Rathmore Grammar School
Encyclopedia
Rathmore Grammar School, normally referred to simply as "Rathmore", is a Catholic
grammar school in Finaghy
, Belfast
, Northern Ireland
. The current principal is Thérese Hamilton who succeeded Sr. Ursula Canavan as principal at the beginning of academic year 2009/10.
Rathmore is situated in Kingsway, Finaghy, Belfast, behind the St. Anne's "campus", consisting of St. Anne's Primary School, Parish Church, and Parish Centre. It is hidden from view from the nearby Upper Lisburn Road.
Rathmore Grammar School is paired with the Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium in Bonn.
. The RSHM used the house as a convent, where they began a school for girls. 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
, Politics
and Religious Education
.
With the new building, a new C2k
computer network was installed, along with interactive whiteboards in every classroom. Each member of staff and pupil has their own user account account with email
, and can access their personal files and email from home, via the C2KNI.net website. It is a Promethean Centre of Excellence, one of two in Belfast.
presentation about her art campaign in the school the previous year. The presentation incorporated pictures, music and dialogue which she performed herself. Maeve and Mrs Keag, the art teacher who oversaw the entry, went to Brussels
in November 2006 as part of their prize.
Rathmore has also had significant success in the Sentinus Engineering Education Scheme working with local company Phoenix Natural Gas
and run by Physics teacher Mr Kieran Doherty. In 2005, the team composed of Caron Malone, Daniel Evans and Barbara Fleming swept the Seagate young innovators competition winning, most notably, the Intel award of excellence and going on to win a trip to the United States to represent Ireland in the next stage of the competition - Intel ISEF. They also had success in 2006, winning the Young engineers for Britain competition for 17-19 year olds.
From September 2007, Rathmore closed its Amnesty International
branch. In April 2007, Amnesty International changed its stance on abortion from one which was neutral to one supporting access to abortion in cases of rape and incest, and when the life or the health of the mother might be threatened. Amnesty claim that they "do not promote abortion as a universal right" but "support the decriminalisation of abortion". The principal of the School, Sister Ursula Canavan, acknowledged and appreciates the great work that Amnesty does but feared that continuing to support Amnesty conflicts with the school's Catholic ethos. "I could not continue as a school promoting life and, at the same time, encourage the pupils to be involved in Amnesty." The school's motto states "I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the fullest".
The former head girl, Orla Murray, and head boy, Patrick Gallagher, gave interviews to both radio and newspaper showing support for their principal while expressing their own views on the situation.
It was revealed in March 2009 that Sister Ursula Canavan would step down from her post. She was succeeded by vice-principal Mrs. Hamilton who assumed her role as principal of Rathmore in August 2009. Sister Ursula Canavan was the last of the nuns from the Sacred Heart of Mary to have been principal of the school.
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
in the final at Stormont
. It was the first time a team from the school had reached the final of the prestigious competition. They spoke in Opposition to the motion 'This House Would Welcome Being Part of a European Federal State'.
Dr. Ciaran 'Kiwi' Connolly, Senior Accountancy lecturer Queens University Belfast. http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/QueensUniversityManagementSchool/Research/ResearchClusters/GovernancePerformanceMeasurementandAccountinginNot-for-profit-Organisations/Members/ConnollyCiaran
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
grammar school in Finaghy
Finaghy
Finaghy is an electoral ward in the Balmoral district of Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland. It is based on the townland of Ballyfinaghy...
, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. The current principal is Thérese Hamilton who succeeded Sr. Ursula Canavan as principal at the beginning of academic year 2009/10.
Rathmore is situated in Kingsway, Finaghy, Belfast, behind the St. Anne's "campus", consisting of St. Anne's Primary School, Parish Church, and Parish Centre. It is hidden from view from the nearby Upper Lisburn Road.
Rathmore Grammar School is paired with the Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium in Bonn.
History
Rathmore began as a stately home, built 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 MaryReligious of the Sacred Heart of Mary
The Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary are a global Roman Catholic community of about 900 apostolic religious women, connected by personal contact, local, provincial and general meetings, telephone, e-mail and many websites to one another with a hope of promoting the integral development and...
. The RSHM used the house as a convent, where they began a school for girls. Sometime later, a major development project surrounded the convent with school buildings.
New era
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, Politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and Religious Education
Religious Education
Religious Education is the term given to education concerned with religion. It may refer to education provided by a church or religious organization, for instruction in doctrine and faith, or for education in various aspects of religion, but without explicitly religious or moral aims, e.g. in a...
.
With the new building, a new C2k
C2k
C2k is a Northern Ireland-wide information and communications network operated on behalf of the five Education and Library Boards in the province...
computer network was installed, along with interactive whiteboards in every classroom. Each member of staff and pupil has their own user account account with email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, and can access their personal files and email from home, via the C2KNI.net website. It is a Promethean Centre of Excellence, one of two in Belfast.
