Drogheda Grammar School is an Irish co-educational multi-denominational school, located on Mornington Road, Drogheda, County Louth.
History
Mr. Clarke's Free School, Laurence St., Drogheda in June 1984
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. [when?]
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".[citation needed]
The school's campus, located just outside Drogheda, consists of a Regency house flanked by woodland, with classroom and dormitory buildings and playing fields.[citation needed]
Academic performance
As of 2020, statistics which outlined the top feeder schools for third-level education placed Drogheda Grammar School as one of the top schools in the area, with 100% of its students progressing to 3rd level education in 2020.[citation needed] These results were republished in the Irish Times and Irish Independent.[1][needs update]
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.[2] The school opened a new building in 2012. This 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 There is a small reflection room which has a stained glass window originally made in contribution to the memory of a student who died in 1942 by Harry Clarke Stained Glass Studio in the 1940s and was in storage since 1976 after the school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 AstroTurf pitch.[3]
Athletics
The school participates in several team sports including hockey, rugby, football, basketball and netball.
The main sport is rugby however the hockey teams have won multiple Leinster and all Ireland titles, most recently in 2018. The schools football team has also won North-East and Leinster titles, most recently in 2022[citation needed] The school also has a chess team and has won a number of local and all-Ireland competitions. [citation needed]
