friday 28th
Staff Training Day (No school for students)
December
Monday 1st - Friday 5th
Christmas Exams (6th Years / 3rd Years)(Provisional)
Monday 15th - Friday 19th
Christmas Exams (1st / 2nd & 5th Years)
Friday 19th (1pm)
Christmas Holidays Begin
January
Monday 5th (8:50am)
School Reopens after Christmas Holidays
Thursday 15th
1st Year Parents Subject Choice Meeting at 7pm
Thursday 22rd (4.15pm - 6.45pm)
1st Year P/T Meeting
Thursday 29th (4.15pm - 6.45pm)
2nd Year P/T Meeting
February
Monday 2nd
St Brigid’s Day Bank Holiday - No School
Tuesday 3rd - Friday 13th
TY Work Experience (Provisional)
Tuesday 3rd - Friday 13th
Mock Examinations for JC & LC
Wednesday 11th
TY Parents Subject Choice Meeting at 7pm
Friday 13th February (1pm)
Midterm Break Begins
Monday 23rd (8.50 am)
School Reopens after Midterm Break
Thursday 26th (4:15-6:45pm)
TY P/T Meeting
March
Monday 2nd - Friday 5th
Easter Exams (1st & 5th Years)
Friday 6th
St Kieran’s Day Activities
Saturday 7th
Entrance Assessment Test (Provisional)
Monday 16th
Free Day (No School for students)
Tuesday 17th
School Closed (St Patrick’s Day Bank Holiday)
Friday 27th (1pm)
Easter Holidays Begin
April
Monday 13th
School Reopens after Easter Holidays
Thursday 23rd
Information Evening for Parents of 3rd Year (Regarding TY)
May
Monday 4th
School Closed (Bank Holiday)
Monday 25th - Friday 29th
Summer Examinations
Friday 29th (1pm)
Summer Holidays Begin
June
Wednesday 3rd
Junior & Leaving cert exams start

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