St. Patrick's College, Jaffna

St. Patrick's College (SPC) (Tamil: புனித பத்திரிசியார் கல்லூரி Punitha Pattiriciyār Kallūri) is a private school in Gurunagar, Jaffna, Sri Lanka.^[1][2][3] It was founded in 1850 by Roman Catholic missionaries.^[4]

St. Patrick's College புனித பத்திரிசியார் கல்லூரி
Location
Mathews Road, Gurunagar Jaffna , Northern Province Sri Lanka
Coordinates	9°39′19.80″N 80°01′19.30″E
Information
School type	Private 1AB
Motto	Latin: Fide et labore (By faith and labour)
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Founded	1850; 175 years ago (1850)
Founder	Msgr Orazio Bettacchini
School district	Jaffna Education Zone
Authority	Bishop of Jaffna Roman Catholic Church
School number	1001030
Rector	Rev. A. P. Thirumahan
Grades	1-13
Gender	Boys
Age range	5-19
School roll	1,942
Classes offered	Gr.1-Gr.13
Language	Tamil(1-5), Bilingual[English and Tamil](6-13)
Schedule type	Day School
Schedule	7:30 to 1:30
Hours in school day	6
Houses	4 (Mathews, Bonjean, Dunne, Long)
Colour(s)	Green and gold
Sports	Soccer, cricket, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, badminton, mini tennis, tennis
School fees	Rs. 7000per annum
Website	spcjaffna.org

History

The Jaffna Catholic English School was established in 1850 by Monsignor Orazio Bettacchini, an Italian Roman Catholic missionary. It was later renamed Jaffna Boys' Seminary before being registered as a high school and renamed St. Patrick's College on 10 January 1881. Rev. John Smythe, formerly of the Ceylon Civil Services, became its first Rector.^[4]

Brother Conway's appointment as principal in 1862 coincided with increased enrolment. During this period, students achieved notable results in Sri Lanka's first local examinations.^[5]

Rev. Charles Matthews, a Canadian university graduate, served as Rector from 1906 to 1936 (with brief interruptions). He implemented formal rules and systematized academics and sports. Under his leadership, the college achieved top results in the British Empire for the London Matriculation examinations for three consecutive years, and won championships in soccer, cricket, and athletics.^[6]

Rev. Timothy Long served as Rector from 1936 to 1954.^[7] When most private schools in Ceylon were nationalised in 1960, St. Patrick's College remained a private, non-fee levying institution.^[8]

The school's motto is "Fide et Labore" (Latin for "Faith and Work").^[9] Rev. A. P. Thirumahan is the current rector.^[10]

Big Match

SPC play Jaffna College in an annual cricket match known as the Battle of the Golds.^[11] The first match took place in 1917.^[12]

Rectors/principals

See also: Category:Faculty of St. Patrick's College, Jaffna

^[13][14]

• 1850–58 Patrick Foy
• 1859–61 Rev. Bro. John Joseph Brown
• 1862–70 Rev. Bro. Patrick Joseph Conway
• 1870 Rev. Bro. Michael A. Murphy
• 1870–74 Rev. Bro. ( Fr.) Patrick O Flanagan
• 1874–75 T. W. McMahan
• 1875–80 Rev. Bro. ( Fr.) Patrick O Flanagan
• 1880–83 Rev. Bro. (Fr.) J. A. R. Smythe
• 1883–85 Rev. Fr. Charles H. Lytton
• 1885–88 Rev. Fr. Jules Collin
• 1888–89 Rev. Fr. M. Dubreuil
• 1889-01 Rev. Fr. Patrick Dunne
• 1901–02 Rev. Fr. Jules Collin
• 1902–05 Rev. Fr. Charles A. Beaud
• 1905–21 Rev. Fr. Charles S. Matthews
• 1921–24 Rev. Fr. John A. Guyomar
• 1924–36 Rev. Fr. Charles S. Matthews
• 1936–54 Rev. Fr. Timothy M. F. Long
• 1954–60 Rev. Fr. S. N. Arulnesan
• 1960–66 Rev. Fr. P. J. Jeevaratnam
• 1966–76 Rev. Fr. T. A. J. Mathuranayagam
• 1976–79 Rev. Fr. John A. Francis
• 1979–92 Rev. Fr. G. A. Michael (Francis) Joseph
• 1992-02 Rev. Fr. A. I. Bernard
• 2002–07 Rev. Fr. Dr. Justin Gnanapragasam
• 2008–17 Rev. Fr. Jero Selvanayagam
• 2017– Rev. Fr. A. P. Thirumahan

