The Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar school has had a long history educating the young boys of Newry for almost 160 years. The changing times have witnessed the movement of the school from a Christian Brother taught base to the modern day lay educators.

The Courtenay Hill location of the current school has held long lasting memories for the black, red and amber emblem of the Abbey but on Saturday last the final page of that association was turned as the Grammar opened its doors to let past pupils say a fond farewell.

Ashgrove Road, the site of the new £18million Abbey Grammar will soon open its doors to the next generation of Abbey boys as the completion of the high-tech modern school draws ever closer. Principal of the school, Dermot McGovern spoke to the Newry Reporter this week as the next chapter of the Christian Brothers’ school unfolds.

“There is a great sense of sadness with the move away from Courtenay Hill but at the end of the day the decision to move to Ashgrove was the only one to make,” said Mr McGovern. “The Abbey has been in several locations around Newry from Chapel Street to Kilmorey Street, the Carstands at Margaret Street and the Mall, then on to Abbey Yard and Courtenay Hill, so the moving of the school is not exactly a new idea.

“The option to stay at Courtenay Hill with the prospect of refurbishing and developing the school was simply not a feasible option, the cost and effect did not measure up to moving to Ashgrove. “We would not have been able to generate the educational provisions necessary for the present or projected requirements of our students. With Ashgrove I feel that this has now been achieved,” explained the principal.

The Abbey’s leap in to the future of education will take place this December with senior students being the first to attend Ashgrove before the rest of the school join them in January. However, it is not always about what is round the next educational corner as Mr McGovern reflects on the founding fathers of the school.

“The Christian Brothers believed in working towards a real sense of community and that is something we will strive to continue. I would like to think that the true ethos of the school will never change.

“We will be bringing physical and spiritual elements of the Brothers to the new school which will include a stone and plaque from the former Carstands school.

“There are also stained glass windows and doors from the old monastery that we will be putting in to place at Ashgrove in the new Oratory,” he added.

The long standing Newry institution has played a part in many lives of the people in Newry. The successes of the school have been measured through the years in academia from GCSEs to A-level grades and in extra-curricular from drama to the Gaelic football Hogan Cup, all of which are borne proudly in the Abbey’s history books. With the gleaming new school at Ashgrove it seems that there is yet more proud memories to come for the Abbey boys.

“For reasons all to obvious we have had to move with the times in order to adapt for continuing generations in all fields of education.

“However, we will continue to provide quality teaching and leadership in academia and extra curricular, the essence of the Abbey is about bringing a true sense of community, it always has been and always will be,” said the Abbey principal.