St. Michael's Grammar School
Motto	AD JESUM PER MARIAM
Established	1924
Principal	Mr. G. Adams
Location	Lurgan
Students	550
Type	Grammar School
Colours	Navy Blue and Yellow
Homepage	http://www.stmichaelslurgan.org.uk/

St Michael's Grammar School is a grammar school in Lurgan

Lurgan

Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...

, County Armagh

County Armagh

-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.

History

The property known as "Irishtown Hill House", Cornakinnegar was purchased in 1892 for a permanent Boys' Industrial School. Plans for an extension having been approved, Dr. O'Neill laid the foundation stone and the school was named St. Michael's as a form of tribute to Rev. Michael B. McConville, PP. The boys were transferred from their temporary school for Junior Industrial Boys (established in 1905) at 81, William Street, Lurgan, on 26 June 1903 and remained there until 1924 when the two Industrial Schools - St. Michael's for Boys and the House of Divine Providence for Girls (established from 1892) - closed as a result of the partition of Ireland.

With continued refashioned and extension the Boys' Industrial School developed rapidly into Our Lady's Boarding School. As enrollment increased four new classrooms were added in 1950 and in 1959 a new Chapel was completed at the expense of the Mercy Order

Sisters of Mercy

The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....

 and blessed by Bishop Eugene O'Doherty.

From 1965 - 1972 a programme of expansion was carried out which included the addition of a canteen, 6th Form Centre, Sports Hall, Music and Lecture Rooms, Art room, Science laboratories, Assembly Hall and General Subjects classrooms.

In 1972 the name of the school was officially changed from Our Lady's to St. Michael's Senior High School when it became a co-educational school enrolling pupils at 14+ following the introduction of the Two-Tier system in the Craigavon Area (The Dickson Plan). The school was renamed St. Michaels Grammar School in 1995.

Along with Lurgan College and Portadown College, St. Michaels form the Grammar stream of the Dickson Plan in this area.

In the 90's the school was further extended with the erection of a Technology Suite.

Subject Choice

St. Michael's offers a diverse range of subjects including: Art, Biology, Business Study, Chemistry English/Drama, Geography, History, Home Economics, Politics, IT, Languages (French, Spanish and Irish), Mathematics, Religion, Technology and Design, Music and Physics.

Notable former pupils

• Neil Lennon
  Neil Lennon
  Neil Francis Lennon is a former footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the current manager and former captain of Celtic....
  
   - Former Northern Ireland & Glasgow Celtic footballer
• Julie O'Connor
  Julie O'Connor
  -Broadcasting career:O'Connor joined UTV as a reporter in 2003. She previously worked as a reporter for the Belfast Telegraph.- References :...
  
   - a Northern Irish television presenter and journalist; currently a reporter for UTV Live
• John Daly
  John Daly (TV presenter)
  John Daly was voted Northern Ireland's Top TV Star by readers of The Daily MirrorJohn hosts his own BBC Northern Ireland TV chat show, The John Daly Show.-External links:*...
  
  - Chat show host