SPORTING LIFE

A VISIT FROM ‘COACH FITZ’

We were so delighted to welcome North Western University Wildcats coach, Pat Fitzgerald, to Clongowes during the year. The charismatic and inspirational “Coach Fitz” spoke to our Senior and Junior Cup teams about how to maximise their potential and preparation for big games.

ELEMENTS BASKETBALL

Our Elements basketball team had a great win in the quarter final of the Midlands League against Ard Scoil na Tríonóide

DIRECTOR OF RUGBY

In September we welcomed Tomás O’Leary to Clongowes as our new Director of Rugby. Tomás is a well known former Irish Rugby international who was part of the Irish team that won the 2009 Grand Slam. As part of Munster Rugby, Tomás won Heineken Cups medals in 2006 and 2008. Upon leaving Munster, he joined London Irish in England and finished his playing career with Montpellier in France.

ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT

Rudiments enjoyed starting their new Athletic Development Programme!

HIGHER LINE 6-A-SIDE SOCCER

The VMP was lit up for the Higher Line 6-a-side soccer competition. There were 12 teams competing with over 80 players involved. A great evening of soccer ahead of St Patrick’s daybreak. The winning team was captained by Brian McCarthy (Poetry).

EQUESTRIAN

It was a busy and rewarding year for three Lower Line students involved in equestrian sports. Ted O’Leary (Syntax) was part of the Irish Pony Eventing Team who took the Bronze Medal at the FEI European Pony Championships in Strzegom, Poland. Joining Ted in eventing classes throughout the year were Matthew Kelly and Josh Williamson who were all consistently in the ribbons in very competitive classes. Josh finished up the year on a high when he won the CPI2* at Millstreet International Horse Trials.

IRISH SCHOOLS SENIOR AND JUNIOR GOLF

The Junior team were in Greystones Golf Club while the Senior team were in Millicent Golf Club at the Leinster Qualifying section of the Irish Schools Senior and Junior Championship.

SUMMER SPORTS

When the curtain came down on the rugby season it was all systems go into a busy summer sports programme. Lots of GAA, soccer, tennis, golf, watersports, athletics, cricket and athletic development so it reads: Lots of GAA, soccer, tennis, golf, watersports, cricket and athletic development to keep everyone busy!

ATHLETICS

LEINSTER SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY

Philip McCartan and Christopher Keenan braved the bad weather to compete at the Leinster Schools’ Cross Country Championship.

LEINSTER SCHOOLS TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP

The Elements boys had a great season competing in the South Leinster Schools Track and Field Championships. Peter Hogan took home bronze in 80m sprint (Juniors) and Owen Hough won silver in the high jump (Juniors).

INTER 4 X 100M RELAY TEAM

The Inter 4x100m relay team of Kai Stark, Dermot Collins, Marcus Sullivan, Ollie Browne and Patrick Moloney finished 2nd, earning silver and this qualify for the All Ireland Track and Field Championships where they finished 5th overall!

SOUTH LEINSTER TRACK & FIELD

A strong Clongowes squad went to the South Leinsters in May with a great set of results:

HAMMER (INTER) GOLD

Ben D’Arcy

HAMMER (INTER) SILVER

Dermot Collins

HAMMER (SENIOR) GOLD

Max Doyle

LONG JUMP (UNDER 16) BRONZE

Arthur Ashmore

LONG JUMP (INTER) SILVER

Patrick Maloney

400M (INTER) BRONZE

Luke O’Leary

1500M (INTER) GOLD

Christopher Keenan

100M RELAY (INTER) GOLD

Marcus Sullivan, Dermot Collins, Ollie Browne, Patrick Moloney

100M RELAY (SENIOR) SILVER

Brian McCarthy, Daniel Bough, Ryan Thompson, Oscar O’Brien

SHOT PUT

Kosi Ugwueru (4th place)

LONG JUMP

Eduard Giurca

100M

Daniel Bough

SENIOR BASKETBALL

The Senior Basketball team played in the Under 19 C Midlands Plate final in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght. What a great achievement for the players and their coach Ms Cleary to reach the final and a fantastic opportunity for them to play in the National Basketball Arena, the home of Irish basketball.

