Christian Brothers Grammar School, Omagh
| Christian Brothers Grammar School, Omagh Scoil Ghramadaí na mBráithre Críostaí, An Ómaigh | |
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| Location | |
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Omagh, County Tyrone Northern Ireland | |
| Coordinates | 54°35′53″N 7°18′07″W / 54.598°N 7.302°WCoordinates: 54°35′53″N 7°18′07″W / 54.598°N 7.302°W |
| Information | |
| Established | 1861 |
| Principal | Foncy Mc Connell |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 11 to 19 |
| Number of students | c. 968 |
| Colour(s) | Maroon and white |
| Trustees | Edmund Rice Schools Trust |
| Website | |
The Christian Brothers Grammar School, Omagh (Irish: Scoil Ghramadaí na mBráithre Críostaí, An Ómaigh, known locally as CBS Omagh, Omagh CBS, the Brothers and, to a lesser extent, CBGS Omagh) is a single sex (boys) grammar school in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the largest school in Omagh District Council, having 975 pupils in 2012.
Intake
The catchment of the school is boys within the area of Omagh District Council, generally about a 32-kilometre (20 mi) radius. Traditionally all of the students have been Catholics, and as such, prepared to learn about the Catholic faith upon enrolling in the school. In more recent years more students attending the school come from mixed racial and/or religious backgrounds.
Focus
The school's focus is academic, offering compulsory subjects of English Literature, English Language, Science, and Mathematics until GCSE. The School also focuses on the teachings of the Catholic faith, making Religious Studies compulsory at GCSE, and as a subsidiary weekly lesson during A Level years. For 'A' Levels, the school also offers a mix of liberal arts and academic subjects, as well as more vocational subjects. The school offers over 30 Advanced Level and BTEC Subjects at Post-16 level and around 24 GCSE subjects in the current year.
From 2005 until 2011, the percentage of students achieving 5 or more GCSE grades A* to C has been 95.4, 95.0, 98.5, 91.8, 96.8, 99.3 and 95.7%.
History
The school was founded on 14 January 1861, on Mount St. Columba. The building has since went into other use as a retreat. A primary school, Holy Trinity (previously St Colmcille), has been the school there since. Its original headmaster was Brother John Redmond.[1] He was accompanied by Austin Murray and Francis Lacey. On its first day of activity one hundred and twenty boys, all aged between five and fifteen, showed up.
In 1902 Br. Franklin decided to add an extension, a second floor to the school and a third to the brothers' house. This came at the time a considerable cost of £1,200 partly financed by a £800 loan from past pupils. Operations of the school were moved to old Church, Brook Street while construction was under way. Once finished the renovations provided the school with three more rooms; one for Manual Instruction, a sixty student accommodating classroom and a room with all the necessities for Practical and Experimental Science.
After the partition of Ireland the school came into difficulties in making ends meet. They received a small amount of money from the Irish Free State but reluctantly acknowledged the Minister of Education in Belfast's power to get support.
The school moved to is present site on Kevlin Road in 1967.
In 1993, after the resignation of Br. McCrohan, the school gets its first non-clerical headmaster, Roddy Tierney. After Mr. Tierney retired in 2005, he was briefly succeeded by the school's first female headmistress, Terry Sweeney, as acting principal. She was succeeded by current principal, Paul Brannigan.
Sporting achievement
In Gaelic football, the school has won the MacRory Cup (the highest level for Ulster schools) in 1974, 2001, 2005 and 2007, and the All Ireland Hogan Cup in 2007. [2][3] and many other under-age level competitions for example Omagh CBS won the Rannafast Cup in 2009 and 2012 and the McCormick cup in 2008, 2009 and 2011
Extracurricular activity
The Young Enterprise team has been progressed far in the regional and national competitions in the last few years. The school is actively involved in the Pope John Paul II award, an award promoting Roman Catholic values in the modern world through community and church work. The pupils produce their own weekly newsletter and annual magazine which are then published and distributed or sold. Other activities take place within the music department including choir and music lessons which allow students to learn how to play numerous instruments including; Guitar, Piano, Drums, Trumpet, Flute and Clarinet. Extra-curricular clubs include Art and Design, ICT, Drama and GAA. The pupils also have a Junior and Senior Choir as well as a traditional Irish music Group. The school also provides a number of GCSE's outside of normal pupil school hours, such as Performing Arts and Further Mathematics.
Notable former pupils
Among the alumni of the school are many past and present members of the Tyrone Gaelic football Team,[4] such as Stephen O'Neill, Dermot Carlin and Joe McMahon, the current manager, Mickey Harte, the esteemed writer and journalist Benedict Kiely, former BBC NI sports presenter, Jerome Quinn, World Economic Forum representative and company CEO Aaron McCormack.
See Also
References
- ↑ From Mount St Columba to Kevlin Road.
- ↑ "Omagh CBS claim MacRory triumph". BBC News. 2005-03-26. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
- ↑ "Omagh snatch MacRory Cup triumph". BBC News. 2007-03-19. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
- ↑ http://www.cbsomagh.org/Portal.aspx?tabindex=116&tabid=4650