The foundation of the school in the town was largely due to the philanthropy of a local retired brewer and landowner, James Hevey.

[3] Within 20 years, during which time the area was devastated by the Great Famine in the 1840s and as a result delayed the opening of the school.

Hevey's last will and testament of 1835, which had been looked over by Daniel O'Connell, contained the following bequest: “all my right and interest in the town and in the lands of Bryanstown for the support, maintenance, and education of poor children of the parish of Mullingar”.

A few years later, in 1972, a secondary school extension containing modernised classrooms was built at a cost of IE£124,060 (€1.75 million in today's money[6]) which was extended in 2003 at a cost of €3 million that included a state of the art technology room which opened in February 2005.

[citation needed] Other clubs and societies include badminton, golf, music, basketball and drama.