BLESSED JOHN SULLIVAN SJ TOURNAMENT

The Blessed John Sullivan Rugby Tournament 2022 took place in glorious sunshine bringing together 1st Year teams from 16 schools

Thanks to all the players who took part, their coaches and supporters.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNING TEAMS:

CUP TERENURE COLLEGE

SHIELD ST MICHAEL’S COLLEGE

PLATE BANDON RFC

BOWL THE ROYAL BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION

SPORTS DAY

Our Annual Sports Day took place on September 9th and was enjoyed by all! Boys competed for their House in a range of events such as discus, high jump, shot put, javelin and running events. Arrupe House won the coveted Aloysius Bowl and there were honours for the individual athletes on the day.

ATHELETES OF THE DAY

Elements: Hugo McHugh Rudiments: Rían Kehoe Grammar: Philip McCartan Syntax: Chris Keenan Poetry: Daniel Baugh Rhetoric: Myles Lonergan

3RD LINE RUGBY

The Third Line Rugby League came to a close just before the Easter break. The winning team was captained by Noah Rooney alongside Vice-Captain Joshua Grant. The Wooden Spoon winners were led by Captain, Ollie Worth and Vice-Captain, Charlie Ryan. Well done to all in Elements and Rudiments that took part!

CHEERING PRACTICE

Tuning up the Clongowes cheers before the start of the Cup season!

IRISH SAILING YOUTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Congratulations Max Sweetman (Rudiments) who came second in the Irish Sailing Youth National Championship. Max has qualified to compete on the Irish 420 team heading to the Junior European Championship in Portugal this summer.

LIFFEY DESCENT

Congratulations to Poetry students Aran Maloney & James Wyse who paddled the Junior Liffey Descent in the K2 category. From a very busy start line, they finished in a strong 2nd place.

SENIOR CUP CAMPAIGN

CLONGOWES V GONZAGA COLLEGE

The first round of this year’s Leinster Schools Senior Cup saw us drawn against Senior Rugby. Ross MacGoey gets the ball away our Jesuit counterparts from Gonzaga. Those in green raced out of the blocks and scored three first half tries through Browne, Murphy and McLaughlin with out-half McMahon adding a penalty and two conversions to make it 22-0 after 32 minutes of the first half. It did not look good for Clongowes with half time fast approaching. A Blayze Molloy try began the Clongowes fightback and signified our resistance. The Mayo man blocked an attempted clearance and scored with Shane MacNulty adding the extras leaving us trailing 22-7 at half time. A slow start to the game certainly put Clongowes on the back foot but the character, resilience and skill demonstrated by those in Purple and White was reminiscent of previous Clongowes Cup stories in Donnybrook. Indeed, shortly after half time, Oscar O’Brien finished a lovely pre-rehearsed set play move. Clongowes looked set to maul when Leo Dowling broke away before putting the wing away with a lovely inside pass. Clongowes followed this score with the try of the match. Clongowes received a kick off and began the attack inside their 22. Excellent interplay between Burke, MacGoey, Dowling and Noone resulted with the excellent Shane MacNulty scoring with 39 minutes on the clock. The two quick fire tries were both converted by MacNulty. Clongowes were in the ascendancy and looked to be the better team. However, Gonzaga recovered well and a try by Finlay extended the lead back to 6 points. This forced us to chase the game again. Gonzaga picked off an intercept try leaving them two scores ahead. Clongowes again refused to surrender. Another set piece play saw Clongowes score with a maul in the corner with Dan Daly finishing another well worked move. Time was against us as this proved to be the last play of the game with a final score of 34-26 to the Dublin school. SCT 22 was superbly led by captain Leo Dowling and Vice Captain James Ruddy as well as the injured Vice Captain Hugh Wilkinson. They were a credit to Clongowes and to their coaches Mr Wright, Mr O’Donoghue and Mr English.

Tomás O’Leary, Director of Rugby

CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE

Padraic Spillane; Senan Noone, Shane MacNulty (Harry Mallon 69), Harry Roche-Nagle, Oscar O’Brien; Tom Murtagh, Harry MacGoey (Tom Hennebry 49); Flavio Macari, Leo Dowling (capt), James Wyse, James Ruddy, Alex Kelly, Blayze Molloy (Matthew Roche-Nagle h-t (Harry Coveney 56), Diarmuid O’Brien, Liam Burke (Dan Daly 56).

