THE FASCINATING STORIES & HISTORY OF THE PRESTIGIOUS & LONG-ESTABLISHED TIPPERARY SCHOOL: ROCKWELL COLLEGE 📜🔎📰

Rockwell College (Irish: Coláiste Charraig an Tobair), founded between 1862 and 1863 and officially opened in 1864 as a seminary, and later as a private Catholic boarding secondary school, located near Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland.

The school is renowned for its rugby union tradition: it has won the Munster Schools Senior Cup 26 times and the Munster Schools Junior Cup 20 times. It is run by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans). Two Presidents of the Republic of Ireland are among its alumni or teachers: Patrick Hillery and Éamon de Valera.

== History ==

In 1862, Charles Thiébault (whose brother Gustave was assassinated that same year) oversaw the establishment of a Catholic congregation made up of French priests and brothers, tasked with training priests for the Catholic Church in Scotland. The seminary was established by two Spiritan priests, Jules Leman and Pierre (Peter) Huvétys, in July 1864 to provide Catholic education in a context marked by penal laws against Irish Catholics. The college quickly assumed an important role in the political and cultural life of the country. James O'Donnell was a member of the congregation and became one of its most influential patrons, ensuring the school's financial survival between 1887 and 1897.