List of Old Rockmen

This is a list of notable Past Pupils of Blackrock College (Irish: Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe), a Catholic, voluntary secondary school for boys aged 14–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. The College was founded by French missionaries in 1860, to act as a school and civil service training centre. Set in 0.25 square kilometres (62 acres) of grounds, it has an illustrious sporting tradition. The College, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from Dublin city centre is just in from the sea, and is self-contained, with a large boarding school and teaching facilities. Now run by a lay foundation in trust, it maintains high academic standards and requires all pupils to participate in non-academic activities. The missionary tradition continues with charity programmes, especially at Christmas. It accommodates approximately 1,100 day (primarily) and boarding students.

Literature

• Brian O'Nolan, wrote the novels At Swim-Two-Birds (1939) and The Third Policeman (1967) under the nom de plume Flann O'Brien. A career civil servant, he also wrote satirical columns in The Irish Times under the pseudonym Myles na gCopaleen.[1]
• Pádraic Ó Conaire (28 February 1882 – 6 October 1928) was a writer and journalist who wrote in Irish, particularly about Irish emigrants in the UK.[2]
• Joseph O'Connor, Author[3]
• Liam O'Flaherty (August 28, 1896 – September 7, 1984) was a novelist and short story writer, known for The Informer, he was a major figure in the Irish Renaissance.[4]
• Tim Pat Coogan is an Irish historian and journalist. He attended Blackrock in the late 1940s.[5]
• Paul Murray, (b. 1975) a novelist, author of Skippy Dies[6]

Journalism

• Paddy Murray, a journalist, who served as Editor of the Sunday Tribune from 2002-2005.[7]
• Rory Carroll, a foreign reporter for The Guardian, he gained international attention when he was kidnapped in Baghdad in 2005. He was released unharmed.
• David McWilliams, an economics journalist and broadcaster.[8]
• Paul Tansey, was the Economics Editor of The Irish Times; he also founded a business consultancy.[9][10]

Business

• David J. O'Reilly, Chairman and CEO of Chevron Corporation.
• Lochlann Quinn, Former Chairman of AIB, Co-Founder of Glendimplex Group[11]
• Dr. Brendan O'Regan CBE, visionary businessman responsible for transforming Shannon Airport and the Shannon Region and deeply involved in the peace and cooperation process in Ireland
• Eddie O'Connor, Founder and CEO of Airtricity and Mainstream Renewable Power
• Derek Quinlan, Real estate investor

Politics and government

• Éamon de Valera was one of the leaders of the Irish War of Independence, after which he served as Taoiseach of Ireland six times, introduced the 1937 Constitution of Ireland, and served two terms as Uachtarán na hÉireann. He was a pupil and later Professor of Mathematics at Blackrock.[12]
• Ruairi Quinn, TD, was Minister for Education and Skills in the Government of Ireland. He served as the Minister for Finance from 1994 to 1997, and leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002. He was a pupil at Blackrock in the early 1960s, where he was successful in rugby, athletics and art.[13][14]
• Barry Andrews, a teacher, served as TD for Dún Laoghaire from 2002 until 2011. He was the Minister for Children from 2008 until 2011.[15]
• Rory O'Hanlon was a Teachta Dála for Cavan–Monaghan from 1977 until 2011. He served in a range of cabinet positions and as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.[16]
• Niall Ó Brolcháin was the Mayor of Galway from 2006-2007. He has also served as a county councillor and senator.[17]
• James McNeill, was an Irish politician and diplomat, who served as the first High Commissioner to London and second Governor-General of the Irish Free State from 1927-1932.
• Art O'Connor, elected Sinn Féin MP for Kildare South in 1918, he joined the then revolutionary parliament called Dáil Éireann. In the 2nd Dáil he served as Secretary for Agriculture from 1921-1922.[5]
• Eoin Ó Broin, Socialist theorist, member of the Sinn Féin party

Legal

• Ronan Keane, Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland[5]
• Dermot Gleeson, Former Attorney General, Current Chairman of AIB
• Michael Moriarty, High Court Judge
• John Quirke, High Court Judge
• David Barniville, High Court Judge
• Seamus Egan, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland
• Vivion de Valera, son of Éamon de Valera, he served in the Army during The Emergency, then as a T.D.

