Drogheda Grammar School is an Irish co-educational multi-denominational school, located on Mornington Road,

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

History

Drogheda Grammar School was founded under Royal Charter in 1669 by Erasmus Smith and is one of the oldest secondary schools in Ireland. It was originally a boys’ boarding school but has now been a co-educational boarding and day school for over fifty years. It is owned by a company with charitable status called Drogheda Grammar School Ltd. This structure was set up in the early 1950s when a group of local people (mostly Quakers) saved the school from closure. Although the school is not a Quaker school, it is run under the Quaker principle of "every individual is of value and has something to contribute". This philosophy is fundamental to the Mission Statement of the school. It is located on 18 acres in a rural setting. The campus consists of a Regency house flanked by woodland, with classroom and dormitory buildings and playing fields.

Academic performance

The most recent statistics outlining the top feeder schools in the country for third-level education placed Drogheda Grammar School as the top school in the area with 100% of its students progressing to 3rd level education in 2020 (as well as in 2015 and). These results were posted in both the Irish Times and Irish Independent.

Campus

Drogheda Grammar School is located on 18 acres in a rural setting off of Mornington Road, Drogheda, County Louth. The original building on its current campus was owned by Chief Justice Henry Singleton. The school opened a new building in 2012. This new building includes a library/writing centre, technology workshop, DCG room, and a Home Economics room. There is a small reflection room which has a stained glass window originally made in contribution to the memory of a student who died in 1942 by

Harry Clarke Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau and ...

Stained Glass Studio in the 1940s and was in storage since 1976 after the school was moved from Lawrence Street. The school has six tennis courts, five playing pitches, a large gymnasium, and an

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pitch.

Athletics

The school participates in several team sports including hockey, rugby, football, basketball and netball. The school also has a chess team and has won a number of local and all-Ireland competitions.

Past pupils

Balthazar Foster, 1st Baron Ilkeston Balthazar Walter Foster, 1st Baron Ilkeston Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC Royal College of Physicians, FRCP (17 July 1840 – 31 January 1913) was a British physician and politician. Early life and education He was born to ...

(physician and Liberal MP) *

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(soldier and Prime Minister) * Jackson Lawlor (Anglican priest and writer) *

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* Sir

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(longest serving editor of the

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) *

Derek Landy Derek Landy (born 23 October 1974) is an Irish author and screenwriter, best known for the ''Skulduggery Pleasant'' book series. Career Landy has written two screenplays that have been made into films, the IFTA award-winning '' Dead Bodies'' an ...

(author and screenwriter) * John Robert Leslie (Irish academic) *

Jill Meagher Jill is an English feminine given name, a short form of the name Jillian (Gillian), which in turn originates as a Middle English variant of Juliana, the feminine form of the name Julian. People with the given name * Jill Astbury, Australian re ...

(Irish Australian homicide victim) * Henry Singleton (Chief Justice of Ireland) * Sir Oscar Daly ( Chief Justice of Barbados who swore Edward 8th in as Governor) * George Forbes ( 3rd Earl of Granard and royal navy commander) *

John Kells Ingram John Kells Ingram (7 July 1823 – 1 May 1907) was an Irish mathematician, economist and poet who started his career as a mathematician. He has been co-credited, along with John William Stubbs, with introducing the geometric concept of invers ...

(Irish mathematician, economist and writer) *

Deirdre Gogarty Deirdre Gogarty (born 10 November 1969) is a retired Irish female boxer and current coach of the Ragin' Cajun Boxing Club who hails from Drogheda, Ireland. She attended Drogheda Grammar School. Due to legal issues regarding women's boxing in I ...

(Irish boxer) *

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as t ...

(American musician) * Anneliese Durant (Famous Durant Sister) *

Jonathan Kelly Jonathan Kelly (born Jonathan Ledingham, 8 July 1947 – 2 May 2020) was an Irish folk rock singer-songwriter, who enjoyed a varied career in music, playing with many musicians and groups, including Eric Clapton and Tim Staffell. He formed Jon ...

(Irish folk/rock singer and musician) * Ally R Memon (academic and author) * Alexander Williams (1846–1930, Irish painter, singer and taxidermist)

References

External links

Drogheda Grammar School website
{{Coord, 53, 43, 8, N, 6, 18, 13, W, region: IE_type:edu, display=title 1669 establishments in the British Empire Boarding schools in Ireland Private schools in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in Drogheda Secondary schools in County Louth Schools with a royal charter Drogheda Educational institutions established in the 1660s