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The Royal School Cavan is a secondary school located in Cavan, County Cavan, Ireland. It was one of a number of 'free schools' created by James I in 1608 to provide an education to the sons of local merchants and farmers during the plantation of Ulster. It has four 'sister' schools: The Royal School, Armagh in Armagh, The Enniskillen Royal Grammar School in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, The Royal and Prior School Raphoe in County Donegal, and The Royal School Dungannon in Dungannon, County Tyrone.

History

The Royal School Cavan was one of the five schools originally established as part of a plan to provide education for children of the settlers who had arrived with the Ulster Plantation. Although the school traces its origins to 1608, it experienced substantial challenges in its first three centuries of operation and was threatened with closure. However, with the appointment of John Anderson as headmaster in 1924, and subsequently his son Douglas Anderson (1970-1989), then Ivan Bolton (1989-2009) and Edward Lindsay (2009-2020) the school has steadily improved with new facilities and a steady increase in enrolment.

A few months prior to the reopening of schools following the COVID-19 lockdown it was confirmed that the school would be suspending its boarding policy indefinitely due to high cost and difficulty in maintaining social distancing measures, the first time this has happened in its over 400-year history.

In April 2022, it was announced that the Royal School would drop fees for the first time in its history given the lack of available funding from the department of education for fee paying schools.

Notable alumni and staff

• Thomas Sheridan - headmaster (1735-1738)
• Henry Brooke - student, later a novelist and dramatist
• Edward Nangle - student, later Church of Ireland minister
• Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton - student, later 1st Baronet Buxton of Belfield and Ruxton
• Robert Daly - student, later Bishop of Cashel and Waterford
• Captain William Gardiner McConnell, R.A.M.C. (1891-1917) - student, later fought and was fatally wounded in battle during the First World War
• Patrick J. Lindsay TD - teacher of classics in the late 1930s, later a Teachta Dála for Mayo North, and Minister for the Gaeltacht

References

1. "Royal School Cavan". Department of Education and Skills. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
2. "Royal School Cavan". Retrieved 23 March 2020.
3. "History of the Royal School Cavan". Royal School Cavan. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
4. "New headmaster for Royal School Cavan". Church of Ireland. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
5. "Royal School to drop fees in 'transformative' move". Anglo Celt. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
6. "Cavan Walking History". Cavan Chamber. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
7. Ward, Robert E. (1995). An encyclopedia of Irish schools, 1500-1800. Robert E. Ward, 1995. Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 9780773490505. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
8. Patrick Comerford. "Edward Nangle, the Achill missionary and a new book., 24 May 2018". Retrieved 10 June 2023.
9. "Ibid". Retrieved 10 June 2023.
10. "Ibid". Retrieved 10 June 2023.
11. "British Medical Journal. British Medical Association, 1917 version". Retrieved 11 June 2023.
12. "Times Past: Cavan Royal School: Some aspects of its long history. Jonathan A. Smyth, The Anglo Celt, 11 October 2020". 11 October 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2023.

• 1608 establishments in Ireland
• Educational institutions established in the 1600s
• Cavan (town)
• Boarding schools in Ireland
• Schools with a royal charter