St. Kieran's College, Kilkenny, Ireland is primarily a Secondary school for boys. It has long been a nursery for hurling, and is located on College Road in Kilkenny in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Saint Kieran's College was founded in Kilkenny, in the diocese of Ossory in 1782, after the passing of the Relief Act of 1782. This act enabled Catholics to found schools for the first time since the Irish penal laws were introduced. Prior to this only Protestants could found educational institutions. Saint Kieran's College was founded as the diocesan school and was the first of its kind in the country. The school's motto is “Hiems Transiit,” Latin for “The Winter Has Passed,” It is a metaphor for the repeal of the penal laws which had kept Catholics as second class citizens in Ireland. It is taken from chapter 2 verse 11 of the Song of Solomon book of the bible: The saint after which the school was named was Saint Kieran Saighir, "first-born of the saints of Ireland" (Promogenitus Sanctorum Hiberniae).