St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Belfast

St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School (St Mary's CBGS) is a Roman Catholic boys' grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

St. Mary's Christian Brothers Grammar School
Address
147a Glen Road

Belfast
,
BT11 8NR

Northern Ireland
Information
TypeGrammar School
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1866
Local authorityEducation Authority (Belfast)
PrincipalSiobhan Kelly[1]
Staff100 approx.
GenderAll-Male
Age11 to 19
Enrollment1200
Colour(s)  
Websitestmaryscbgs.com

History
St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Glen Road
Former Barrack Street school entrance

The origins of the school can be traced to St Mary's School which was established in Divis Street by the Irish Christian Brothers in 1866. The Brothers had been invited by Patrick Dorrian, Bishop of Down and Connor, 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 also began to attract some from across Belfast and wider afield.[2]

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 in 1968. The Barrack Street campus remained in use until 1998 when all students were accommodated in the greatly extended school on the Glen Road.[3]

The school was originally entirely run by the Irish Christian Brothers 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).[4]

Academics

The school provides instruction in a broad range of academic subjects.[5] 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 2018, 81% of its entrants achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including the core subjects English and Maths.[6]

74.4% of its students who sat the A-level exams in 2017/18 were awarded three A*-C grades.[7]

Sport

Gaelic Games

The school hurling team won five Mageean Cup titles 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 and Gaelic football.

Soccer

Since the lifting of the ban on school representation in soccer 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.

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 9th 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, athletics, golf, and basketball.[8]

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 in 2008, defeating the team from Antrim Grammar School 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.

Notable alumni

See also: Past Pupils, St. Mary's CBGS, Edmund Rice Schools Trust [9]

Academia and Science

Arts and Media

Politics

Law

Religious

Sport

Other

References
  1. "St Mary's CBGS Principal's welcome". Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  2. "150 years of Christian Brothers Education in Belfast". ERST NI. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  3. About the School, stmaryscbgs.com; accessed 2 November 2016.
  4. Glen Road CultureNorthernIreland.org; accessed 5 October 2015.
  5. "curriculum" (PDF). Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  6. "Belfast Telegraph GCSE 2018". Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  7. "Belfast Telegraph A-Level: Northern Ireland School League Tables 2019". Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  8. Sport section, official website; accessed 3 July 2015.
  9. "Past Pupils, St. Mary's CBGS, Edmund Rice Schools Trust".Accessdate=11 October 2019}}

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