Humanitarian

• Frank Duff,[12] Founder of the Legion of Mary
• Niall O'Brien,[18] Missionary

Academic

• James Macmahon[19]
• Bryan Patrick Beirne
• Alfred O'Rahilly

Arts

• Paul Costelloe[5]
• Fergus Martin
• Michael McGlynn[5]
• Ronan Murray
• Pauric Sweeney, Fashion Designer[20]
• Robert Ballagh
• Eden (musician)

Clergy

• John Cardinal D'Alton[21]
• Eugene Joseph Butler C.S.Sp., Bishop of Zanzibar, and Bishop of Mombasa
• Robert Ellison B.Sc., S.T.L., C.S.Sp., Bishop of Banjui, Gambia.
• Ambrose Kelly C.S.Sp., Bishop of Freetown and Bo, Sierre Leone
• John Joseph McCarthy C.S.Sp., Bishop of Nairobi, Kenya.
• John Charles McQuaid (Archbishop of Dublin)[12]
• Michael Joseph Moloney C.B.E., C.S.Sp.,(1912-1991) Bishop of Banjui, Gambia. Leinster Schools Rugby Cup winning Captain in 1928 and 1929.
• Donal Murray, Bishop of Limerick
• John C. O'Riordan, C.S.Sp., Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kenema in Sierra Leone.
• Joseph Brendan Whelan, BA, S.T.L, C.S.Sp.(1909-1990), served as Bishop of Owerri in Nigeria

Sport

• Brian O'Driscoll was, since 2004, the captain of the Irish national rugby union team. He attended Blackrock college from 1992–1998, where he first played rugby.[22][23]
• Nicholas Roche (Professional Cyclist)
• Leo Cullen[24]
• Shane Byrne[25]
• Victor Costello[26] (Irish international rugby player and Olympic shot-putter)
• Hugo MacNeill[27]
• Fergus Slattery[27] (1970s rugby player, part of famous 1974 Lions Tour)
• Neil Francis[27]
• Alain Rolland[28] (Irish international rugby player and international rugby referee)
• Luke Fitzgerald[29] (Irish international rugby player)
• Mark Vaughan (Dublin Gaelic Footballer)
• Cian O'Sullivan (Dublin Gaelic Footballer)
• Michael Darragh MacAuley (Dublin Gaelic Footballer)
• Ian Madigan (Irish international rugby player)
• Jason Harris-Wright (Leinster Rugby and Connacht Rugby professional rugby union player)
• David Quinlan (retired Irish international rugby player)
• Cillian Willis (Leinster Rugby player)
• Niall Brophy (one of the great Irish international rugby players of the 1950s and '60s)
• Brendan Mullin (Irish rugby international of the 1980s and '90s, and one of the country's greatest ever players)
• Jordi Murphy (Irish international rugby player)
• Brendan Macken (Leinster Rugby and Gloucester Rugby professional rugby union player)
• Andrew Conway (Leinster Rugby and Munster Rugby professional rugby union player)
• Denis Buckley (Connacht Rugby professional rugby union player)
• Niall Morris (rugby union) (Leinster Rugby and Leicester Tigers professional rugby union player)
• Ryle Nugent, RTÉ Rugby Commentator
• Michael Cusack, Founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association taught at the school
• Paul Dunne (golfer)
• Alan Lee (Irish international association football player)
• Garry Ringrose, (Leinster Rugby professional rugby union player)
• Joey Carbery (rugby union) Leinster and Ireland)
• Oliver Jager (rugby union) NZ Barbariens and Crusaders)
• Fionn Carr (rugby union and sevens) Ireland 7s and Connacht)
• Hugo Keenan (Ireland7s)
• Mark Roche (Ireland7s)
• Nick Timoney (Rugby Union and 7s) Ulster and Ireland 7s)
• Conor Oliver (Munster Rugby)
• John Quirke (Irish International Rugby Player 1962-1968)
• Peter Robb (Connacht Rugby)
• Tommy O'Brien ( Leinster Rugby)
• David Pigot, Jr. (first-class cricketer)
• Liam Turner (Rugby union, Leinster rugby and Ireland U20s)
• Thomas Clarkson (rugby union, Leinster rugby and Ireland U20s)
• Paddy Patterson (Rugby union and Leinster rugby)
• Gavin Mullin (Rugby union and Leinster academy)

