Notable Alumni
The school has produced many prominent figures in Irish politics, business, the international media and comedy. Among its most prominent ex-pupils are James Tully, the Labour Party Deputy Leader and Irish government minister in the 1970s and early 1980s; Jim Fitzsimons, a longtime Fianna Fáil Member of the European Parliament; Jim Duffy, a journalist; Simon Cumbers, a prominent broadcast journalist killed by al-Qaeda in 2004; David Beggy, a Gaelic football star turned successful rugby player; Tommy Tiernan and Dylan Moran, both winners of the famous international Perrier Award for Comedy at the Edinburgh Festival who had award-winning comedy shows on British television; London West End star Willy Byrne; Irish radio and television presenter Hector Ó hEochagáin.
The successes of Tiernan, Moran, Darcy, Moore, Byrne and McManus were credited to the passion for stage and theatre of one of the school teachers, Richie Ball, whose success in the 1980s in inspiring teenagers to opt for careers in the arts, earned considerable media attention. Another teacher, Kevin Mallon, became a Gaelic games radio and television commentator, while another teacher, and the current school principal, Colm O'Rourke, became famous throughout Ireland as a prominent member of the longtime successful Meath senior Gaelic football team, before becoming one of the main panellists on Gaelic games coverage on RTÉ, Ireland's national broadcaster. The school has itself produced many current stars in Irish sport, especially in Gaelic games, including several past and present Meath Gaelic footballers.
Read more about this topic: St. Patrick's Classical School
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