Friends' School, Lisburn

Friends' School, Lisburn
Friends' School, Lisburn
Location
	Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Information
Type	Voluntary grammar with preparatory department
Motto	Quae sursum sunt quaerite – Seek the things that are above
Established	1774
Principal	Stephen Moore
Enrolment	970
Colours	Green, Red and Yellow
Age range	4 to 18
Denomination	Quaker
Website	www.friendsschoollisburn.org.uk/

Friends' School, Lisburn is a Quaker voluntary grammar school in the city of Lisburn, Northern Ireland, founded in 1774.

History

Friends’ School Lisburn was founded – as The Ulster Provincial School – on the basis of a bequest in 1764 of a prosperous linen merchant, John Hancock, who left £1,000 for the purchase of land in or near Lisburn on which to build a school for the children of Quakers. Twenty acres (8 ha) were purchased at Prospect Hill from the Earl of Hertford. In 1774, the first headmaster, John Gough, took up his post. In 1794 The Ulster Provincial School became the responsibility of the Ulster Quarterly Meeting, the body representing the Religious Society of Friends in Ulster.

Pupils going to school in the c. 1920s.

In April 2008 the President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, visited the school.

Friends' is one of two Quaker schools in Ireland, the other being Newtown School, Waterford. There are eight in the United Kingdom.

The school has been named by The Sunday Times as Northern Ireland Secondary School of the Year[1] on two occasions: first in 2011 and then in 2017.

Composition

The school consists of a fee-paying preparatory department, Prospect House, and a grammar school, the latter of which had, until the early 2000s, a boarding department attracting pupils from abroad (mostly Hong Kong). Friends' now only accepts day pupils, with an admissions number of 140 a year contributing to a full enrolment of 970 for the grammar school.

The original school house is no longer standing, but the date stone from it is displayed in Middle House, a building dating from 1880, which was refurbished in 2015. The latest addition to the school was the East Suite, a teaching building opened in 2016. It stands in place of the old basketball court, which was previously the location of the swimming pool. The swimming pool was reputed to be the oldest heated pool in Ireland (1901), and used to stand beside Harding House, a temporary teaching building which was demolished to make space for the East Suite. The school has five tennis courts and three rugby pitches. A sports hall was opened in 2000 and two floodlit, sand-dressed hockey pitches were laid in 2013. As well as hosting school fixtures, these pitches are home to South Antrim Hockey Club.

Notable former pupils

Wallace Arthur, biologist and author
Michael Dibdin, author[2]
Stephen Ferris, rugby player for Ulster, Ireland, British and Irish Lions
Keith Getty, musician and hymn writer[3]
Bulmer Hobson, leading member of Irish Volunteers and Irish Republican Brotherhood[4]
Jimmy Kirkwood, Gold medal winning Olympic hockey player (GB, Seoul 1988)[5][6]
Robert Moore, first-class cricketer[7]
Gareth Murdock, musician and current bass guitarist of Alestorm
Frank Pantridge CBE, cardiologist, inventor of the portable defibrillator[8]
Alastair Ross, former Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (2007–2017), former Northern Ireland Executive Office Minister

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gollark: NPM: Neurotic and Probably Misinformed

gollark: npmjs™

gollark: Well, yes, I just checked now and my project has 247.

References

Ian Kirk-Smith (24 November 2011). "Quaker school best in Northern Ireland". The Friend. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
Sylvia Roger (17 September 2003). "Class act". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
Alf McCreary (17 September 2003). "Keith Getty: 'I regret that we didn't do more for the innocent unborn children in Northern Ireland who will never see the light'". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
Charles Townshend, Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion, pp. 18-19, Penguin Books, 2005; ISBN 978-0-14-101216-2
"Biography – James William Kirkwood". CricketEurope. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
"GB Olympic Champions 1896–2014 – Hockey". gbolympics.co.uk. 19 February 2014. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
"Player profile: Robert William Moore". CricketEurope. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
"Remembering Frank Pantridge, eminent Queen's graduate". Queen's University Belfast. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2020.

External links

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[1] Ian Kirk-Smith (24 November 2011). "Quaker school best in Northern Ireland". The Friend. Retrieved 23 May 2017.

[Roger-2] Sylvia Roger (17 September 2003). "Class act". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2020.

[McCreary-3] Alf McCreary (17 September 2003). "Keith Getty: 'I regret that we didn't do more for the innocent unborn children in Northern Ireland who will never see the light'". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2020.

[Townshend-4] Charles Townshend, Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion, pp. 18-19, Penguin Books, 2005; ISBN 978-0-14-101216-2

[cricketeurope030404-5] "Biography – James William Kirkwood". CricketEurope. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.

[gbolympics-6] "GB Olympic Champions 1896–2014 – Hockey". gbolympics.co.uk. 19 February 2014. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2019.

[CE-7] "Player profile: Robert William Moore". CricketEurope. Retrieved 7 November 2018.

[QUB_Pantridge-8] "Remembering Frank Pantridge, eminent Queen's graduate". Queen's University Belfast. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2020.