JUNIOR CUP CAMPAIGN

ROUND 1: CLONGOWES V TEMPLE CARRIG

Clongowes Junior team opened their Leinster schools campaign with a convincing win over Temple Carrig School. Clongowes started the game well and their relentless pressure eventually proved too much for Temple Carrig with hooker Conor Keogh scoring our first try of the game. Ross Doyle added the conversion. Excellent work by the pack led to Captain Max Doyle dotting down after a well set maul. His brother, Ross, once again added the extras to leave Clongowes leading 14-0 after 10 minutes. Excellent play by Arthur Ashmore and Dara Fitzpatrick combined to send Marcus Sullivan over for a well worked try after 20 minutes. Temple Carrig showed some stout resistance until Finn Kehoe showed his lethal finishing skills to score his side’s fourth try of the day. Patrick Moloney ensured that each of the Clongowes Wood back-three got on the scoresheet when he scored in the left corner. This was the final score ensuring CWC would be victorious with a final score of 29-0.

Tomás O’Leary, Director of Rugby

CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE

Finn Kehoe; Marcus Sullivan, Tomas Strickland (Tom Walsh 39), Artur Ashmore (Dara Fitzpatrick h-t), Patrick Moloney; Ross Doyle, Matthew Mooney (Rossa Williams h-t); Jack O’Connor (Scott Hickey h-t), Conor Keogh (Tom Groome h-t), Luke Murtagh (Oisin Lambe 51), Conor Hogan (Charlie Hussey h-t), Kavy Mebuin, Simon Kelly, Josh Williamson (Matthew Smyth Our winners from the day. 51), Max Doyle (capt). game back to level terms. Roscrea then took the lead after 24 minutes with their wing Higgins scoring in the right hand corner. Simon Kelly showed great determination and strength to respond for Clongowes and once again level proceedings at 15-15. Roscrea kicked a penalty to give themselves a 3 point lead at the half time break. The second half was a tight and tense affair with both sides making mistakes. Defences were on top until a sustained period of pressure led to a wonderful team try culminating in Marcus Sullivan scoring in the corner with time almost up. It looked as though Clongowes had done enough to secure victory. However, Roscrea had one more opportunity and the referee awarded them a penalty at scrum-time. Jack Deegan broke Clongowes hearts with a wonderful strike from 40 metres. Our Junior Cup team can be proud of their efforts during the campaign and demonstrated that Clongowes has a bright future. This team will be back and we look forward to seeing these players represent the college in the years to come. Thanks to the coaching ticket of Mr Anderson, Mr Dawson and Mr Curran.

Tomás O’Leary, Director of Rugby

QUARTER FINAL:

CLONGOWES V CISTERCIAN COLLEGE

Clongowes started the game really well. Aggressive defence saw Clongowes awarded a penalty. From the resultant lineout Clongowes fed the ball to their dangerous centre combination. Ashmore fed his playing partner Tomas Strickland who finished well. Ross Doyle made it 7-0 to Clongowes after just 3 minutes. Roscrea responded with an opportunistic intercept try after 9 minutes to bring the

CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE

Finn Kehoe (Dara Fitzpatrick 56); Marcus Sullivan, Tomas Strickland, Arthur Ashmore, Patrick Moloney; Ross Doyle, Matthew Mooney (Rossa Williams h-t); Jack O’Connor, Conor Keogh, Luke Murtagh, Simon Kelly, Kavy Mebuin, Charlie Hussey (Conor Hogan h-t), Josh Williamson, Max Doyle (capt).

SCT RUGBY

CAPTAIN AND VICE CAPTAINS

SCT Captain Leo Dowling and Vice Captains Hugh Wilkinson and James Ruddy with coaching staff. Mr Tomás O Leary (Director of Rugby), Mr John English (Backs Coach), Mr Matthew Wright (Head Coach), Hugh Wilkinson (Vice Captain), Leo Dowling (Captain), James Ruddy (Vice Captain), Mr Chris Lumb (Headmaster), Mr John O’ Donoghue (Forwards Coach/Director of Sport)

JCT RUGBY

CAPTAIN AND VICE CAPTAIN

Max Doyle Junior Cup Team Captain, Vice Captain Tomas Strickland and coaching staff. Mr. Tomás O’ Leary (Dir of Rugby), Mr. Alasdair Dawson (Assistant Coach), Mr. Angus Anderson (Head Coach), Max Doyle (JCT 2022 Captain), Tomas Strickland (JCT 2022 Vice Captain), Mr Chris Lumb (Headmaster), Mr Joe Curran (Assistant Coach), Mr John O’Donoghue (Dir of Sport).