Notable alumni

See also: Category:Alumni of St. Patrick's College, Jaffna

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

• S. C. C. Anthony Pillai – Trade unionist and Member of Parliament.^[15]
• Leo Rajendram Antony – Roman Catholic Bishop of Trincomalee–Batticaloa.^[16][17]
• Anton Arulanandam – Secretary of the Amateur Athletic Association of Ceylon.^[18]
• Tissa Balasuriya – Roman Catholic priest and theologian.^[19]
• Bertram Bastiampillai – Professor of political science and history, Ombudsman/Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration.^[20]
• S.F. Chellapah – Director of Medical and Sanitary Services.^[21]
• H. S. David - Priest, scholar and linguist who died of shock the next day after seeing flames engulfing Jaffna Library from his room at St. Patrick's College the night before.^[22]
• Bastiampillai Deogupillai – Roman Catholic Bishop of Jaffna.^[23][24]
• Major General H. Luxman David.^[25]
• V. Dharmalingam – Member of Parliament for Uduvil.^[26]
• Jerome Emilianuspillai – Roman Catholic Bishop of Jaffna.^[27]
• Justin Gnanapragasam – Roman Catholic Bishop of Jaffna.^[28][29][30]
• E. L. B. Hurulle – Cabinet Minister, Member of Parliament, Governor of the North Central Province.^[31][32]
• W. L. Jeyasingham – Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna.^[33]
• Rayappu Joseph – Roman Catholic Bishop of Mannar.^[27][34]
• Valentine Joseph - Professor of mathematics.^[35]
• A. Kanagasabapathy – Mudaliyar of Mullaitivu District.^[36]
• W. M. T. B. Menikdiwela – Secretary to the President, Divisional Revenue Officer.^[37]
• N. Nadarajah – Judge, Supreme Court of Ceylon.^[38]
• V. Navaratnam – Member of Parliament for Kayts.^[39]
• Paul Perera – Roman Catholic Bishop of Kandy.^[27]
• Jaya Pathirana – Member of Parliament for Kurunegala, Judge, Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.^[40][41]
• G. G. Ponnambalam – Leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Member of Parliament.^[42][43]
• Kumar Ponnambalam – Leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress.^[44]
• T.J. Rajaratnam – High court judge.^[45]
• A. B. Rajendra – Member of the Senate.^[46]
• T. M. Sabaratnam – Member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.^[47]
• R. Sampanthan – Leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi/Tamil United Liberation Front, Member of Parliament.^[48][49]
• Harry Sandrasagra – Member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.^[50][51]
• Thomas Savundaranayagam – Roman Catholic Bishop of Jaffna.^[27][34]
• Antony Selvanayagam – Roman Catholic Bishop of Penang.^[27]
• S. Sivapalan – Member of Parliament for Trincomalee.^[52]
• Kingsley Swampillai – Roman Catholic Bishop of Trincomalee.^[27][34][53]
• Alfred Thambiayah – Member of Parliament for Kayts.^[54]
• T.T. Thambyahpillai – Astrophysicist.^[55]
• Xavier Thaninayagam – Tamil scholar.^[56]
• Kanthiah Vaithianathan – Cabinet Minister, Member of the Senate, Permanent Secretary.^[57]
• Susaipillai P. Vanderkoon – Mudaliyar of Kalpitiya District.^[58]
• Dominic Vendargon – Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lampur.^[27][34]
• V. Yogeswaran – Member of Parliament for Jaffna.^[59]
• Yogaswami – Spiritual master.^[60][61]

See also

• List of schools in Northern Province, Sri Lanka

Further reading

• M. Jude Dinesh LL.M, M.HRD(Col) Attorney-at-law General Secretary, SPC, Alumni Association, [https://ceylontoday.lk/2025/03/17/175-years-of-academic-brilliance-rich-legacy-of-st-patricks-college-jaffna/ Colombo 175 Years of Academic Brilliance: Rich Legacy of St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna