Saint Aloysius' College () is a boys' high school located in Galle, the capital city of Southern Province in Sri Lanka. The school was established in 1895 by recently arrived Belgian Jesuit missionaries, led by Joseph Van Reeth, first bishop of Galle. St. Aloysius' College is a national school that provides primary and secondary education. In 2012, it had 3500 students on its roll.

History

St. Aloysius' College is situated on Mount Calvary, neighbouring St. Mary's Cathedral on one side and Sacred Heart Convent on the other. The college was established in 1895 by Belgian Jesuit fathers and was named after the Jesuit saint, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. St. Aloysius' College, Galle, is one of many schools named St Aloysius' College.

Until the Sri Lankan government passed legislation for the nationalisation of schools in the island (with an exception of only a few schools), St. Aloysius' College was run by Jesuit Fathers, and the medium of instruction was English. The first Buddhist principal was appointed in 1971, and subsequently the medium of instruction was changed to Sinhala.

College today

The college provides education to 5000 students from grade 1 to G.C.E. A/L. The students of the school fall into diverse religious groups where over 90 percent of students are Buddhists and the others are Christian (or Catholic) and Muslim.

Crest

Centre: IHS – Iesus Hominum Salvator("Jesus Saviour of Mankind") 1. The Tusker – Courage 2. Lilies – Purity of conscience 3. Torch – Torch of learning 4. Rooster – Symbol of Galle

Houses

Students represent five houses that are named after Jesuit Fathers who were pioneers in developing the school in its early days. Students are divided into houses according to their admission number.

-Cooreman -Murphy -Neut -Standaert -Vanreeth

Sports

Sports is a major part of St. Aloysius’ College. Cricket, Basketball, Rugby, Football, Hockey and Swimming are some of the sports among over 20 sports in College.

Rugby Rugby takes a prominent role as it has a history starting from 1980s. As a foot step of that, with the motto ‘‘ Born with the Stuff ’’ Rugby was introduced at St. Aloysius’ in latter part of 1980s. The first historic match was played in 1992 against Richmond College. Taking centre stage of the annual sporting calendar are the St. Aloysius' - Richmond Rugby Encounter.

Basketball The annual St.Aloysius'- Mahinda basketball encounter, is an annual basketball match played between St.Aloysius' College and Mahinda College, Galle.

Cricket St. Aloysius' College, Galle, maintains a prominent cricket tradition, participating in several annual "Big Match" encounters that serve as key fixtures in the Southern Province's school cricket calendar. These matches are frequently hosted at the Galle International Stadium.

The college’s primary annual fixtures include:

The Battle of the Two Cities: A long-standing encounter contested between St. Aloysius' College and Rahula College, Matara, representing a significant rivalry between two of the region's leading institutions. The Battle of the Glory of Galle: An annual one-day fixture played against Vidyaloka College, Galle. The match serves as a celebration of the city's local cricket heritage. The Battle of Dreams: An annual two-day encounter inaugurated in 2025 between St. Aloysius' College and Holy Cross College, Kalutara. Designed to foster competitive ties and sportsmanship between the two schools, the fixture has quickly established itself as a growing tradition. The second edition of the encounter, held in March 2026 at the Galle International Stadium, concluded in a draw.

Principals

PeriodPrincipal1896 – 1910Joseph Van Reeth1910 – 1921Dionysius Murphy1921 – 1925John Delaney1925 – 1949Ernest Gaspard1949 – 1962Paul Nazarine Peiris1963 – 1968 Paul Caspersz1968 – 1970Stephen Fernando (acting)1970 – 1971Paul Caspersz13 June 1971 – 1 April 1972B. K. Silva1 April 1972 – 28 February 1973Dunstan Fernando28 February 1973 – 3 August 1973J. B. Varnakulasingham (acting)3 August 1973 – 22 December 1975L. D. P. Jayasinghe22 December 1975 – 25 May 1976A. B. J. L. Fernando (acting)25 May 1976 – 7 January 1987D. Y. Wijewickrama7 January 1987 – 1996A. V. Illeperuma1996 – 2004N. K. Ariyawansa2004 –2004Nandasena Pathirana (acting)2004 – 2014D. P. L. S. Gunasekara2014 - 2014Piyasiri Kumarage (acting)2014 - 2017 OctoberRanjith Thilakarathne2017 - 2017L.P.Weeraman (acting)2017 - 2020Nayanapriya Perera 2020 - 2024Anura Gamage2024–PresentA.J.P.Pubudu Sampath

Old Boys' associations

There are a number of branches of the school's Old Boys’ Association located all around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Qatar and the United Kingdom.

Notable alumni

Name Notability Reference playwright, novelist, poet and literary critic Scientist (Molecular Evolution) in Exobiology Division at NASA's Ames Research Center educationist, founder of D. S. Senanayake College (Colombo, Sri Lanka) economist, Governor of the Central Bank of Ceylon (1953–1954) Judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (1964–1974) General - Commander of the Army (2004–2005) President - Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology Director, University of Colombo School of Computing consultant psychiatrist, author, buddhist scholar Chief Minister of Southern Province (1998–1993), Governor of Uva (1999–2003) Member of Parliament (Galle) (2009–present) musician, composer, singer, lyricist business owner, philanthropist, Mayor of Galle (1950–51; 1954–62) songwriter, composer, music arranger, instrumentalist Chairman - George Steuart Group, Director - Citrus Leisure PLC, Managing Director - Triad (Pvt) Ltd Air Vice Marshal, Director General Health Services at Sri Lanka Air Force One Day International cricket player (2014) First class cricket player Member of Parliament (Galle) (2010–present) Chairman, CEO of Strategic Enterprise Management Agency at Presidential Secretariat International cricketer Cricket superfan Cabinet Minister (current) State Minister (current)

See also Saint Aloysius Gonzaga List of Jesuit sites

References

External links