FRANCIS CRIBBIN CUP

Clongowes GAA players faced Clane GAA once more for the Annual Francis Cribbin Cup. Our congratulations to our neighbouring club who took the honours in a closely fought match, with the full-time score of 2-11 to 1-15

HURLING

Thanks to our Two Mile House hurlers for a great game of hurling!

CRICKET FINAL SUCCESS!

An outstanding performance with bat and ball by Clongowes Elements cricketers in the final against Wesley College Dublin. A superb performance from Nick Hunter taking 2 wickets and scoring 64 runs. Excellent contributions also from Eddie McCarthy and Charlie Ryan taking two wickets each.

ANNUAL TRIANGLE RACE

This year’s Annual Triangle Race was a record-breaking evening that saw Christopher Keenan (Syntax) break OC Jack O’Leary’s long held record that was set by Jack in 2013. Christopher shaved 3 seconds off Jack’s record of 6.54 when he sprinted home in a time of 6.51. The Triangle Cup awarded to the fastest Higher Line student went to James Keenan (Poetry) who clocked an impressive time of 7.18.

Well done to all who took part in this year’s race, full results are shown below.

ATHELETES OF THE DAY

Best Time Overall: Christopher Keenan 6.51 Elements: Cian Duro (8.24) Rudiments: Tom Walsh (8.43) Grammar: Philip McCartan (7.25) Syntax: Christopher Keenan (6.51) Higher Line: James Keenan (7.18)

RESULTS

HIGHER LINE

(Record Jack O’Leary 2015 – 6.38.40) 1st James Keenan (Poetry) 7.18 2nd Tiernan O’Doherty (Poetry) 8.08 3rd Ben Smyth (Poetry) 8.14

LOWER LINE

(Record Jack O’Leary 2013 – 6.54.00) 1st Christopher Keenan 6.51 2nd Philip McCartan 7.25 3rd Luke O’Leary 7.52

THIRD LINE

(Record Jack O’Leary 2012 – 7.17.40) 1st Cian Duro 8.24

2nd Hugo McHugh 3rd Tom Walsh 8.35 8.43

PIERCE SCRATCH CUP

Well done to the golfers who competed for the Pierce Scratch Cup on the Montgomerie Course at Carton House. Congratulations to Hugo Johnston (Syntax) who was the overall winner.

FOUNDATION TEAM

The Foundation team is immensely grateful for the continued support of all donors whose support ensures the continued enhancement of the College. Antoinette Kelly joined the Foundation team in February as Director of Development taking over the responsibility for the day to day running of the Foundation. Joe Rooney continues as Chair of Fundraising, along with Ms Emma Robinson as Development Officer, working with our donor base with the express desire to maintain the historic success of the Clongowes Foundation so that Clongowes can thrive. The Foundation is supported by Ms Denise Nichol, Director of Finance and Administration and Ms Clare Daly, Finance Department

PHILANTHROPY AT CLONGOWES

The Clongowes Foundation works with and supports the College in its mission to provide pupils with the highest standards of Jesuit schooling. The College’s operating surplus does not meet the school’s investment needs to maintain the past and build for the future. Since 2004, the Foundation and the College, together, have overseen a significant enhancement of the school’s infrastructure. The most recent development has been the phased renovation and upgrade of the Infirmary including the installation of a lift. It will connect to each floor of the Infirmary, not least the top floor where boys have their physiotherapy sessions. The Clongowes Oval The generosity of past pupils, parents, grandparents and both the Jesuit Community and Province is evident in the ongoing improvement of the College’s facilities. The Alberto Hurtado Bursary Programme (AHP) which commenced in 2007, has widened the access to a Clongowes education. The Programme’s aim is to provide up to seven bursary places each academic year to children coming from circumstances that otherwise would preclude them from attending Clongowes. Through the intervening years the AHP has become an integral part of the fabric of Clongowes life with 36 boys currently attending the College and 61 who have graduated as old Clongownians. The Alberto Hurtado Endowment Fund was created in 2020 to secure the Bursary Programme for the future, future contributions and legacies will be crucial and this remains a key focus for the Foundation. If you would like any information about Clongowes Foundation or wish to support Capital developments projects or the Bursary Programme, please contact the Foundation Office +353 (0) 45 902334 or by email antoinettekelly@clongowes.net