The Old Grey Mother
RSD
began life as one of 5
Royal
Schools set up by James I to educate
sons of English and Scottish planters in Ulster .
In 1614 a school was founded at Mountjoy
on the shores of Lough Neagh , however after 22 years
, in 1636 , it moved to
Dungannon - probably Union Place .
The school was damaged and
temporarily closed because of war and rebellion in 1614
and 1689 but re -opened each time
.Eventually, in 1789
(the year of the French Revolution )
it was relocated to its present situation in
Northland Row . The building then consisted of the
present Headmaster’s House and was built from
sandstone .
This 1789 building acquired the nickname of “ The
Old Grey Mother “ after the sandstone with which
it was built was rendered with cement sometime in the 19th
Century . New windows and doors were required ,
the Board of Governors had insufficient
funds for sandstone blocks and instead used hand made
brick . To preserve a unified appearance the
building was covered with cement . The new Ranfurly
Building may reflect the original appearance more accurately .
School
Colours
Records of school colours go back
300 years.In 1674 the boys were described as playing
football in “ yellow …
jerkins and black breeches “. In the 19th
century cricket colours of violet, yellow and red were worn as a ribbon
around a bowler hat !
The present colours of chocolate and magenta for rugby and for school
uniform were adopted in 1870 .
The
School
badge, originally -the castle and the crown- was altered at amalgamation in 1986 and a motto added
from the former Dungannon High School for Girls . Unlike most great schools , RSD
was without a motto until
it became co–educational in 1986.
The current coat of arms was
redesigned at the request of Mr. Hewitt for the Millennial Year of 2000
by Mrs. Kathleen Hobson , a former Chairman
of the Board who had also been Head Girl
of Dungannon High School for Girls .
Mrs. Hopson also re-created the beautiful framed extracts
from the 1614 Charter with letters and colours
faithfully copied from Jacobean times
.
School
Houses
BERESFORD .
John George Beresford was one of two brothers who each
became Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of
All Ireland . In 1850 the Archbishop gave RSD a
substantial sum of money , this was used to build the Cloister (see the
plaque above the door leading to the Robinson Wing
), the gymnasium and two classrooms.
This gym is now the Marshall Library
. In memory of Beresford’s generosity , the
“ blue “house is now named after him
.
BULLINGBROOK
.
In 1614 James, angry that there had been a six
year delay since he had ordered the building of a “ free school “ for
Co .Tyrone , demanded that the Archbishop of Armagh take
immediate action . A Headmaster, John
Bullingbrook was appointed in May
1614 . The school was then on
the shores of Lough Neagh at Mountjoy . The
area is still called “College Lands “
although just fields now . In 1636 the Royal School was
moved to Dungannon . Five years later in 1641 this new school was attacked
and destroyed by Irish rebels . Bullingbrook and his son
were forced to flee and sought refuge in the great forest
of Glenconkeyne on the western shores of
Lough Neagh . They both sadly died of
hunger and exposure .
In nearly 400 years there have only been 20
Headmasters of RSD . The
shortest serving Headmaster lasted less than a day , another less than a year
. The longest serving was the
great Dr. Frederick Ringwood , who was Headmaster for 42 years
from 1850-1892 .
MOUNTJOY .
400 years ago Ulster was the most Gaelic part of
Ireland andresolutely defied English attempts to
extend control over the Province . Hugh O’Neill
had his headquarters in Dungannon and
led the Ulster resistance . O’Neill
fought off a series of English armies. A new
commander, Lord Mountjoy fought a ruthless
and determined campaign against O’Neill
until the great Irish chieftain surrendered in 1603. In the years following, English and Scottish planters
made Ulster their home and RSD was registered as one of the schools for the
planters’ children . Without Mountjoy there would
have been no Ulster plantation and no Royal School
, thus his name is commemorated in one of RSD’s houses .
NICHOLSON
General Sir John Nicholson
was a pupil of RSD in the 19th Century .
