Saint Patrick's Grammar School was a Catholicgrammar school located in Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is currently owned by the De La Salle Brothers. It has an enrolment of around 725 students, with girls admitted at 6th form level. Pupils come from all over the East Down area. Working to support the ideals of this Lasallian School is a staff of 75 lay teachers. Recently, the school has been awarded the Investor in People award,[1] and has been named a specialist school in humanities by the Department of Education.[2]
The school reopened as part of a merger with St Mary's High and De La Salle in 2024 as Lecale Trinity Grammar School.
History
Saint Patrick's Grammar School was founded in 1934 and moved to its present site in 1937. In 2009, the school celebrated its 75th anniversary. A new school building was built and opened in April 2011. The new building contains improved modern facilities including a large music department and enhanced Physical Education amenities. The PE department includes a modern gym, two indoor sports halls and two floodlit outdoor pitches.
A controversial merger was proposed between St Patrick's and non-selective schools St Mary's High and De La Salle. The resulting institution would be named Lecale Trinity Grammar and open in September 2024.[3]
School and community
The school and its students are linked with the local community. Extra-curricular organisations such as the St. Vincent de Paul School Conference operate within Saint Patrick's Grammar School to raise funds for worthy causes[4] as well as out in the community, conducting regular visitations to the Lecale Lodge Nursing Home[5] which is operated by Four Seasons Health Care.
The school is involved in many local, county and national leagues in sports such as football, Gaelic football, hurling and athletics. Its sports teams have achieved a number of county and province-wide titles under the guidance of the P.E. Department.
School houses
Upon admission into the school, students are placed into one of four houses (classes). These are:
Down
Killard
Lecale
Quoile
Saul (In Year 13/14 only and in practical classes ie. Technology, music and art)
The Saul house is used as a separate class for Creative and Expressive studies in the junior school.
School building
The school once sat on Irish Street where it meets Stream Street in the town centre of Downpatrick. It later moved to its current site accessible via a Saul Street. The site is shared by another De La Salle Brother's school known as De La Salle High School.
The construction of a new school building commenced in the summer of 2009. The school was constructed on the "junior" playing fields, which can be seen on the Downpatrick skyline. When completed, the previous school building was demolished and the site was converted into all-weather playing fields and tennis courts. The new school campus opened on 1 April 2011.
Maurice Hayes (1927-2017) - former Northern Ireland Ombudsman, Chairman of the Ireland Funds and Taoiseach-appointed Senator in Seanad Éireann, he served as town clerk of Downpatrick in the 1960s and was awarded European Person of the Year 2003. Later, he returned to Saint Patrick's to teach.[8]
