St. Paul's High School, Bessbrook( ga, Ardscoil Naomh Pól, An Sruthán) is an all-ability, co-educational

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

located on the outskirts of

Bessbrook Bessbrook is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies about three miles (5 km) northwest of Newry and near the Newry bypass on the main A1 Belfast-Dublin road and Belfast-Dublin railway line. Today the village of Bessbrook str ...

near

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

. It is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

-maintained day school for boys and girls aged 11 to 19, with a pupil population of over 1550 (including a Learning Support Centre for pupils with special educational needs) and is one of Ireland's largest post-primary schools. The school is managed by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) and the Education Authority (EA). St Paul's High School is a heavily over-subscribed school with an annual admissions number of under 300 pupils.

Location

The school is situated on the main

Camlough Camlough ( ; ) is a village five kilometres west of Newry in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The village is named after a lake, known as Cam Lough, in the parish, which is about 90 acres in extent. South of the village is Camlough Mountain (Sli ...

road (A25). The school was extensively rebuilt and refurbished with a £17 million grant from the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. The new school was officially opened on 25 January 2007 by Archbishop Seán Brady,

Archbishop of Armagh In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

, and

Primate of All Ireland The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. ''Primate'' is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in t ...

, on the feast day of The Conversion of

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. The renovation of St. Paul's won the Construction of Excellence Award. The

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ga, Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. She is an academic ...

, visited St Paul's on 9 November 2006 to mark the completion of the extensive renovation of the school. Former Principal Oliver Mooney, was named Northern Ireland Headteacher of the Year in the 2010

Teaching Awards ''The Teaching Awards'' is an annual teacher awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. In 2008, the awards were hosted by Jeremy Vine and Myleene Klass. In 2009, the awards were hosted by Jeremy Vine and Christine Lampard. In 2010, Lenny Henry presen ...

. His last day at St. Paul's was 18 December 2013. Armagh GAA footballer Jarlath Burns was appointed as Principal of St Paul's, effective 1 January 2014.

Academics

The school was designated a Specialist College for Science, by the Department of Education in 2008, was awarded the BECTA

ICT Mark The Self-review Framework is an online tool that schools in the United Kingdom can use to assess and benchmark their use of technology ( ICT). It enables schools to identify where they are and shows the practical steps they can take to improve thei ...

, and became a Centre of Excellence for

ICT ICT may refer to: Sciences and technology * Information and communications technology * Image Constraint Token, in video processing * Immunochromatographic test, a rapid immunoassay used to detect diseases such as anthrax * In-circuit test, in ...

in 2009. The Education and Training Inspectorate of the

carried out a Standard Inspection at St Paul's High School in January 2016 and reported that the school was 'outstanding' in all areas (Achievements and Standards, Provision for Learning and Leadership & Management). In 2018, 57.4% of its entrants achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including the core subjects English and Maths. Also in 2018, 64.6% of its entrants to the A-level exam achieved A*-C grades.

Notable former pupils and staff

Eamon Collins Eamon Collins (1954 – 27 January 1999) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army member in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He turned his back on the organisation in the late 1980s, and later co-authored a book called ''Killing Rage'' detailing h ...

(1954–1999), author and

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

volunteer *

Dominic Bradley Dominic Bradley (Irish ''Doiminic Ó Brolcháin'' ) is an Irish former Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Newry and Armagh from 2003 to 2016. As an MLA, he was the SDLP Spo ...

(born 1960),

SDLP The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Irelan ...

politician and MLA for

Newry and Armagh Newry and Armagh can refer to: * Newry and Armagh (Assembly constituency) *Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency) Newry and Armagh is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Mickey Brady o ...

(2003–2016); schoolteacher *

Jarlath Burns Jarlath Burns (born 1968) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer and president elect of the GAA. His league and championship career at senior level with the Armagh county team spanned thirteen seasons from 1987 until 1999. Burns made his debut w ...

(born 1968),

Armagh GAA The Armagh County Board ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae Ard Mhacha) or Armagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in Cou ...

captain;

school principal A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the teacher, staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school ...

Mairead McKinley Mairead McKinley is a Northern Irish actress. Career Before starting her professional career, McKinley trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where she won the Pauline Siddle Award. Theatre McKinley's work in theatre includes: ''T ...

(born 1970), actress *

Susan Lynch Susan Lynch (born 5 June 1971) is a Northern Irish actress. three-times an IFTA Award winner, she also won the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 2003 film '' 16 Years of Alcohol''. Her other film appearances in ...

(born 1971), actress *

Conor McGinn Conor Patrick McGinn (born 31 July 1984) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for St Helens North since 2015. He was the Labour Party Deputy National Campaign Coordinator from June 2021 and Shadow Minister without Port ...

(born 1984), Labour MP for St Helens North

References

External links

St Paul's High School Virtual Learning Environment, 'Oscail 24/7'St Paul's High School on FacebookSt Paul's High School on Twitter (@stpaulsbbrook)St Paul's High School Videos on Vimeo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Pauls High School, Bessbrook Secondary schools in County Armagh Catholic secondary schools in Northern Ireland Educational institutions established in 1966 * 1966 establishments in Northern Ireland