# St Edmund's College, Canberra

St Edmund's College, Canberra is an independent Catholic primary and secondary school for boys, located in Griffith, a suburb of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Australia.
The college was established in 1954 by the Christian Brothers as St Edmund's War Memorial College. It was opened to meet the demand for a Catholic education school in the region and was the first Catholic secondary boys' college established in the ACT. St Edmund's College practises in the tradition of Edmund Ignatius Rice. The current principal of the college is Tim Cleary.
Students are placed into houses for sporting and other events. The current houses and colours are: Clancy (yellow), Treacy (dark blue), O'Brien (white), Haydon (red), Mulrooney (sky blue) and Rice (green).

## History

St Edmund's War Memorial College opened in 1954 as a Christian Brothers school in response to the needs of Catholic parents of the region. St Edmund's was the first Catholic secondary boys' college established in Canberra.

### Headmasters / principals

The following individuals have served as headmasters or principals of the college:
| Ordinal | Officeholder | Term start | term end | Time in office |
| 1 | P. L. McCarthy cfc | 1954 | 1956 | 3 years |
| 2 | E. C. Fields cfc | 1957 | 1959 | 3 years |
| 3 | N. T. Landener cfc | 1960 | 1965 | 6 years |
| 4 | J. B. Darmody cfc | 1966 | 1969 | 4 years |
| 5 | G. D. Kerr cfc | 1970 | 1978 | 9 years |
| 6 | R. J. Wallace cfc | 1979 | 1988 | 10 years |
| 7 | J. P. O’Shea cfc | 1989 | 1994 | 6 years |
| 8 | C. J. Dwyer | 1995 | 2004 | 10 years |
| 9 | C. X. Hayes | 2005 | 2008 | 4 years |
| 10 | P. J. Fullagar | 2009 | 2014 | 6 years |
| 11 | D. Lawler | 2015 | 2017 | 3 years |
| 12 | Joe Zavone | 2018 | 2024 | 7 years |
| 13 | Tim Cleary | 2025 | | |

## Rugby union

The college has won the Waratah Shield more than any other school (14 times) and was the defending champion in 2005, when schools from the ACT were no longer invited/permitted to participate by the organisers, the New South Wales Rugby Union. The college has over 480 registered boys playing rugby union. St Edmund's College has a reputation for being one of the premier rugby schools in Australia, with Saia Fainga'a being the latest alumnus to represent Australia. The college also have always had a brilliant record in the local competition (ACTJRU) with many grand finals to their name across the different age groups.

## Ancillary bodies

In reflecting the spirit of charity of Edmund Rice, St Edmund's College established the St Edmund's College Foundation with the aim of giving financial assistance to disadvantaged families to support children's education.
The St Edmund's College Old Boys and Friends Association was established in 2015.

## Notable alumni
### Arts

* Matthew Le Nevez – television actor
* Tommy Murphy – award-winning playwright
* Flip Simmons – theatre actor and singer

### Business

* John A. Bryant – President & CEO of the Kellogg's and Director of Macy's, Inc

### Military and police

* Lieutenant General David Morrison AO – former Chief of Army and 2016 Australian of the Year

### Politics, public service, and law

* John Barilaro MP – Member for Monaro and Deputy Premier of New South Wales
* Terence Higgins AO – former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory (2003–2013)
* Warren Snowdon MP – former Member for Lingiari (2001–2022) and Member for Northern Territory (1987–1996; 1998–2001)

### Religion

* Most Rev. Patrick Power – Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Canberra and Goulburn

### Sport

* Finlay Bealham – Irish rugby union player for Ireland national rugby union team and Connacht Rugby
* Robbie Coleman – rugby union footballer for the Brumbies
* Anthony Fainga'a – rugby union footballer for the Wallabies and the Brumbies
* Colby Fainga'a – rugby union footballer for the Melbourne Rebels
* Saia Fainga'a – rugby union footballer for the Wallabies and the Brumbies
* Vili Fainga'a – rugby union footballer for the Tonga national rugby union team and former rugby league footballer for the Canberra Raiders and Melbourne Storm
* David Furner – former rugby league footballer and coach for the Canberra Raiders and NSW State of Origin team
* Matt Giteau – former rugby union footballer for the Wallabies and the Brumbies
* Troy Gray – AFL Footballer
* George Gregan – former rugby union footballer for the Wallabies and Brumbies; the most-capped rugby union international of all time
* Matt Henjak – former rugby union footballer for the Wallabies and the Western Force
* Alex Jesaulenko – Australian rules football player
* Nate Osborne – head coach of Major League Rugby's New Orleans Gold
* Matt Pini – former rugby union footballer for the Wallabies and Italy
* Luke Priddis – rugby league footballer for the Kangaroos, Penrith Panthers and St George Illawarra Dragons
* Stephen Simmonds – Paralympic swimming medallist and disabled water ski world champion
* Tyrone Smith – former rugby union footballer for the Brumbies and Tonga
* Ricky Stuart – former dual-code rugby player, coach of the Cronulla Sharks, NSW State of Origin team, Parramatta Eels and Canberra Raiders