About Us

St. Etchen's National School (Scoil Etchen Naofa) is a Catholic Primary School located in Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath.

The school is set in a large site, with plenty of space for recreation and physical activities. It incorporates two separate school buildings: Scoil Etchen Building and The Cardinal Glennon Building.

Fr. Tom Gilroy P.P. is the Chairperson of the Board of Management, Ms. Deirdre Hannon is the Principal and Ms. Claire Corroon is the Deputy Principal.

Our Ethos

St. Etchen's NS is a Roman Catholic school (established in connection with the Minister) which aims at promoting the full and harmonious development of all aspects of the person of the pupil: intellectual, physical, cultural, moral and spiritual, including a living relationship with God and with other people.

The school models and promotes a philosophy of life inspired by belief in God and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

St. Etchen's NS provides religious education for the pupils in accordance with the doctrines, practices and tradition of the Roman Catholic Church and promotes the formation of the pupils in the Catholic Faith.

Children of other religious denominations are always welcome and their beliefs are respected at all times.

Our Vision

St. Etchen’s NS aspires to be a Christian, caring, safe and healthy learning environment, where every child is encouraged and enabled to develop to their full and unique potential, as individuals, and as responsible members of their communities and society.

Our Mission Statement

In keeping with our Catholic ethos and Christian values, in St. Etchens NS, we:

Are committed to promoting and protecting wellbeing (including physical, mental and emotional health) in our whole school community.
Seek to create a welcoming, caring, safe, supportive and sustainable learning environment for the children, staff, parents, Board of Management and the wider community.
View the children as unique, competent, and caring individuals.
View our teachers, SNAs and staff as committed, skilful, and agentic professionals.
Strive to provide high-quality learning, teaching and assessment that is evidence-based, inclusive and celebrates diversity.
Endeavour to provide the children with learning experiences that are appropriately playful and engaging, and to support their transitions from preschool through to post-primary school.
Promote caring relationships and develop strong partnerships between our school, our families and the wider school community.
Recognise the children’s rights to protection, freedom of thought, a personal expression of faith and to make appropriate progress in all areas of their learning and development.

History

St Etchen, the patron saint of this school, was born in 490 AD. He founded a monastery in Confad and is most famous for his ordination of St. Columcille to the Priesthood. St Etchen is honoured as a patron saint of ploughmen and farmers. Indeed the statue of St. Etchen in Clonard Church depicts him as a ploughman. He died on the 11th of February in 577 AD. St. Etchen is buried in Clonfad Cemetry.

Remains of Cardinal Glennon passing through Kinnegad, 1946

John Joseph Glennon was born in Kinnegad in 1862. He was educated in Kinnegad, at the CBS in Mullingar and All Hallows College in Dublin. After his ordination to the priesthood in 1884 he was sent to minister in the USA. Fr. Glennon was consecrated Bishop in 1896 and Archbishop in 1903. He became a very distinguished figure in the Catholic Church in St. Louis, Missouri. He was elevated to Cardinal in 1946 and died suddenly while on a visit to Ireland in that year.

The Current School

The school was officially opened on September 11th 1985 with a mass con-celebrated by Most Rev. Michael Smith, Auxiliary Bishop of Meath, Most Reverend John McCormack, Bishop of Meath and Patron of the school, Right Reverend Monsignor Eamonn Marron P.P. Chairman of the Board of Management and Fr. Patrick O’Connor C.C. The school opened with 242 pupils and eight teachers. The principal was Mrs. Rose Flynn. Mr. Tim Looney was principal from 1990 until 2002, Mr. Matt Melvin from 2002 until 2022 and Deirdre Hannon is the now the current principal.

In March 2008, work commenced on the new school building and it was opened in August of that year. This development included the provision of a new entrance road, extensive parking facilities, two basketball courts, a football pitch and playground. The new building was named in honour of Cardinal John Glennon and was officially opened and blessed by Bishop Michael Smith on April 27th 2009. He was assisted at this ceremony by Fr. Tom Gilroy PP. Mons. Eamonn Marron V.G. and Fr. Tommy O’ Connor. Among the invited guests were nephews of Cardinal Glennon, Oliver and Kevin O’Connor.

In November 2013, work began on an extension to the original building. This contains 8 new classrooms, new administrative offices, a new staffroom and a fabulous new hall.

Facilities

Current facilities in the school include:

Football pitch
Four basketball courts
Many play areas (preschool, infant, junior and senior play zones)
School garden and sensory garden
Two large halls
Over twenty large classrooms, all fitted with interactive whiteboards (IWBs)
Early intervention and school-age classes
Sensory room
An extensive suite of digital technologies, including chromebooks, tablets and iPads

Scoil Etchen has developed a tradition of academic excellence while simultaneously encouraging the holistic development of each pupils potential and talents. School teams enter competitions in gaelic football for boys and girls, soccer, athletics, chess and in various quiz events throughout the country.

During their time in the school the children also have opportunities to attend swimming classes, to learn to play the tin whistle, to sing in the choir, and to participate in dramas and other public performances.

We are proud of Scoil Etchen, and hope the information contained on this site will help inform you about our school and the community it serves.

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