Sports
Rathmore has a rich 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 which they won in 2008. In 2010 Rathmore 4th years won the Leopold Cup in hurling, defeating Belfast neighbors St. Malachy's in the finalRecent events
In October 2006, past pupil Maeve Kilpatrick won the UK multimedia presentation category of the DYP 2006 competition, with her Microsoft PowerPointMicrosoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint, usually just called PowerPoint, is a non-free commercial presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office suite, and runs on Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS X operating system...
presentation about her art campaign in the school the previous year. The presentation incorporated pictures, music and dialogue which she performed herself. Maeve and Mrs Keag, the art teacher who oversaw the entry, went to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in November 2006 as part of their prize.
Rathmore has also had significant success in the Sentinus Engineering Education Scheme working with local company Phoenix Natural Gas
Phoenix Natural Gas
Phoenix Natural Gas is the largest gas distribution business in Northern Ireland, being the owner and operator of the licence for the distribution network in the Greater Belfast area...
and run by Physics teacher Mr Kieran Doherty. In 2005, the team composed of Caron Malone, Daniel Evans and Barbara Fleming swept the Seagate young innovators competition winning, most notably, the Intel award of excellence and going on to win a trip to the United States to represent Ireland in the next stage of the competition - Intel ISEF. They also had success in 2006, winning the Young engineers for Britain competition for 17-19 year olds.
From September 2007, Rathmore closed its Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
branch. In April 2007, Amnesty International changed its stance on abortion from one which was neutral to one supporting access to abortion in cases of rape and incest, and when the life or the health of the mother might be threatened. Amnesty claim that they "do not promote abortion as a universal right" but "support the decriminalisation of abortion". The principal of the School, Sister Ursula Canavan, acknowledged and appreciates the great work that Amnesty does but feared that continuing to support Amnesty conflicts with the school's Catholic ethos. "I could not continue as a school promoting life and, at the same time, encourage the pupils to be involved in Amnesty." The school's motto states "I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the fullest".
The former head girl, Orla Murray, and head boy, Patrick Gallagher, gave interviews to both radio and newspaper showing support for their principal while expressing their own views on the situation.
It was revealed in March 2009 that Sister Ursula Canavan would step down from her post. She was succeeded by vice-principal Mrs. Hamilton who assumed her role as principal of Rathmore in August 2009. Sister Ursula Canavan was the last of the nuns from the Sacred Heart of Mary to have been principal of the school.
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
Royal Belfast Academical Institution
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution, is a Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Locally referred to as Inst, the school educates boys from ages 11–18...
in the final at Stormont
Stormont
-People:* Lord Stormont, British ambassador to France in the 18th century-Structures:* Stormont , first-class cricket ground in the Stormont Estate* Stormont Castle, currently used by the Northern Ireland Executive...
. It was the first time a team from the school had reached the final of the prestigious 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 BrúnBairbre de BrúnBairbre de Brún is an Irish politician and Member of the European Parliament, representing Northern Ireland.- Political work :...
, Sinn Féin MEP - Davy HylandDavy HylandDavy Hyland is a republican politician in Northern Ireland.He was born in Belfast and was educated at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and Manchester University...
, Former Sinn Féin MLA
Notable former pupils
- Rory 'Duck' O'Reilly, An Olympic cyclist, who finished eighth in the Men's 1,000m sprint at the 1984 Summer Olympics1984 Summer OlympicsThe 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. - Mary Ethna Black, Program Coordinator of UNICEF, BelgradeBelgradeBelgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
; Human RightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
advocate - Ian Pearson, BTBT GroupBT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
Futurologist - Jonathan McAnulty, former Roman Greco Wrestling Champion, 1994, which led on to a successful pro wrestling career as Golddust
- Roger McMorrowRoger McMorrowRoger McMorrow is a Consultant Anaesthetist at the National Maternity Hospital and St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. He is inventor of the McMorrow Laryngoscope and the CXE Breathing Circuit and is one of Ireland's Everest Summiteers...
, Doctor and Everest Summiteer - Vivian CampbellVivian CampbellVivian Patrick Campbell is a Northern Irish rock guitarist who is a member of Def Leppard and was, from May 2010 to November 2011, a member of Thin Lizzy. Prior to joining Def Leppard in April 1992, he had been a member of Whitesnake, Sweet Savage, Trinity, Riverdogs, and Shadow King...
, rock guitarist with DIODio (band)Dio was an American heavy metal band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, after he left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member, drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial...
, Def LeppardDef LeppardDef Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
, Sweet Savage, Trinity, WhitesnakeWhitesnakeWhitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
, RiverdogsRiverdogs- Band members :The band has featured singer Rob Lamothe, several guitarists, bass guitarists and drummers at different times.Past and present Riverdogs musicians include:Guitarists: Vivian Campbell, Nick Brophy...
, Shadow KingShadow King (band)Shadow King was a rock band. Members included now former Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm, former Sweet Savage, Dio, Whitesnake, Riverdogs, guitarist Vivian Campbell, Lou Gramm's former Black Sheep and then future Foreigner bandmate bass player Bruce Turgon, and drummer Kevin Valentine.Vivian...
, and as of 2010 Thin LizzyThin LizzyThin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
Dr. Ciaran 'Kiwi' Connolly, Senior Accountancy lecturer Queens University Belfast. http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/QueensUniversityManagementSchool/Research/ResearchClusters/GovernancePerformanceMeasurementandAccountinginNot-for-profit-Organisations/Members/ConnollyCiaran