The King's Hospital

In December 2016, there was an allegation that in November 2016 a thirteen-year-old boy who was a boarder at the school had been sexually abused by eight other pupils, and forced to fight with another boy.^{[12][13][14][15][16]} There were said to have been around fifteen boys looking on.^[13][15] The Gardaí investigated, as did Tusla.^[12][15] Eight pupils were suspended by the school.^[12][15] There were comments by government minsters on the case; Richard Bruton, the minister for education, was described as "exceptionally distressed" by it.^[17] Leo Varadkar said the allegation was "very serious and troubling".^[18] The school was criticised for not informing the Gardaí for several days.^{[15][19][20][21]} The magazine Village said that "The story centred on a failure by school authorities to inform the child-protection body TUSLA in a timely manner".^[22] The scene described in the allegation was compared to the Lord of the Flies.^[15][23] In January 2017, the Gardaí said that they were at an "advanced stage" of their investigations, but it was unlikely that charges would be brought.^[20] They continued to be "deeply unhappy" with the school's delay in reporting.^[20]

The school is co-educational and caters for some 720 pupils, with 408 day pupils and 292 boarders in 2023/24.^[24] The King's Hospital has students from all over Ireland and from overseas. Students from Germany and Spain are the most common international students.^{[citation needed]}

The School is divided into five boarding houses: Bluecoat, Mercer, Grace, Morgan and Ormonde and five-day pupil houses. Each boarding house has its own resident housemaster or housemistress.^{[citation needed]}

The school has a gymnasium and sports hall with an advanced fitness centre. The school also has access to a swimming pool, astroturf hockey pitches, rugby pitches and tennis courts.^{[citation needed]}

Various sports are played on campus and training is provided by staff. The school has teams for rugby, hockey, cricket, athletics, cross-country, badminton, soccer, basketball and swimming.^[25]

Rugby has been the most competitive boys sport for many years with the team playing at a high level. They regularly compete in the Leinster Schools Senior Cup reaching the final in 1982 and have won the Vinnie Murray Cup on two occasions in 2006 and 2015.^[26] They have also won the Leinster Schools Senior League twice in 1997 and 2004.They have produced two men's senior internationals as well as three Rugby Sevens Olympians.

• Jack Boothman - Former President of the GAA (1994 and 1997)^[27]
• Jonathan Coleman - lecturer in the School of Physics in CRANN at Trinity College Dublin^[28][29] and the 2011 Science Foundation Ireland 'Researcher of the Year'^[30]
• Harvey du Cros - financier; the founder of the pneumatic tire industry based on the discovery of John Boyd Dunlop^[31]
• Niall Hogan - co-founder of Touchtech Payments, bought by billion-dollar online global payments company Stripe in 2019^[32]
• Laura Modi - founder of American infant formula company Bobbie.^[33]
• Randal Plunkett, 21st Baron of Dunsany - film producer^[34]
• Charles Tyndall - 13th Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh.
• Robert Warke - 18th Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross
• John Weir - Loyalist murderer and member of the Glenanne gang;^[35]

• 1922–1927: John Mason Harden