He went on to achieve fame as a soldier , dying a hero’s
death during the Siege of Delhi in the Indian Mutiny of 1857 .
A statue of Nicholson stood beside the Delhi Gate
until Indian independence , when it was removed . It
eventually found its way to Dungannon in 1960 and was elected in front of
the school . It was then unveiled in
the year 1967 by
Lord Mountbatten , late uncle of Prince
Philip . Nicholson House was
the last of the four RSD houses to be founded , .
Nicholson was most famous in the Northwest Frontier of India
. He was amazingly brave , administered strict justice
and had an awesome appearance . In India he was regarded by some as being
virtually a God .
Professor R. L. Marshall wrote a poem in a
school magazine of the 1930‘s in which he
described a dream of the Nicholson Statue
standing, not in Delhi, but in front of RSD .
This
came to pass some 30 years later.
RSD and
World War
I
The names of those RSD Old
Boys who died in the great war of 1914-18 are inscribed
on the left hand Memorial Board in the
Dining Hall .
In R 1
there is a World War I stained glass
memorial window depicting a procession of soldiers
watched by the Angel of Death and overlooked by
the figure of the crucified Christ. It reads : “
In memory of many boys of the Royal School , Dungannon who gave their lives
in the Great War “ . It was
designed and made by a former Head of Art
in RSD .
At every Remembrance Day
Service at the War Memorial in
the Market Square Dungannon , a wreath is laid on
behalf of the school by the Head Boy and
Head Girl and another is presented by the Former
Pupils’ Association in honour of all those pupils of RSD
who in the World Wars or since have given their
lives in the service of their country .
A beautiful clock , situated in the
Cloisters area was presented in 1997 by the
Former Pupils’ Association in honour of RSD pupils who
had suffered or been killed during the troubles in Northern
Ireland . A plaque beneath
this high clock is suitably inscribed to remind all pupils of the sacrifice
by their predecessors .
Evacuation
(1940-42)
Nowadays, Belfast “Inst”
is among our keenest sporting rivals , but during
World War II rivalries were suspended for a
number of years . RBAI then had a Boarding
Department, but after two major air raids on Belfast in
the spring of 1941, it was no longer considered safe for boarders to stay in
the centre of the city. They were evacuated (by train) to Dungannon.
150 were lodged with the families of RSD pupils and 100
were lodged in Northland Row at a large hostel
opposite the school , they became pupils of RSD for the duration . Of those
who were evacuated , the Hostel boys stayed
longest and were taught partly by RBAI
staff and partly by RSD staff .
Games were played frequently between RSD and
RBAI boys in Dungannon at a
time when travel was restricted due to the war .
In 1991, 50 years on , many of the
Inst. boys came back to Dungannon to attend the
RSD Old Boys Dinner and relive those historic
times . Great camaraderie and respect still
exists between these two fine schools .
A photograph of the evacuation is in the RSD School
Museum showing the Inst. Boys on the platform of
the Great Northern Railway , which was just beside where
the Europa Hotel is today .
The
Prep House
The Armstrong Field
was formerly known as the Prep Pitch
, after the Prep House , which
once stood on the touchline beside the Convent School .
Originally a sanatorium , built in 1850 to isolate
boarders with infectious diseases , it later
housed the Preparatory Department , finally
becoming , under Mr. Edgar , a Boarding
House for senior boys . The
Prep House lay vacant for a number of years
until demolished in 1988 .
The first mention of the
Preparatory Department being in existence
was in the
December 1940 issue of the School Magazine , it
closed in 1999 after 59 years of outstanding work .
The School Scout
” Cubs “ Group was founded in
1938-39 with the Scouts continuing until its
closure and merging with local Church Groups in
1981 .
At the Preparatory Department
peak in the 1990’s there were three teachers and
nearly 70 pupils . They took part in the school concerts
and Carol services every year , put on a Christmas nativity play or
pantomime , ran a Sports Day
, went on trips to Scotland and London and helped run a
stall at the Annual Funfair .
