A SPECIAL celebration will take place in Co Antrim this summer to mark seven decades of Catholic secondary education at Garron Tower.
Current and former pupils and staff are invited to visit St Killian's College, near Carnlough, for an open day on August 20.
The event is offering seven decades of pupils the chance to meet up and reminisce.
On the day, there will also be a mass in the chapel, with the last surviving past president of St MacNissi's College, Fr Paddy Delargy, as chief celebrant.
In addition, there will be a book launch in the college gymnasium.
The book has been put together after the Garron Tower Past Pupils' Association decided to place on record as much historical material as possible.
It has been written by former Irish News journalist Denis O'Hara, a former Garron Tower pupil, who has trawled through the school's history to record as many school days as possible.
The school is best known for its natural setting in grounds situated on a plateau about 200 feet above the Antrim coast road at Garron Point overlooking the North Channel.
Garron Tower was built in 1850 at a cost of £4,000 as a summer residence, however, from 1899 it was leased by and opened as a hotel.
After the hotel closed in 1939, Bishop Daniel Mageean acquired it in 1950 for use as a boarding school for boys. The school opened in September 1951.
In April 2010, St MacNissi's College and two other Co Antrim schools, St Aloysius' College, and St Comgall's College, amalgamated to become St Killian's College, which now operates exclusively from the Garron Tower site.
Donations towards the open day and book launch, can be made at ww.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/garron-tower
Contributions of £100-plus will receive a complimentary book, signed by Denis O’Hara. Books can be pre-ordered for £30 by emailing garrontower1@gmail.com
