The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to B.R.A) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school situated in north Belfast. The Academy is one of eight schools in Northern Ireland whose Headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
The Academy was founded in 1785 by Rev. Dr. James Crombie. Originally situated near St Anne's Parish Church in what is now Academy Street, it moved to its current location on the Cliftonville Road in 1880. For more than a century the school was named Belfast Academy. On 27 November 1887, Queen Victoria granted permission for the school to style itself Belfast Royal Academy, and its name was officially changed in January 1888
Early in the morning of 12 April 1792 a group of schoolboys (eight boarders and two day boys) barricaded themselves in the mathematical classroom. In doing so they “declared war against the masters until their requests should be granted”. As they expected to be holed up for some time, they had taken a quantity of provisions from the academy kitchens; further they managed to arm themselves with 5 pistols and a large quantity of gunpowder and shot. A letter, headed “Liberty Hall”, was sent by the students to their masters in which they stated they would not surrender until their demands had been met. The academy authorities, in an attempt to break the siege, sent workmen to break down the door and pour water down the chimney, without success, as the boys opened fire on them. Finally the Sovereign of Belfast, Rev. William Bristow, was summoned, he “read the Riot Act” to the boys but failed to end the barring out, and one of the boys opened fire on him. Later that night the siege ended; the boys were later beaten and then expelled.
Rev. James Crombie, DD, (Universities of St Andrews and Glasgow) (1785–1790)
Rev. William Bruce, DD, (Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Glasgow) (1790–1822)
Rev. James Gray, DD, (1822–1826)
Rev. Reuben John Bryce, MA, LLD, (University of Glasgow) (1826–1880)
Dr William Collier, LLD, (Trinity College, Dublin) (1880–1890)
Mr T. W. Foster, MA, (Trinity College, Dublin) (1890–1898)
Mr T. R. Collier, MA, (Queen's College, Belfast) (1898–1923)
Mr Alexander Roulston Foster, MA, (Queen's University, Belfast) (1923–1942)
Mr John Darbyshire, MA, (University of Liverpool) (1943–1968)
Mr Louis Lord, MA, (Trinity College, Dublin) (1968–1980)
Mr William Sillery, MA, (St. Catharine's College, Cambridge) (1980–2000)
Mr William Young, MA, (Queen's University, Belfast) (2000–2008)
Mr Moore Dickson, MA, (Pembroke College, Cambridge) (2009–2017)
The school crest comprises the rose, the thistle and the shamrock, along with the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, the Arms of the City of Belfast and those of the Province of Ulster. The three significant dates mark the foundation of the school in 1785, the transfer to the present site in 1880 and the approval by Queen Victoria of the designation Belfast Royal Academy in 1888.
The school's preparatory department, Ben Madigan Preparatory School, is located on the Antrim Road in the shadow of Cave Hill. Originally opened in 1829, it moved to its current site in 1965. A pre-prep was opened in 1998.
When a pupil enters the Academy he or she is placed into one of the four houses: Shaw, Currie, Pottinger or Cairns, named after distinguished past pupils: James Shaw, Donald Currie, Henry Pottinger, and Hugh Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns, for whom the house colours are yellow, green, red, and blue, respectively; each pupil must wear a tie with a stripe of his or her house colour on it.
As a pupil progresses through the Academy, he or she can earn honours through excellence in sport and/or the arts. There are minor honours, allowing a pupil to wear a minor honours tie (blue owls) and major honours (gold owls). In addition, a pupil gaining major honours in sport is entitled to wear a distinctive maroon blazer with blue braid and a gold school badge. Pupils who receive major honours in the arts, be it for music, drama, or art & design are entitled to wear a blue blazer with maroon braid and a gold school badge. The honour, e.g. Cricket XI 2004 or Music 2002, is stitched in gold letters under the badge.
