St Jarlath’s College in Tuam has opened its doors to female students for the first time in over two hundred years this week.
Monday saw the secondary school take in its first class of 30 female students as the new academic year begins, in an historic moment for the Catholic school.
Founded in 1800 under the patronage of the Archbishop of Tuam, St Jarlath’s was originally geared towards preparing students for Maynooth Seminary.
It became a boarding school some decades later when it moved into the former Ffrench’s bank building.
The school expanded many times in the decades that followed, with the three storey building constructed in 1850s still forming the core of the college facilities.
A shift towards day students began in the 1970s, and with declining numbers of boarders, the school ceased boarding altogether in 2006.
Currently St Jarlath’s has more than 600 students enrolled, with around 60 staff employed.
