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Ancestry UK

Sacred Heart Industrial School, Abbeyville, Whiteabbey, near Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland

On 6 June 1896, the Sacred Heart Industrial School for Roman Catholic Girls was certified to operate in premises in a property known as Abbeyville, on Shore Road, Whiteabbey (or White Abbey), near Belfast. The school, which was established as the junior branch of the St Patrick's Industrial School for Girls on Crumlin Road, initially accommodated up to 50 girls. Its capacity was increased to 100 on 18 September 1897, and to 120 on 2 September 1898.

The school site is shown on the 1902 map below.

Sacred Heart Industrial School site, Belfast, c.1902.

An inspection report for the school in 1911 recorded that there were 129 committed cases, 6 voluntary cases and 7 girls out on licence. The staff comprised the manager, Mrs Mary Malachy Hamill, assisted by 4 Sisters of Mercy, 3 lay teachers, 3 workmistresses, 2 cooks, and 3 laundresses. In the classroom, geography, grammar and mental arithmetic were rated as 'good', singing and drawing as 'very good', and recitation as 'excellent'. No industrial training was carried out but was left until the girls were transferred to the senior department at Crumlin Road. Physical training included Swedish Drill, which was generally taken in the open air, marching, and other exercises. The girls had charming grounds for play and could bathe in the sea, which came up to the school premises.

In 1922, the school was redesignated as a Reformatory then in 1933 became an Approved School, one of the new institutions introduced by the Children and Young Persons Act to replace the existing system of Reformatories and Industrial Schools.

Records

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Bibliography

  • None identified at present.

Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.