Castleknock College is a private , secondary school for boys. Ages of the pupils vary from usually 12 to in and around 18/19. The school is situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, 8 km west of the city centre in Dublin, Ireland.HistoryIn 1830, a year after the passing of Catholic Emancipation, priests from the Vincentian Community (Congregation of the Mission; CM) in Maynooth College obtained permission to open a day school under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin. On the 28 August 1833 a day school at 24 Usher's Quay Dublin was opened.On 28 August 1835, St. Vincent's Ecclesiastical Seminary was opened in Castleknock, a boarding school catering for just 47 boys. The first student to enrol in 1835 was John Lynch of Clones, County Monaghan. He would later enter the Vincentian order and become Archbishop of Toronto. A contemporary of John Lynch was Patrick Moran who would also be ordained as a Vincentian priest and become Bishop of Cape Town before being appointed as the first Catholic Bishop of Dunedin (New Zealand) in 1869. Fr. Philip Dowley a former Dean of Maynooth and Provincial for the Vincentians was the first President of the College. The College's position at the forefront of Irish Catholic education was affirmed on 22 April 1900, when Queen Victoria and her royal party visited the College.