Our Mission Statement

St. Farnan’s is a school community which strives to be inclusive and caring.
We aim to develop all students to reach their full potential, personally, academically and spiritually, so
that they may enrich the school and wider community.

St. Farnan’s is a co-educational post primary second level school in Prosperous, Co. Kildare under the patronage of Kildare and Wicklow ETB. The school opened in 1941 with three classrooms, student numbers have grown over the years and we now have over 640 student spaces filled (September 2024). The catchment area for our school is Prosperous, Timahoe, Donadea, Allen, Allenwood, Coill Dubh, Robertstown & Staplestown.

The school has a Board of Management, which is a subcommittee of Co. Kildare and Wicklow Education Training Board (KWETB). The Board of Management consists of representatives of KWETB and community, parent and teacher nominees. The School Principal is Secretary to the Board and the Deputy Principal, the Recording Secretary who sits in at the meetings.

The school runs all second level education courses including Junior Cycle, Junior Cycle Schools Programme, our hugely successful Transition Year, Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied programmes. We are now introducing L2LP courses at our Junior school also. We also are so proud of our Triple ASD Unit (Rooms 25A, B & C) and our Moderate Learning Unit based in our new Additional Accommodation building (Room 26), one of only 2 within a traditional school setting in Co. Kildare. Both are  centrally linked into and embraced by all school members. St. Farnan's offers its students many extracurricular activities and both boys and girls are actively encouraged to take part in these activities. There are also courses offered to the parents of children attending the school including computing, baking and arts and crafts under the umbrella of the Home School Community Liaison Programme. The school maintains strong links with the community through the Home School and Community Liaison Department and our School Completion Coordinator and SCP Project Worker.

St. Farnan's Post Primary School is proud to be a school with D.E.I.S. status (Delivering Equality of opportunity In Schools) school, whereby educational disadvantage is tackled and challenged with extra resourcing from the Department of Education and KWETB. All our students benefit from this extra DEIS allocation in way of extra  personnel and financial resourcing annually.

The original school building opened in 1941. The flat roofed extension was opened in 1971 and thanks to the DES funding has ungone repairs recently. The next phase was completed in 1989 and officially opened by Minister Mary O'Rourke T.D. in September 1991. The new extension was completed in 2007 including the fantastic PE gym and Minister Mary Hanifin officially opened this in October of that year.

School facilities now include a purpose built Art room with Kiln, two Science Labs, two ICT rooms, a Music room, a new graphics/DCG room (2022/23), Engineering, Construction & Home Economics rooms, full size Gym with Fitness Suite and Canteen area. Rafter's School Meals is our new Canteen Supplier for 2023-2024.

The new 4 room temporary accommodation building is opening in August 2024 to somewhat tide us over until the new school is built. A new Home Ec kitchen, SEN room (MLU) with enclosed outside play space and two large general classrooms are a great new and badly needed additional to our rapidly increasing school/student population size. 

A transformative new 9,500 sq mt 1,000 pupil school will be completed and opened, hopefully on schedule, by August 2027 on the green field playing pitch site towards the south of the campus. We can't wait. More details very soon.

An historical note about our Patron - Saint Farnan of Downings:

According to Father O'Hanlon (Lives I.S.S. 2, p. 564.) the site of the old Church at Downings was once the cell of St. Farnan, whose feast occurs in the Irish Calendar on the 15th of February. This saint flourished in the sixth century, and was descended from King Niall of the Nine Hostages.

Beside the ancient cemetery is the Well of St. Farnan; and it possesses-so the local story goes-the valuable property, that those who drank of it never afterwards have any relish for intoxicating drinks. Activated by the popular belief, St. Farnan blessed the well at Downings and called it the "Well of Sobriety", saying that "whosoever drank of its water should never again relish the waters of intemperance". No other details or traditions survive regarding St. Farnan.