Boarding at Clongowes offers your son the opportunity to live in a warm, vibrant and active community where he can fulfil his potential in a supportive environment. Clongowes is a warm and happy place – a home away from home for our community of 450 boys from Ireland and abroad.
We offer seven-day boarding with extended weekend breaks every month where the boys go home, or in the case of overseas students, go to their guardians within Ireland. Families are encouraged to partake in the life of the school, in organising events, in attending mass every Sunday and in sports.
Accommodation is provided in shared cubicles for first and second year, with the option for shared or individual cubicles for third and fourth year, while fifth and sixth years have single study rooms.
Care of the boys is paramount and excellent support networks are in place through our comprehensive prefecting system. Each year group has an adult prefect living close to their dormitories or room who guides and advises the boys and is responsible for the overall well-being of the students.
A typical day for the boys at Clongowes is diverse and rewarding and includes a mix of formal classes, structured evening study, social outings and a broad co-curricular programme that ensures healthy and balanced students.
The care and well-being of every student is at the heart of boarding life at Clongowes and is an aspect that we feel sets us apart.
Central to our community are the prefects – adults whose primary responsibility is for the care of the boys. Each year group is guided by a prefect who lives on site to whom boys can go to with any issue no matter how small or large. The prefecting team act in loco parentis providing guidance, support and friendship to the boys in their care. As part of the daily routine the prefects will wake the boys in the morning, liaise with them during the day, be on hand in the evenings for a chat and lastly will check in on each boy before they go to sleep at night.
Prefects are an important part of the care team that look after each year group but other members include the school counsellor, the Spiritual Father, a Learning Support teacher and others. The close working relationships that are fostered between parents, students and prefects ensure good communication at all times.
Boys live together in year groups which are further grouped into Lines – Third Line, Lower Line and Higher Line. Furthermore, boys are assigned to Houses that are made up of boys from each year group ensuring that friendship, integration and camaraderie is fostered amongst boys of all ages.
This structure follows the tradition established in Jesuit schools for over four hundred years. The traditional Jesuit names given to the classes reflect a growth in self-expression, eloquence and wisdom.
There are eighteen Houses and each House is made up of a cross-section of boys from every age group and is under the direction of a House Leader from Rhetoric, who is elected from among the boys in the Higher Line. A school Captain and Secretary are appointed from among the House Leaders. Boys are encouraged to take on responsibilities together such as duties in the refectory, organisation of liturgies, and participation in inter-House sports. Election of Year Councils and a School Council also encourage pupil involvement in decision making.
Fourteen of the Houses are named after Jesuit saints. Patrons of the other two Houses are Jesuits with close associations with Clongowes – Fr. Peter Kenney S.J., founder of the College and the Venerable Fr. John Sullivan S.J. a former teacher at Clongowes whose beatification was approved by Pope Francis in April 2016.
Living together in this way boys learn tolerance and respect for others, loyalty, consideration towards those less capable, and how to care for each other in times of need.
We aim to serve a tasty, balanced, healthy menu daily to the boys. Only fresh ingredients are used in our homemade meals with over 95% of our dishes prepared from scratch, using produce from Irish farmers and suppliers.
All of our suppliers are Bord Bia approved, we only serve meat sourced in Ireland and all of our fish is from MSC certified fisheries. All food is prepared with no added salt as part of our adherence to the Happy Heart guidelines. Where practical we use fruit sugars and honey as sweeteners and avoid the use of artificial sweeteners. We operate under LEAF guidelines that promote the use of locally sourced, in-season produce.
All palates are catered for as well as special dietary requirements, vegetarian and vegan diets. Food that contains nuts is clearly marked.
The menus at Clongowes are devised by dietitians and nutritionists and a Catering Committee is in place made up of students and staff to ensure that the boys take an active role in their own nutrition.
Four meals are served daily – breakfast, lunch, tea and supper and boys are welcome to second helpings. A three-course lunch is the main meal of the day and there are three hot options available daily.
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