St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School (St Mary's CBGS) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

boys'

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 Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland.

History

The origins of the school can be traced to St Mary's School which was established in

Divis Street Divis (; ) is a hill and area of sprawling moorland north-west of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. With a height of 1,568 ft (478 m), it is the highest of the Belfast Hills. It is joined with the neighbouring Black Mountain, a ...

by the

Irish Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers (; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school opened in Waterford, Ireland in 1802. At the time of its ...

in 1866. The Brothers had been invited by

Patrick Dorrian Patrick Dorrian (1814–1885) was an Irish Roman Catholic Prelate and 23rd Lord Bishop of Down and Connor. Early life and education Dorrian was born in Downpatrick on 29 March 1814, one of four sons of Patrick Dorrian and his wife Rose (née ...

Bishop of Down and Connor The Bishop of Down and Connor () is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Downpatrick (located in County Down) and the village of Connor (located in County Antrim) in Northern Ireland. The title is still used by the Catholic C ...

, to educate the working class children of the area. In 1929, a new secondary school was built in the nearby Barrack Street. The students were largely drawn from the surrounding district but the school later began to attract students from across Belfast and wider afield. Due to the growing student population, it was decided in the 1960s to build a new school. This opened in a site off the

Glen Road Upper Falls was one of the nine district electoral areas (DEA) which existed in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1985 to 2014. Located in the west of the city, the district elected five members to Belfast City Council and contained the wards of ...

in 1968. The Barrack Street campus remained in use until 1998 when all students were accommodated in the greatly extended school on the

.About the School
stmaryscbgs.com; accessed 2 November 2016. The original building on Barrack Street is now known as the Westcourt Centre and provides a range of educational and community services.

Edmund Ignatius Rice Edmund Ignatius Rice, Presentation Brothers, F.P.M., Congregation of Christian Brothers, C.F.C. (; 1 June 1762 – 29 August 1844) was a Catholic missionary and educationalist who founded two religious institute, institutes of Religious brothe ...

who founded the Irish Christian Brothers was born in Westcourt,

Callan, County Kilkenny Callan () is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Kilkenny in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated 16 km (10 mi) south of Kilkenny on the N76 road to Clonmel, it is near the border with County Tipperary. It is ...

. In 2012, the Barrack Street building was listed as a 'building of special architectural or historic interest' by the Department of the Environment. The school was originally entirely run by the

but in the late twentieth century their numbers declined and the school is now entirely staffed by lay teachers. It is now under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust (NI).Glen Road
CultureNorthernIreland.org; accessed 5 October 2015.

List of Principals

* Br. Magee * Br J.M. Murphy: c.1967-1970 * Br. O’Neill (Stoneface): c.1973-1976 * Br. D.M. McCrohan: c.1976-1979 * Br. Larry Ennis: c.1979-1981 * Br. Leo Kelly: c.1981-1988 * Br. Denis Gleeson: c.1988-1996 * Mr. Michael Crilly: 1996-97 (Acting) * Mr. Kevin Burke (An tUas. Caoimhín de Búrca): 1997-2008 * Mr. Jim Sheerin: 2008-2014 * Mr. John Martin: 2014-2018 * Mrs. Siobhán Kelly: 2019–2024 * Mr. Brendan McComb: 2024-Present

Facilities

The school is located on a large site on the lower slopes of the Black Mountain. In addition to classrooms, it houses computer suites, a technology suite, art studios, a music suite, science laboratories, a large lecture theatre, an assembly hall, and a canteen. The school's outdoor sports facilities include fifteen acres of playing field, a 3G pitch, and an athletics track. Indoors, there is a gymnasium and a swimming pool.

Academics

The school provides instruction in a broad range of academic subjects. At the advanced level students are prepared for exams in Applied Business, Business Communication Systems, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics, ICT, Computing, Art & Design, Geography, History, Religious Studies, Politics, English Literature, Drama, Irish, Music, Sports Studies, Media Studies, Home Economics, French, Spanish Travel and Leisure. St Mary's also offer a double award science option and a further maths option which pupils are chosen for. In 2022, the school decided to abandon academic selection for entry. In 2024, 83% of students achieving at least 7 GCSEs at Grades A* to C. 94% of students achieved at least 5 GCSEs at Grades A* to C. A 100% pass rate at grades A* to C was achieved by students in Gaeilge; French; Spanish; Irish; OCN Skills for Business; Media Studies; OCN Religion and Sports Studies. Over 90% pass rate at grades A* to C was achieved by students in Art and Design; English Language; English Literature; Mathematics, LLW, Double Award Science, Single Award Science and Technology and Design. In 2024, 67.5% of its students who sat the A-level exams were awarded three A*-C grades. In addition, there was a 100% per cent pass rate at grades A* to C or equivalent for students who entered BTEC Extended Certificate in IT (Double Award); BTEC IT (Single Award); Art and Design; BTEC Sports (Single Award); BTEC Sports (Double Award); BTEC Sports (Triple Award); Biology; Applied Business; Irish; Cambridge Technical ICT; Further Maths; Media Studies; Music; Religious Studies and Spanish. In 2022, the school produced a video that described its academic and other activities, with original music.

