# Sacred Heart Grammar School

Sacred Heart Grammar School, Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland, is a grammar school with 855 students and 51 full-time teachers. Established in 1930 by the Sisters of St. Clare. It is one of Northern Ireland’s top grammar schools.

## Brief history

The school was established in 1930 by the Sisters of St. Clare on a site adjacent to the Poor Clare Convent in Castle Street, Newry. Due to steady expansion of student numbers the school rapidly outgrew the original six classrooms and by the 1980s teaching required over 30 mobile classrooms.
The school relocated to a new state-of-the-art complex at Ashgrove, Newry in 1985. It now occupies a 17-acre (69,000 m$^2$) site on the Northern side of the city and has views of the Mourne Mountains to the East. It was formally opened by Mr J. Parkes, the then Permanent Secretary to the Department of Education. A further Science and Technology Block was opened in 1997 by Mr J. Smith, Assistant Secretary to the Department.

## Academics

The school offers instruction in a full range of subjects through to A-level. 84.2% of its students who sat the A-level exams in 2017/18 were awarded three A*-C grades. In 2018 it was ranked 19th in Northern Ireland for its GCSE performance with 98.4% of its entrants receiving five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including the core subjects English and Maths.

## Activities and Clubs

* Athletic Club
* Bank
* Badminton
* Camogie
* Drama Club
* Gaelic Football
* Golf
* Health Awareness Committee
* Junior / Senior Art Club
* Junior/ Senior Choir
* Junior/ Senior Orchestra
* Liturgy Committee
* Mini Company
* Netball
* Politics Society
* Quiz Club
In addition to these, there is also a wide range of educational visits, expeditions and field trips.

## Musicals and Operas

There is a strong tradition of musicals within Sacred Heart dating back to 1956; recent productions have been:
* (2018) - Guys and Dolls (musical)
* (2016) - Cats (musical)
* (2014) - Crazy for You
* (2012) - The Boy Friend
* (2010) - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
* (2008) - My Fair Lady
* (2006) - Oklahoma!
* (2004) - Anything Goes
* (2002) - The Mikado
* (2000) - The King and I
* (1998) - Crazy for You
* (1996) - The Pirates of Penzance
* (1994) - Guys and Dolls
* (1992) - Oliver!
* (1990) - My Fair Lady
* (1988) - The Merry Widow
* (1986) - The Student Prince
* (1984) - The Gondoliers
* (1982) - The Gypsy Princess
* (1980) - Lilac Time
* (1978) - Pink Champagne
* (1976) - Viva Mexico
* (1974) - The King and I
* (1972) - The Bird Seller
* (1970) - The Maid of the Mountains
* (1968) - Her Ladyship
* (1966) - Patience
* (1964) - The Gondoliers
* (1956) - Amos

## Principals

| No. | Name | Tenure |
| 1 | Angela Chambers | 1930–1932 |
| 2 | Sr. Marie Celine Turley | 1932–1954 |
| 3 | Sr. Teresa Mary Fitzpatrick | 1954–1961 |
| 4 | Sr. Imelda Fahy | 1961-1965 |
| 5 | Sr. Máire O'Hara | 1965-1972 |
| 6 | Sr. Anne Thérèse O'Shea | 1972-1977 |
| 7 | Sr. Mark Hollywood | 1977-1989 |
| 8 | Sr. Patricia Rogers | 1989-2000 |
| 9 | Sr. Julie McGoldrick | 2000-2017 |
| 10 | Paul Kane | 2017-2022 |
| 11 | Shane Comer | 2022-present |

## Notable former pupils

* Dame Siobhan Keegan (b. 1972), Northern Ireland High Court judge
* Aislin McGuckin (b. 1974), actress (Heartbeat, Holby City, Outlander)
* Caroline O'Hanlon (b. 1984), Northern Ireland netball international and an Armagh Ladies' Gaelic footballer.
* Valene Kane (b. 1985), actress (The Fall, Rogue One)
* Megan Fearon (b. 1991), Former Sinn Féin MLA for Newry and Armagh, Junior Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive
* Liz Kimmins (b. 1999), Sinn Féin MLA for Newry and Armagh