Newry Municipal Technical School

Anna Marie McClelland

The Agricultural and Technical Instruction Act, 1899, came into operation on 1st April 1901, and was adopted unanimously by Newry Urban District Council in February, 1902. Under the terms of the Act, a Technical Instruction Committee was appointed, consisting of seven members of the Urban Council and nine ratepayers. In June 1902, the Newry Technical Instruction Committee, which included members such as Arthur McCann (Victoria Bakery), Henry Barcroft (Bessbrook Mill) and J.H. Russell, selected the old Town Hall as a suitable site for Newry Municipal Technical School.

Mr E. Holden was appointed Principal on the 17th October 1902, and he undertook preparation of the plans, specifications, alterations, furnishings and equipment for Newry’s first Municipal Technical School. The total cost of this work amounted to £600 15s, close to the original estimate of £600. Technical Instruction Committees throughout Ireland were encouraged to make available such courses that would meet the needs and demands of local industries in the areas they were situated. On January 19th 1903, Newry Municipal Technical School commenced ‘Preparatory Evening Classes’. The classes were a success, and Mr Holden announced in a report in March of that year that 69 students had enrolled, with an average class attendance of 45. Trades represented included carpenters, engineers, clerks, drapers, painters, masons, plumbers, and shop assistants.

In September 1903, P.G. Hamilton Carvill, MP, formally opened Newry Municipal Technical School for the Borough of Newry and 439 students were enrolled. The school was divided into five separate departments: commercial, applied and natural sciences, engineering and building trades, art and domestic. Fireplaces were fitted into each room and the building was lighted throughout with incandescent gas lights and; “... In decorating the school, green was chosen owing to its restfulness for the students’ eyes...”

Due to demand, there was soon a need for expansion. In the 1960s the Newry Technical College occupied numerous buildings throughout Newry: Victoria Buildings on Margaret Street (now the McGrath Centre), Clanrye Building on Margaret Street, (formally the Carstands School and now demolished), the Commercial Building, Merchants Quay and another building on the Downshire Road, beside the Court

House. The Technical College became the College of Further Education in 1969 and moved to new premises on Patrick Street. It is now amalgamated with other Technical Colleges in Armagh and Down, and forms the Southern Regional College. Outside of Belfast, this is the largest Further and Higher Education College in Northern Ireland with a total of six campuses. It caters for approximately 34,000 students each year and has in excess of 900 members of staff.

Pupils and teacher at Newry Model School, 1951. The school opened in 1849 as a District Model National School and was the first of its type in Ulster. There were separate spaces for the “infants”, boys and girls and some students boarded Courtesy of William McAlpine