OPEN DAY – Thursday 21st March

Looking forward to welcoming everyone to sample our courses for September 2024 at our Open Day on Thursday 21st March! Staff and students will be on hand between 3pm and 5:30pm to answer your questions and give you a more indepth idea of what each course entails. There are NO FEES for any of our courses! All are welcome, see you there!

Ormonde College of Further Education offers programmes at level 5 and 6 on the National Framework of Qualifications and operates under the auspices of Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board. With our main campus located right at the heart of Ireland’s historic medieval city and significant outreach centres at Thomastown in County Kilkenny, we are proud to be in a position to provide such a range of vocationally-relevant courses leading to valued qualifications.

Our mission is to ensure that learners experience the opportunity to achieve to their own unique potential. Staff of OCFE endeavour to provide a caring, supportive and stimulating environment in which this goal can be realised. You will find an affable and welcoming educational setting where teachers and learners work collaboratively towards the achievement of their academic goals. Further Education and Training programmes have strong vocational and work-orientated foundations but also offer excellent progression routes to higher education and further study. On completion of a course at Ormonde College of Further Education, learners may access the labour market directly in a wide range of employment fields, or they may choose to use their qualification to progress to third level programmes both in Ireland and abroad. Whether you are completing post-primary education or looking to return to education as a mature learner, Ormonde College has something to offer.

A Brief History of Ormonde College of Further Education

The Ormonde College site is one of the most historically significant sites in the city of Kilkenny as it is bordered by part of the original city wall and the Talbot Tower. Eight hundred years after the City Wall was constructed, Talbot tower is undergoing repairs and archaeological work with the aim of developing it into a public space with green areas and interpretive signs.

Ormonde College of Further Education has developed out of the need to address the further education requirements of Kilkenny city and environs in a climate that reflects its distinction from second level provision. The architecturally significant building on Ormonde road, in the heart of Kilkenny city, was built in 1853 and eventually became the site of the first Kilkenny City Technical School which officially opened in 1939. For many years prior to this it had served as a model school for the education of Church of Ireland children. With the completion of the new City Vocational School on New Street in 1979, the bulk of the second level provision moved to the new premises, leaving the building on Ormonde Road as the home of a growing college of further education providing courses to post leaving certificate students and mature adults wishing to return to education. Today Ormonde College is the largest provider of post-leaving certificate courses in County Kilkenny.