Jesuit Education

The Origins

Saint Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuits in the 16th century and soon after, the first Jesuit school was established in Sicily.  In the following 200 years the number of Jesuit schools across the globe rose to 800 and the Jesuits had become known as ‘the educators of Europe’.

The first modern Jesuit school in Ireland, Clongowes Wood College has been at the forefront of Irish education for over 200 years since our establishment by Fr Peter Kenney SJ in 1814.

So What Is a Jesuit Education?

A Jesuit education helps students to grow and develop in the spirit of Christ in order to become Men for Others, men of Competence, Conscience and Compassion.

At Clongowes we aim to help boys build competence across a broad spectrum ranging from academics to sports, the arts to technology and including a strong emphasis on social awareness.

We help our students to develop their sense of conscience and to become people who can discern what is right and have the courage to do the right thing.

We encourage the boys to be compassionate, to respond to those in greatest need and to have a strong sense of empathy. When they leave Clongowes our students do so as leaders with the aim of making the world a better place as true Men for Others.

Profile of a Graduate

A graduate of Clongowes Wood College should strive to be:

• A grateful, honest and forgiving person
• Committed to a Christian faith in a secular society, open to growth
• Intellectually competent
• Socially able
• Culturally aware
• Physically and emotionally developed
• Committed to strive for excellence
• Willing and able to exercise leadership

Clongowes is a living and learning community and the Jesuit ethos is very much at the heart of our community.  That community is made up of the boys, members of staff, the Jesuit priests who live at the College along with the wider Jesuit family both national and international.

The Ethos department is headed by Director of Ethos, Ms Elisabeth Clarke, who co-ordinates a wide range of activities for the boys, staff and parents such as retreats, pilgrimages (home and abroad), social outreach activities, parent days and pastoral events.  The core of our Ethos is having a Faith that does Justice and educating Men for Others.