The idea of a Preparatory
Department was simply to prepare primary aged pupils
better for a Grammar School education . It was
situated during its last 30 years in the classrooms underneath the
Flyover and Headmaster’s Study .
The Prep. Pupils had the front
lawns and later, a fine timber climbing frame to play on
. Rounders and Croquet were popular in the
Spring and Summer Terms . The
excellent preparatory teachers were : Miss
Marjorie McMillan , Mr. David Kirkwood , Mrs.
Laura Swaile , Miss Carol Calvert and Mrs.
Yvonne Stevenson .
The Armstrong
Field
The old prep pitch was
formally renamed in 1998 as the
Armstrong Field , in honour of Mr. Ken Armstrong
, who taught in RSD from 1962 to 1991 . Ken was a gifted
athlete who played at out–half for
Ireland , represented Ulster at
basketball and was on Leicester City’s books while a student at
Loughborough . His great
contribution to sport in RSD was as the 1st XV coach
between 1962 and 1983 . His teams were known then for
their attacking, free running style and came close to
winning the School’s Cup in 1975 , when RSD lost to
Methody at a packed Ravenhill
final .
Mr. Armstrong was the first proper
coach to the senior Ulster rugby team in the 1960’s and was one of several
RSD staff to have coached Ulster . The others
being Mr. Jimmy Davidson and Mr. David McMaster , who were on the
staff of RSD in the 1970‘s and 1990’s respectively
. Another member of staff , Mr. Keith Patton has
been one of
the most successful Ulster and Irish Schools’ Coaches , recording
wins over New Zealand, South Africa and Australia schools in the
1990’s .
Mr. John Wilson ,
Vice -Principal and Deputy Head
in RSD in the 1990’s , also coached Junior Ulster
at a time when RSD boasted the Senior Schools’
and Junior Ulster coaches
.
The
Bingham Gates
The Bingham Gates
are so called in memory of Mr. R.W. Bingham , headmaster
for 20 years from 1911 to 1931 . During his time
RSD was the first Irish school to go on a continental trip ( to the
Vosges in 1913) , the School Magazine
was begun , and RSD won the Medallion Shield
in two successive years .
The Bingham Gates
were inaugurated in 1957 ,
before this the main Northland Row entrance was at the junction of Perry
Street and Northland Row,
beside the present mini-roundabout . Today
, traffic restrictions would not permit a main gate on
the corner of a busy intersection but in 1789 there would only have been
light horse and cart traffic .
The old gates were removed in the
1940’s to help in the war effort by being melted
down and used for building tanks and ships . It
is however believed that the beautiful old gates were never actually used
for this purpose as the war ended before it could happen .
The “New”
main entrance was opened at the Gate Lodge in the
1970’s and today only Staff , Boarding and deliveries use the
Northland Row gates . All gates and railings are due to
be replaced .
The Marshall
Library
Built in 1850 , this was
formerly the Gymnasium and Assembly Hall , it was used for its original
purpose until the late 1960’s when it was
converted into a Library. It is named after two
Marshalls both old boys of RSD. One is
W.F. Marshall , a Presbyterian minister who wrote
many poems including “ Mary Ann” , “ I’m
Livin’ in Drumlister “ and the school song
“ Hurrah, hurrah , Dungannon
wears the crown “…
The other
Marshall is Rev. Professor R.L. Marshall ,
an author , clergyman and academic , for 20 years
Professor of History and
English at Magee College, Londonderry .
The Library
was redesigned in the early 1980’s ,
the Headmaster had the idea of the stairs and podium
which now leads into the Hutcheson Fiction Library. This was
previously a Modern Language classroom. The Marshall Library
was dedicated solely to an academic book collection.
Computers and a computerized library system were introduced to the library in the 1990’s .
