Templeogue College

General

Templeogue College is one of Ireland's many state-run schools. Founded in 1966 it is run by a Catholic religious order, the Hold Ghost Fathers.

The school currently caters for roughly 650 pupils, with a teaching staff numbering in or around 50. The school's sport is traditionally rugby, twice having reached the finals of the Leinster Schools Junior Cup. In 2002 a team visited South Africa, the first state school in Ireland to do so. Despite the schools traditional rugby ethos it has had much more success in recent years in basketball, reaching many finals including the All-Ireland.

The college's headmaster is Mr. Kevin O'Brien, formerly an English teacher in the school, helped by his deputy - Mrs. Aoife O'Donnell.

As well as playing rugby and basketball, the school also plays - athletics, Gaelic football, soccer, hurling, badminton, tennis to but mention a few. The school also engages in many non-sporting extra-curricular activities. The Concert Band is notable, one of the largest school concert bands nation-wide, with 60 boys involved. The Band is currently under the direction of Mr. Damien Morrissey, who is the head of the wind section of the Army Marching Band, he also teaches the wood section. Mr. Jim Lowe (former conductor) teaches the brass section. The Band regularly visits other countries - mainly Canada and the U.S, though they have previously toured Germany, the Netherlands and Finland.

Music is important for the school and as well as the Band there is a musical held every 2 years which is organized by Ms. Mary Skehan, head of the schools Music Department and only music teacher.

The Irish Times listed the school as one of the top 25 non-fee paying school in the Republic, based on the proportion of students going to university, in 2005. The school has consistently performed well on the paper's tables.