William Hamilton Drummond (1778–1865), Presbyterian minister and poet
Alexander Mitchell (1780–1868), blind civil engineer and inventor of the screw-pile lighthouse
James Lawson Drummond (1783–1853), Professor of Anatomy and Medical Physiology, Royal Belfast Academical Institution, 1819–49
Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pottinger (1789–1856), Envoy and Plenipotentiary to China, 1840–43, first Governor of Hong Kong, 1843–44, and Governor of Madras, 1847–54
William Bruce (1790–1868), Presbyterian minister
John Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882), Director, Armagh Observatory, 1823–1882
George Benn (1801–1882), historian of Belfast, and distiller
Robert Patterson FRS (1802–1872), naturalist
Sir James Emerson Tennent (1804–1869) FRS politician and traveller
Sir Samuel Ferguson (1810–1886), poet, barrister and antiquarian
Thomas Andrews (1813–1885), Professor of Chemistry, Queen's College, Belfast, 1845–1879, and physician
Sir William Ewart (1817–1889), linen manufacturer
Hugh Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns (1819–1885), Lord Chancellor, 1868, 1874–80
Abeer MacIntyre (born 1964), Journalist, Broadcaster and Charity Worker
John Mulholland, 1st Baron Dunleath (1819–1895), textile manufacturer
Sir Donald Currie (1825–1909), founder and owner, Castle Shipping Line, 1862–1900, and Union-Castle Line, 1900–09, and politician
Joseph Gillis Biggar (1828–1890), Irish Home Rule MP for County Cavan, 1874–90
James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce (1838–1922), jurist, historian and politician.
Charles Williams (1838–1904), first Editor, Evening Standard, 1860–63, first Editor, Evening News, 1881–84, and war correspondent
John Atkinson, Baron Atkinson (1844–1932), Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Bowman Malcolm (1854–1933), railway, civil and mechanical engineer
Robert Henry Charles (1855–1931), clergyman and biblical scholar
Owen Thomas Lloyd Crossley (1860–1926), Bishop of Auckland, 1911–13
Samuel Cunningham (1862–1946), businessman and Senator of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, 1921–45
Major General Sir Eric Girdwood KBE (1876–1963) Commandant of the Royal Military College Sandhurst and General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland District.
Sir Francis Evans (1897–1983), Ambassador to Israel, 1952–54, Ambassador to Argentina, 1954–57, and Agent for the Government of Northern Ireland in London, 1962–66
John Ward Armstrong (1915–1987), Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, 1958–68, Bishop of Cashel, Emly, Waterford and Lismore, 1968–77, Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, 1977–80, and Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, 1980–86
Douglas Gageby (1918–2004), Editor, Evening Press, 1954–63, and Editor, Irish Times, 1963–86
Sir Donald Murray (born 1923), Lord Justice of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Northern Ireland
Jack Kyle (born 1925), Ireland and British Lion rugby union player
John Cole (1927–2013), Political Editor, BBC, 1981–92
Robin Eames, Baron Eames of Armagh (born 1937), Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, 1986–2006
Denis Weaire, FRS Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, Trinity College, Dublin, and physicist
James Stirling, CBE, FRS Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Cambridge
Kate Hoey (born 1946), Minister for Sport, 1998–2001, MP for Vauxhall, 2001–present,
Sir Paul Girvan (born 1948), Lord Justice of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Northern Ireland
Dame Nicola Brewer, DCMG, Vice-Provost (International) University College London British High Commissioner to South Africa 2009–2013
Basil McCrea UUP member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Nelson McCausland DUP member of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure 2009–
P. Dean McFadden (born 1957) CMM, CD, Vice-Admiral and Commander of Canada Command
Samuel MacCurdy Greer (1810–1880), MP for County Londonderry 1857–59
Ali McMordie (born c.1957), musician, founding member of Stiff Little Fingers
Sir 'Timo' Anderson, KCB, DSO, FRAes, RAF, Air Marshal and Director General of the Military Aviation Authority
Ian White, MA, PhD, FREng, Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, van Eck Professor of Engineering, and Deputy Vice Chancellor University of Cambridge
Paul Seawright (born 1965), photographer and academic
William Crawley, BBC radio and television presenter
Marty Smyth, professional poker player
Peter Dickson, (born c. 1957), radio presenter, television announcer
Iain Henderson (born 1992), Ireland rugby union player
Stuart Olding (born 1993), Ireland rugby union player