Interesting portraits in the library
include Leebody, an Old Boy who
became Sub - editor of The Times ,
John Mark , Earl of Ranfurly,
who owned the land currently occupied by the Gate
Lodge and Memorial Field ( although not an old boy
of RSD ) . He went as Governor General
to New Zealand in the early part of the 20th
Century. There is also an imposing sets of
photographs of Chairmen of the Board,
The Cloister
A Cloister
is defined as “a covered walk or arcade connected with
a monastery or college , often running around the
open court of a quadrangle “ .
RSD’s Cloister , however, has only one side
instead of four , and faces outwards from the court of the headmasters
garden rather than inwards . It was built with money donated by
Beresford, the
Archbishop of Armagh, in 1850 . Above the door at the north end
of the Cloister is a plaque commemorating the
donor and the date of construction . The Cloister
floor slabs are still the original ones. The
step at the north end is also original although deep
indentations from many years of feet have been filled in with cement .
The cloister used to be the setting
for PE classes and some whole school Assemblies.
A huge iron gate once linked the Robinson Wing
with the ball alley .
Behind the Cloister
is the walled garden of the Headmasters’ House . In
the early nineteenth century this was the scene of many
garden parties . From this garden the grounds once sloped down to
the “ bowl “ field which was a
boggy and smelly rugby pitch , originally where the Assembly Hall
now stands . Eastwards the ground rose to a field which
grew vegetables and fruit to feed the boarding pupils , this
was converted into a rugby pitch , later reconstructed in the 1960’s and
eventually becoming the Armstrong Field .
Beyond the Armstrong Field ,
a rough shrub area was
converted into a rugby pitch known as the Arnold Field
in 1989 . It was named after former pupil and governor
, Arthur Arnold , himself a former Head
of History in Rainey Endowed School , Magherafelt
. Arthur presented a trophy –The
Arnold Shield – now played for in matches between the two
schools at junior level .
The Ball Alley
The structure which stands at the
north end of the Cloisters playground was a ball
alley used for the game of handball, a game similar to squash but played
with a closed fist rather than a racket . The game is still played in parts
of Ireland .
The new Robinson
Link and the new
cloister form a back wall to the ball alley enabling it to be used for the
break and lunchtime practice of soccer, tennis and other ball sports.
The High School
Dungannon High School
for Girls was founded in 1925
. It was first based in the Robinson Wing
of RSD before moving to what is now the Lower Campus in 1935. The plaque on
the outside wall at the Lower Campus main entrance
commemorates the opening by lady Charlemont .
In 1986 the
High
School was amalgamated with the Royal School
and the 620 pupils of the new school made up the first co-educational
Grammar School in Dungannon .
The first Headmistress in
1925 was Miss McDermott . She
was succeeded by Miss Morton in 1935 ? Miss Leith
, a highly regarded and much loved Headmistress
took charge from 1948 to 1968 . Miss MacBeth
became Headmistress in 1968 and continued until 1986
. After amalgamation, she
became a Deputy Head along with Mr. R.D.Stewart
. Miss MacBeth is still a
member of the Board of Governors .
The High School
also had a Preparatory School
which took some boys for many years .It
eventually closed in the 1970‘s merging with the RSD Preparatory
Department .
At amalgamation in 1986 RSD took the
High School motto “ Perseverando
“. Unusually for an old school
, RSD did not have one of its own . The motto is formulated to mean “
never say die “ – keep on trying if you wish to succeed .
Click for top
The
information on this page is from a short booklet of Assembly talks for RSD
pupils produced by former Head of History Ivor Edgar who has kindly allowed
us to use it . I would be interested in receiving other interesting historical
information for addition to the page .
More
detailed information on the history of RSD may be obtained from the
following publications :
"Tyrone
Precinct" by W R Hutchinson
"The Castle and the Crown" recently written for the school by Dr James
Kincade (Former Headmaster) ,Mr Jimmy Davidson and
Dr Jonathan Bardon of Queen’s University
