Rathmore Grammar School, normally referred to simply as "Rathmore", is a Catholic grammar school in

Finaghy Finaghy ( or ; ) is an electoral ward in the Balmoral district of Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland. It is based on the townland of Ballyfinaghy ().Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

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 ...

. The current and second lay principal of the school is Arthur Donnelly, who succeeded Thérèse Hamilton as principal at the beginning of the academic year 2021/22. Rathmore is one of the highest-performing and most competitive schools in Northern Ireland. The school is situated in extensive grounds behind the St. Anne's "campus", consisting of St. Anne's Primary School, Parish Church, and Parish Centre. Rathmore Grammar School is paired with the Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium in Bonn and Colegio de San Jose in Madrid.

History

Rathmore Grammar School began as a stately home, Rathmore House, built in 1874 by Belfast businessman Victor Coates for his family, but the house was passed to the local Bishop who in turn sold it to the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. The RSHM used the house as a convent, where they began a school for girls. The school became coeducational in 1973. Sometime later, a major development project surrounded the convent with school buildings. More recently, a new school building was designed by a past pupil of the school. The new building was completed in time for the school year beginning September 2005. This project included the restoration of the convent, which now houses

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

and Religious Education.

Academics

In 2014, Rathmore was awarded the ''Sunday Times School of the Year'' award. It was the first year that the school had entered the competition. Similarly in 2016, it was the top-performing school in Northern Ireland in terms of GCSE and A-Level results, thus placing 38th in the UK. In 2018, the school placed 41st in the UK. In 2019 the school was ranked 10th out of 159 secondary schools in Northern Ireland with 89.0% of its A-level students who sat the exams in 2017/18 being awarded three A*-C grades. In 2018 it was ranked 20th in Northern Ireland for its GCSE performance with 98.3% of its entrants receiving five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including the core subjects English and Maths.

Sport

Rathmore has a history in Gaelic games, winning the All-Ireland senior C title in 2006/7. Within Ulster, Rathmore has competed in the McLarnon Cup in Gaelic football and the Casement Cup in hurling, winning both in 2008 and 2012 respectively. In 2010, Rathmore 4th years won the Leopold Cup in hurling, defeating Belfast neighbors St. Malachy's in the final. They have also tasted success in basketball with the under-16 boys winning the Northern Ireland Cup in 2012 and finishing 2nd place the previous year. Within football, Rathmore 4th years won the Lisburn Cup, the League and the Belfast Cup in 2016.

Recent events

In September 2007, Rathmore closed its Amnesty International branch in response to a change in Amnesty International's policy on abortion. In April 2010, the school debating team (Conor Heaney and Davin Clarke) won the Northern Ireland Schools Debating Championship, defeating the team from the

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

in the final at Stormont. It was the first time a team from the school had reached the final of the competition. They spoke in Opposition to the motion 'This House Would Welcome Being Part of a European Federal State'.

Notable former teaching staff

* Bairbre de Brún, former Sinn Féin MEP *

Davy Hyland Davy Hyland (born 25 February 1955, Belfast) is an Irish former politician who was a Sinn Fein Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Newry and Armagh from 2003 to 2007. He was educated at the University of Wales Aberystwyth and Man ...

, former Sinn Féin MLA *

Máire Hendron Máire Hendron is an Alliance Party politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East from 2019 to 2020. Hendron was co-opted the assembly in July 2019 after the incumbent MLA, Naomi Long, was elected to th ...

, former Alliance Party MLA

Notable former pupils

Vivian Campbell Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a Northern Irish guitarist. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as a member of Dio, and has been a member of Def Leppard since 1992 (replacing Steve Clark after his death). Campbell has al ...

(b. 1962) - member of

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), ...

. *

Mairtín Crawford Mairtín Crawford (25 November 1967 – 11 January 2004) was a poet and journalist who was born and educated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was educated at Rathmore Grammar School and then Queen's University Belfast. He co-founded and edit ...

(1967-2004) - writer. *

Laura Donnelly Laura Donnelly (born 24 June 1982) is a Northern Irish actress. She is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award as well as a nomination for a Tony Award. On television, she is known for her roles in the Starz series '' Outlander'' (2014–201 ...

(b. 1982) - actress *

Michelle Drayne Michelle Drayne (born 22 September 1988) is a Northern Ireland netball international and a former Antrim ladies' Gaelic footballer. She represented Northern Ireland at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games and at the 2019 Netball World Cup. She ...

(b. 1988) - Northern Ireland netball international *

Mairéad Farrell Mairéad Farrell ( ga, Máiréad Ní Fhearghail or ''Mairéad Ní Fhearail'') (3 March 1957 – 6 March 1988) was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). She was shot dead by the British Army in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988.Pg 30 ...

(1957-1988) -

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

volunteer killed in Gibraltar in 1988 *

Jonathan Harden Jonathan Harden (born 1979) is an Irish actor and director. Early life Harden was born in Belfast in 1979, the son of an Irish father and American mother. Career Harden's most notable credits include the roles of Sean Rawlins in the crime drama ...

(born 1979) - director and actor *

Claire Hanna Claire Aisling Hanna (born 19 June 1980) is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician from Northern Ireland. In December 2019, she was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South in the House of Commons. Previous ...

(b. 1980) - MP for Belfast South. * Conor Henry (b. 1970) - first Irish man to win the Milk Race * Damien Johnson - Footballer

References

External links

Official Website
{{authority control Grammar schools in Belfast Catholic secondary schools in Northern Ireland Grammar schools in County Antrim