West Cork school begins work on new 400-seat theatre in honour of past pupil

Despite his high-flying finance role with General Electric, Shane Fitzsimons never forgot his Kinsale roots

An artistic rendering of the proposed Shane Fitzsimons Riverside Theatre which is being developed in Kinsale Community College in Cork.

A school has begun converting its old gym into a new 400-seat theatre for West Cork in memory of a past pupil, benefactor and business leader, following a generous donation from the firm for whom he was working when he died.

The principal of Kinsale Community College in Cork, Fergal McCarthy, said he hopes the new 400-seat venue will be a fitting legacy to the late Shane Fitzsimons, global insurance firm AIG’s former chief financial officer, who grew up and went to school in the town but who died from cancer in the US last year.