St. Patricks College: About Our School

Where is it?
St Patrick's College in situated at the foot of Benbradagh, a picturesque setting for this small rural school. In keeping with the location, which is in Curragh Road, just off the main Derry to Belfast road, the school serves a wide rural community. Pupils come from the immediate Dungiven district and from outlying, Drumsurn, Foreglen, Dernaflaw, Gortnaghey, Feeney and the Benedy.

Click here to see a map

History

St. Patrick's College was built in 1962 as Catholic secondary school for pupils. It opened in 1962 with 299 pupils and 15 staff. The first principal was Lawrence Hegarty who was Principal until he retired in 1981. Mr Hegarty was replaced in by Mr Sean O'Connell, a man well known for his Derry and Ulster gaelic football skills. Mr O'Connell was Principal until 1992. Frank Devenney was appointed in 1992 and lead St. Patrick's for 7 years. He Left to take up an appointment in another school. The Governors appointed its first ever female Principal in 1999, Anne Scott, who led the school for 5 years until the appointment of the current Principal Mr. Damien Harkin in September 2004.

Present
St Patrick's college will be an 11-18 school from September 2003. The school presently offers the full range of subjects as specified by the Education Reform Order to Keystage 3. The aims of the school are as follows;

To promote a Christian way of life in a caring and supportive environment
To enable all pupils to develop as fully as possible, their abilities, interests and abilities
To develop basic skills relevant to adult and working life with emphasis on communication, literacy and numeracy.
To develop a curriculum which will help pupils know more about the society in which they live
To equip children for their roles in society and to help them to develop the responsibilities of being parents, citizens and consumers

FACTS

Principal	Mr. Damien Harkin
Chair of Board of Governors	Reverend Kevin McKenna
Number of pupils	375
Age Group	11-18
Classification	Co-ed catholic maintained