Welcome to St. Joseph’s Patrician College Galway, “The Bish” website. I hope that as you browse our website you will, at least, get a flavour of who we are and what we do. St. Joseph’s Patrician College Galway was founded by the Patrician Brothers in 1862 at the request of the Bishop of Galway at that time. It was known locally as the Bishop's school hence the name “The Bish”.

The Bish is now part of the Le Chéile Schools Trust whose message of “Welcome, Witness, Wisdom” is very evident in our day to day workings. This message is also on display in our school motto of “Love God, work hard and take care of one another.”

St. Joseph’s Patrician College has a student population of over 750 students. It offers a wide range of subjects at Junior and Senior Cycle and traditionally has a strong academic emphasis where students are encouraged to achieve the highest academic standards. The exceptional achievements of our students in both the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate ensures that the Bish has established an outstanding academic record which has facilitated our students progress to a variety of third level colleges. We do have a strong tradition of sending our past pupils on to NUIG, our neighbour.

With a proud tradition of extracurricular opportunity in a wide variety of sport and cultural activities, St. Joseph’s provides a variety of different opportunities for students to enhance their development. By browsing our website you will get a feel for some of the activities that are available to our students and also a sense of the rich history of the Bish. 

We are a community working together to promote and develop a learning environment where students can reach their full potential by participating in a holistic and Christian education that will equip them to serve society as good citizens. Parents subscribe to the Christian/Catholic philosophy of the school when they freely choose to send their children to the College. Enjoy browsing our website and if you need further information on any aspect of the college please feel free to contact us.

John Madden 
Principal