Sport

Gaelic Games

The school

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

team has the Mageean Cup a total of 28 times - the most in the competition. It won the title five times in succession in the 1990s and again three times since 2010. St. Marys also completed an Ulster Colleges double in 2008 winning both the Mageean Cup and the MacLarnon Cup for the first time in the school's history after beating St Columbs (Derry) 1–7 to 0–8 in the final at Healy Park in Omagh on St Patrick's Day. The school has also had sustained success in

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

and

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

Soccer

Since the lifting of the ban on school representation in

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

competitions in 2002 the school has become the most successful in Belfast. On St Patrick's Day 2006 at Lisburn Distillery's grounds the Year 12s won its first ever soccer cup, the Belfast Cup, defeating Boys Model School. They followed up the next year with its first NI Cup in 2007 (Year 12) as well as the 2007 Belfast Cup (Year 11). This success was followed up in 2008 as they won the year 9 Belfast Cup as well as an historic double in lifting both the Carnegie Schools Northern Ireland Cup (Year 13/14) and became the first school in 20 years to retain the Malcolm Brodie northern Ireland Trophy (year 12) with a victory over St Columbs, Derry. The winning tradition continues into the last year of the decade with wins in the NI Cup and Belfast Cup for the U14s and the U15s winning the Belfast cup.

Golf

St. Mary’s came 2nd in the Ulster Schools Golf championship on Tuesday at Spa Golf Club Ballynahinch.

Water polo

It is the only school in Ireland to have a clean sweep of All-Ireland titles at all age groups in consecutive years. A ninth Canada Cup in a row was won in April 2009 with several of the team continuing to represent Ireland at international tournaments.

Other sports

The school also competes in inter-schools competition in

trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame often using many coiled spring (device), springs. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes. The fabric that use ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

.Sport section
official website; accessed 3 July 2015.

Clubs and Societies

Debating

The school runs debating societies in English, Irish and Spanish, and has sent delegates representing Ireland to both the European Youth Parliament and European Youth Commission. The school has excelled in the European and Irish News inter-school quizzes, currently holding both trophies. The school debating team won the

Northern Ireland Schools Debating Championship The Northern Ireland Schools Debating Competition is an annual competition involving schools from across Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1993 by Dame Fionnuala Jay-O'Boyle DBE DStJ during her time as Chairman of the Belfast Civic Trust; t ...

in 2008, defeating the team from

Antrim Grammar School Antrim Grammar School is a co-educational grammar school in Northern Ireland. It is in County Antrim, in the North Eastern Region of the Education Authority. It is more commonly known by locals as "AGS". It has two neighbouring schools, Parkhal ...

in the final at Stormont. This is the only time St Mary's has won the competition.

Arts

The school maintains an orchestra and a recording studio, stages theatrical and musical performances, as well as entering students in art competitions.

Other clubs

* Social Justice Advocacy Group * Eco Club * French Club * Computer Club * Drama Club * Creative Writing Club * Science Club

Community activities

The school also encourages students to participate in a range of community-oriented activities through the Eco Club, the Social Justice Advocacy Group and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. The school also initiated

Project Zambia Project Zambia () was initiated by St Marys CBGS Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2002. It was a response by the school in Belfast to the issue of poverty in the compounds of Lusaka, Zambia. Since then the project has grown beyond the school. Proje ...

() which is designed to involve students in providing support for marginalised communities in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

Awards

* In 2023, Raymond Herron, a teacher at the school, won the Pastoral Development of the Year award at the finals of the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education which was held in Worcester, England. The award was for his leadership of the school’s work in promoting restorative practices for conflict and dispute resolution.

Notable alumni

See also: Past Pupils, St. Mary's CBGS, Edmund Rice Schools Trust

References

External links

St Mary's CBGS

Project Zambia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Christian Brothers Grammar School Boys' schools in Northern Ireland Congregation of Christian Brothers secondary schools in Northern Ireland Educational institutions established in 1866 Grammar schools in Belfast Grammar schools in County Antrim Catholic secondary schools in Northern Ireland 1866 establishments in Ireland