Friends' School, Lisburn is a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

voluntary

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in the city of

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, founded in 1774.

History

Friends’ School Lisburn was founded – as The Ulster Provincial School – on the basis of a bequest in 1764 of a prosperous linen merchant, John Hancock, who left £1,000 for the purchase of land in or near Lisburn on which to build a school for the children of Quakers. at Prospect Hill were purchased from the

Earl of Hertford Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

. In 1774, the first headmaster, John Gough, took up his post. In 1794 The Ulster Provincial School became the responsibility of the Ulster Quarterly Meeting, the body representing the Religious Society of Friends in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

. Friends' is one of two

schools in Ireland, the other being

Newtown School, Waterford Newtown School is a multidenominational, coeducational independent school with both day and boarding pupils in Waterford, Ireland. It is run by a Board of Management, but owned by the Religious Society of Friends. History Newtown School was ...

. There are eight in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The school has been named by ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' as Northern Ireland Secondary School of the Year on two occasions: first in 2011 and then in 2017.

Composition

The school consists of a fee-paying preparatory department, Prospect House, and a grammar school, the latter of which had, until the early 2000s, a boarding department attracting pupils from abroad (mostly

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

). Friends' now only accepts day pupils, with an admissions number of 140 a year contributing to a full enrolment of 970 for the grammar school. The original school house is no longer standing, but the date stone from it is displayed in Middle House, a building dating from 1880, which was refurbished in 2015. The latest addition to the school was the East Suite, a teaching building opened in 2016. It stands in place of the old basketball court, which was previously the location of the swimming pool. The swimming pool was reputed to be the oldest heated pool in Ireland (1901), and used to stand beside Harding House, a temporary teaching building which was demolished to make space for the East Suite. The school has five tennis courts and three rugby pitches. A sports hall was opened in 2000 and two floodlit, sand-dressed hockey pitches were laid in 2013. As well as hosting school fixtures, these pitches are home to South Antrim Hockey Club.

Notable former pupils

Wallace Arthur Wallace Arthur (born 30 March 1952) is an Evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist and science writer. He is Emeritus Professor of Zoology at the University of Galway. His most recent book is ''Understanding Life in the Universe'', published ...

, biologist and author *

Michael Dibdin Michael Dibdin (21 March 1947 – 30 March 2007) was a British crime writer, best known for inventing Aurelio Zen, the principal character in 11 crime novels set in Italy. Early life Dibdin was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire (now West Mi ...

, author * Stephen Ferris, rugby player for Ulster, Ireland, British and Irish Lions *

Keith Getty Julian Keith Getty OBE (born 16 December 1974) is a Northern Irish Christian singer and songwriter, best known for writing the modern hymn "In Christ Alone" in 2001 with veteran songwriter and worship leader Stuart Townend. Getty and his wif ...

, musician and hymn writer *

Bulmer Hobson John Bulmer Hobson (14 January 1883 – 8 August 1969) was a leading member of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) before the Easter Rising in 1916.D.J. Hickey & J. E. Doherty, ''A New Dictionary of Irish History fro ...

, leading member of

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respons ...

and

Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...

Charles Townshend, ''Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion'', pp. 18-19, Penguin Books, 2005; *

Florence Fulton Hobson Florence Fulton Hobson (11 February 1881 – 1 November 1978) was an Irish architect, the first woman in Ireland licensed in that profession. The daughter of Benjamin Hobson, a grocer, and Mary Anne Bulmer, a campaigner for women's rights and ...

, first licensed female architect in Ireland * Jimmy Kirkwood, Gold medal winning Olympic hockey player (

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...

Seoul 1988 The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

) * Robert Moore, first-class cricketer *

Gareth Murdock Alestorm are a Scottish heavy metal band formed in Perth, Scotland. Their music is characterised by a pirate theme, and as a result, they have been dubbed a "pirate metal" band by many critics and their fanbase. The group currently consists ...

, musician and current bass guitarist of

Alestorm Alestorm are a Scottish heavy metal band formed in Perth, Scotland. Their music is characterised by a pirate theme, and as a result, they have been dubbed a "pirate metal" band by many critics and their fanbase. The group currently consists o ...

* Frank Pantridge CBE, cardiologist, inventor of the portable

defibrillator Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a ''coun ...

Alastair Ross Alastair Ross (born 4 March 1981) is a former Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Ross studied at Friends' School in Lisburn and at the University of Dundee before returning to study Irish ...

, former Member of the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

(2007–2017), former Northern Ireland Executive Office Minister *

Theo Snoddy Theo Snoddy (30 November 1922 - 12 June 2008) was a Northern Irish art historian and author of the ''Dictionary of Irish Artists: 20th century.'' Theodore John Snoddy was born in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1922. He was the son of a shipyard worke ...

, art historian * Sir William Tyrrell (1885-1968), physician and athlete.http://www.newulsterbiography.co.uk/index.php/home/printPerson/2127

References

External links

Friends' School Lisburn website
{{authority control 1774 establishments in Ireland Co-educational boarding schools

Friends' School Friends schools are institutions that provide an education based on the beliefs and testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). This article is a list of schools currently or historically associated with the Society of Friends, reg ...

Lisburn Quaker schools in Northern Ireland

History

Composition

Notable former pupils

See also

References

External links