ROCKWELL COLLEGE in Cashel, Co Tipperary, will see further historic changes later this year with the appointment of its first lay principal. History was also made 13 years ago when the school, founded in 1864, became co-educational. Today more than 100 girls and 340 boys attend.
The Rockwell College estate comprises almost 1,000 acres, which includes the secondary school, an agriculture college and a farm. Father Sean Casey, its president, says that there is no reason why the next principal could not be a woman.
The appointment of a lay principal "is something we have been preparing for", he says. "We are talking for years about the laity being involved in the church. This is precisely what is going on.
The school once had 22 Holy Ghost priests and 10 clerical students on its staff. Today there are four members of the order in the school. Father Sean Broderick, the current principal, has been at Rockwell College for the past 30 years and principal for the past five; he is going to take a sabbatical.
Closing date for receipt of applications for the post is this Thursday.
