St Mary’s High School – teaching girls for 60 years

St Mary’s High School – teaching girls for 60 years

3 May 2017

ALMOST 60 years ago — on September 8, 1957 — the education of Catholic girls in Lecale was turned on its head.

That was when St Mary’s High School opened in Downpatrick, marking a historic move away from the traditional education of older girls in commercial schools and offering instead a more academic outlet.

Almost 10,000 girls have since been educated at the popular high school and many of those former pupils will join staff and friends to mark its Diamond Jubilee through a series of celebrations beginning in September.

Among them will be Sister Vianney, who is one of just two surviving Sisters of Mercy in the town.

It was seven of those Sisters who originally established the school in honour of their founder, Sr Catherine McCauley, who was dedicated to girls’ education.

Although she was not a member of the Order in 1957, Sr Vianney, who taught at St Mary’s for a few years but spent most of her career at the Convent of Mercy Primary School in the town, said stories about the huge project to establish the girls’ secondary were often told during her time living in the local convent.

In fact, she says the story of St Mary’s began many years before its official opening following a conversation between Archdeacon David McWilliams and the then convent superior Sr Aloysius.

Sr Vianney said the forward-thinking Archdeacon was convinced girls needed to be offered a fuller education.

Although the commercial school, located at the St Michael Centre, offered typing, shorthand and book-keeping skills to teenagers, he advised that a more academic outlet should be available.

That conversation, which happened in the late 1940s, took almost a decade to bear fruit.

Before even considering launching a school, Sr Aloysius wanted to ensure the sisters were 

properly teacher-trained, despatching them to university to read a wide range of subjects.

“They were so anxious to promote the whole ethos of Catherine McAuley who established the Sisters of Mercy in the 19th century centred on the ethos of the education of women,” said Sr Vianney. “That was the motivation, to lift people up through education.

“The Sisters were here from the mid-1800s and the Bothers joined later. The Brothers looked after the boys and the Sisters looked after the girls, that was the foundation for the model we have.

“At St Mary’s High School, aspirations were encouraged and for that reason 60 years is such an important milestone.”

St Mary’s High School principal, Mrs Sheila Darling, said the educational changes associated with the launch of the school 60 years ago were widespread, explaining why the Diamond Jubilee would be a celebration of all that is good about the school.

“You do not just educate a girl, you educate the whole family because the girl becomes a parent and then educates her own children,” she said.

“St Mary’s High School was set up because there was no suitable education for girls and it has developed on that strong foundation.

“You provide good quality education for girls, resulting in several generations from one family coming to the school, from grandparents right down to their children

“Parents are very pleased with what they are getting and the outcome at the school is exceptional. We have had doctors, dentists, solicitors and our local MP Margaret Ritchie is a past pupil.

“Lots of past pupils have sent their daughters here.”

Shortly after her own appointment as principal, Mrs Darling recalled being invited to the local convent to meet the Sisters of Mercy whose numbers were then in serious decline. Less than two years later, the convent was closed.

“St Mary’s High School is the last tangible link in the community to the founding sisters. That is terribly important when you consider that,” she said.

“The school has really flourished on the foundation the sisters laid and our motto remains that every child matters. 

“This is a popular, successful community school. We are a very supportive and caring school and through the celebrations we want to recognise the impact St Mary’s has had on the community and to thank the community for the support it has given to the school.”

One of the main organisers of the calendar of celebratory events will be former pupil Ann Trainor, who credits her days at St Mary’s High School for giving her great “confidence and discipline” to get on in life.

“It gave us high quality education and you were empowered as a female,” she said.

Ann is hoping local businesses will consider sponsoring the celebrations in return for publicity in a 60th anniversary souvenir booklet she says will be brought home by many.

The school will launch its 60th anniversary in with a thanksgiving mass in the school on September 22.

This invitation-only event will be followed on October 6 with a gala ball at the Burrendale Hotel, tickets for which will go on sale later this month.

Tickets for the ball, with music by the popular Just Adam and preferential rates for anyone wishing to stay overnight, will be £35.

On November 6 the school will open to the public for the day. It is hoped that memorabilia and videotapes collected from past pupils will be in display throughout the day.