Back Row: Isaac McClean; Sam McCleary; James Morrow; Cameron Skelton; James Steele; Daniel Thompson, Ryan Turkington, Ahmad Umer
Second Row: Rhye Harvey; Archie Hermon; Riley Ingram; Harry Jones; Daniel Knox; Nico Koza; Troy Lee; Callum Lowe; Daniel Mackin
Front Row: Micah Creighton; Noah Culbert; Ryan Devlin; Seth Gibson; Mr Lyttle; Mr Gallagher; Matty Gillespie; Alex Hall; Noah Hamilton; Matthew Hart
House History
In 1925 the School Song was written and boys were required for the first time to wear the yellow and black quartered caps. A year later the house system was introduced, with the four houses Dill, Kelvin, Larmor and Pirriebeing named after prominent Instonians.
Dill House acquired its name from Sir Samuel Dill (1844-1924), the distinguished Ulster-born classical scholar and educationist. He was born in Hillsborough, County Down, educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and what was then Queen's College, Belfast, held the chair of Greek at Queen's from 1890 until his death in 1924, and was also Pro-Chancellor. He had previously been a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and High Master of the Manchester Grammar School. As a member of the Belfast University Commission in 1909, he played an important role in the transformation of Queen's College into a university. Samuel Dill was knighted in 1909.
The Dill Memorial Lecture, founded in 1925 to perpetuate his memory, is given on a subject relating to the history, philosophy, language or literature of the classical or medieval worlds. The lecture is delivered every second or third year as occasion presents itself.
Dill House
Senior Housemaster: Mr MH Lyttle
Year 8: Mr R Gallagher
Year 9: Mr ND Carson
Year 10: Mrs CA Mayberry
Year 11: Ms Z Huston
Year 12: Mrs E Johnston/Mrs K Rodgers
Year 13: Mr RP Griffiths
Head of House: Piers Stafford
House Secretary: Aaron Turkington
Head of School: Callum Soper
Deputy Head of School: Josh Gibson
Senior Prefects: Tom Crothers
Prefects: Jamie Beattie, Andrew Collins, Tom Crothers, Fraser Cunningham, Joshua Gibson, Thomas Lowry, Jack McCausland, Matthew Neilly, Ben Oberholzer, Shea Scanlon, Andrew Skilling, Callum Soper, Alex Spence, Piers Stafford, Loughlin Sweeney, Aaron Turkington
Mentors: Tom Crothers, Fraser Cunningham, Jay Hendrie, Jack McCausland, Shea Scanlon, Alex Spence, Aaron Turkington
Valete: Robbie Agass, Charlie Anderson, Raymond Beattie, Luke Derby, Carl Devine, Charlie Dooley, Ryley Finlay, Benjamin Haddock, Carter Houston, Daniel Hu, Christopher Hunter, John Johnston, Ethan Kennedy, Nicholas Lo, Ali McCartney, Bailey Marshall, Alex Murray, John Patterson, Jamie Spence, Joshua Tucker, Daniel Walsh, Owen Williams.
Firstly, on behalf of Dill House, I would like to take this opportunity to provide a warm welcome to all the new pupils entering Dill House this year, in particular those pupils in Year 8. I would strongly encourage them to take full advantage of the numerous opportunities that RBAI provides, both academically and in their co-curricular activities, as this will help to ensure their full potential. I would also like to congratulate last year’s Year 14 pupils’ success outside of RBAI and to thank them for their contributions to Dill House.
In order to help the Year 8 pupils transition into secondary school, several boys were selected to be mentors to assist in settling and allowing them to fully engage and participate in the multitude of different co-curricular activities that the school offers. Additionally, I would like to congratulate the new prefects and mentors and wish them well in carrying out their new responsibilities.
In light of their commitment to Dill house several Year 13 boys were awarded with house honours for their contributions to the house: Jamie Agass, William Allen, Ross Campbell, Christopher Chee, Rory Fuller, Tom Galbraith, Alex Garvin, Luke Gibson, Mark Grant, Jay Jayaprakash, Harry Keag, Sam Lamont, Ben McCausland, Patrick McEvoy, James McMurray, Eoin O’Neill and Noah Stafford.
Dill house has had another brilliant year of results from over the summer. At GCSE a special mention Patrick McEvoy who achieved 39 points with 9 A*1A. Congratulations also goes to Christopher Chee 5A* 5 A, Noah Stafford 3A*5A 1B, Luke Gibson1A*8A 1B, Jay Jayaprakash 1A*8A 1B and Ben McCausland 1A* 8A 1B. At AS-level Tom Crothers achieved 3As 1B , Joshua Gibson 3As, Jack McCausland 3As, Callum Soper 1A*3As, Piers Stafford 3As, Shea Scanlon 4As, Tim Svetenko 1A*3As and Aaron Turkington 1A*3As. At A2-level Robbie Agass 3As, Luke Derby 3Ds (Distinctions), Nicholas Lo 1A*1A 1B,Bailey Marshall 1A*1A 1B 1C, Owen Williams A*2As, and Ethan Kennedy D*D*(Distinction Star)C.
Away from the classroom there were other notable successes from Dill house. In Year 8 Harry McClelland got selected for Phoenix U14 Basketball team after competing in trials against 70 other boys. In Year 9 Isaac Love competed in the Interpros for Ulster Tennis. Another achievement in Year 9 comes from Finn Powell for swimming; he qualified for the Irish Club U13 Swimming Competition with his club Lisburn and will compete in Limerick later this year. In Year 11, Ross Dillon continued his success in Quad Biking as he travelled to France over the summer. He raced against competitors from across Europe and finished 3rd overall. He was also recently crowned the Ulster Quad Champion. Luke McCausland was awarded the Ulster Athletics Council Star Award for County Antrim as a result of a number of outstanding performances in both Athletics and Cross Country. A further achievement in Year 11 comes from Charlie Dobson who has been competing in Show Jumping and Dressage, finishing 2nd in the U16 category. Charlie will also be representing the school in the upcoming School’s Show Jumping. In Year 13 Callum Soper, Josh Gibson, Fraser Cunningham and Loughlin Sweeney all represented Ulster U18 over the summer. Fraser was also selected for the Irish Sevens U18 squad that travelled to Switzerland.
Finally, I would like to thank Mr Lyttle and all the tutors for their hard work and time that they have put into the overall running of the house and ensuring that each member feels included and valued, while also ensuring that everyone can achieve their full potential both academically and in their co-curricular experiences.
Aaron Turkington (House Secretary)
Cameron McCracken represented Ulster in the Interpro Championships
Jack McCausland won the U19 3000m at the Ulster Club Championships
Callum Soper who received the Dill House Cup for Most Significant Contribution
