Secondary Schools

Dominican Schools Northern Ireland

Dominican Sisters came to Belfast in 1870 at the invitation of the Bishop of Down and Connor, Bishop Dorrian, who also invited the Sisters of Mercy and the Christian Brothers to the diocese.

St Dominic’s, Falls Road, opened in April, 1870, with five pupils, including one boarder. This was followed by the foundation of a day and boarding school in Portstewart, Co. Derry, in June, 1917. This school became a co-educational College in 1968, and ceased to admit boarders in 1995.  Dominican College, Fortwilliam Park, was founded in 1930, initially to provide a Catholic Commercial College in the city, alongside a second level school. In 1961 St Rose’s Dominican College opened to provide a wider range of educational opportunities, necessitated by the ongoing needs of a growing population and the legal requirements of the time. It became part of All Saints College / Coláiste na Naomh Uile in 2019.

These three schools are under the Trusteeship of the Cabra Dominican Sisters, with Boards of Governors whose membership also includes parents, a teacher and appointees of the Department of Education.