Entertainment

• Des Bishop,[30] Comedian
• Craig Doyle, television presenter
• Dave Fanning, DJ, broadcaster
• Bob Geldof, musician, lead singer with The Boomtown Rats. Organiser of Live Aid concerts[5]
• Frank Kelly, actor
• David McSavage, comedian
• Ardal O'Hanlon, comic actor
• Ryan Tubridy, broadcaster
• Conal Gallen, playwright, comedian, singer-songwriter
• Jonathon Ng, singer songwriter, known as EDEN

References

1. Taaffe, Carol (20 September 2002). "Flann O'Brien". In Robert Clark (ed.). The Literary Encyclopedia. The Literary Dictionary Company. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
2. "O'Conaire seventy-five years dead on Monday". Galway Advertiser. Advertiser Group. 2 October 2003. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
3. "Joe O'Connor recalls happy, rugby-less schooldays at Blackrock College". The Irish Times. 21 October 1997.
4. "Man of Aran". Time. Time. 4 June 1956. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
5. "Famous Past Students". Blackrock College.
6. Wroe, Nicholas (11 July 2015). "Paul Murray: 'How the banks got rich off poor people would be a painful read without comedy'". The Guardian.
7. Murray, Paddy (17 June 2020). "'Things may be easing but the fear persists'". The Irish Times. I also did a 5km charity walk. Of course I didn’t do it all in one go. But as it was organised by my old school, Blackrock College...
8. Nolan, Paul (2 February 2004). "David McWilliams: the interview". Hot Press. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
9. "Death of journalist and economist Paul Tansey". The Irish Times. 9 September 2008.
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. Quinn, Ruairi, Straight Left, Pg.34
12. Byrne, Anne (23 May 2000). "The Blackrock College story". The Irish Times - Education & Living. Irish Times Trust. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
13. Ruairi Quinn (2005). Straight Left: A Journey in Politics. Dublin: Hodder Headline Ireland. p. 30. ISBN 0-340-83296-7.
14. O'Connor, Ruaidhri (20 January 2010). "Rock of Ages". Irish Independent.
15. Leahy, Pat (18 August 2002). "Life experience is the best qualification". The Sunday Business Post. Thomas Crosbie Holdings. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
16. "An Ceann Comhairle - CV". Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
17. "Councillor and former mayor for Galway West ward. Politician - CV". Niall O'Brolchain. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
18. Looney, Fiona (2 May 2003). "Fr. Niall O'Brien". Sunday Tribune. Tribune Newspapers. Archived from the original (reprint) on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
19. Obituary, The Times, 3 May 1954
20. Gray, Penny (2002). "irish edge". Archived from the original on 13 September 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
21. Craig, Millicent V. (March 2006). "John Cardinal D'Alton, The 100th Successor to St. Patrick". Daltons in History. The Dalton Genealogical Society. 9 (3).
22. Player Profile Archived 2007-02-08 at the Wayback Machine www.irishrugby.ie. Retrieved 07 March 2010
23. Personal website of Brian O'Driscoll Archived 2010-04-14 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 07 March 2010
24. "Dream Team with budding superstar on subs' bench". Irish Independent. Independent News and Media. 29 January 2003. Archived from the original on 30 March 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2007.
25. "Shane Byrne". Irish Independent. Independent News and Media. 29 March 2003. Archived from the original on 1 January 2005. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
26. "Victor Costello". Irish Independent. Independent News and Media. 29 March 2003. Archived from the original on 1 January 2005. Retrieved 7 April 2007.
27. McCormack, Declan (5 May 2002). "There's more to the Rock than rugby". Sunday Independent. Independent News and Media. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
28. "Celtic League can lead to new rugby frontiers". Irish Independent. Independent News and Media. 19 September 2000. Archived from the original on 15 April 2001. Retrieved 7 April 2007.
29. Melville, Nigel (24 November 2006). "O'Sullivan builds a side to last as old ground awaits the wrecking ball". Guardian Unlimited. London: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
30. Blake, Katherine (5 October 1999). "Did you hear the one about Des Bishop?". Irish Examiner. Thomas Crosbie Holdings. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2007.