History
When the House system was introduced in 1926, Pirrie was one of the original four Houses. It was named after the shipbuilder, businessman and entrepreneur Lord William James Pirrie.
Born in Quebec, Canada on May 31st 1847, Pirrie rose to the top of the shipbuilding industry. The famous Victorian writer and political activist, William Stead – who himself died on ‘Titanic’ – described him as “the greatest shipbuilder that the world has ever known”, who has “built more ships and bigger ships than any man since the days of Noah”.
Pirrie was educated at R.B.A.I. between 1858 and 1862 when he left and enrolled as an apprentice at Harland and Wolff shipyard at the age of 15. Sir Edward Harland almost immediately saw Pirrie’s potential and took the teenager under his wing: as a result, Pirrie’s rise through the company was meteoric. By the age of 22, he was chief draughtsman; by 27, he was made a partner in the company; and later he became the first chairman of the board. Under his energetic, but often dictatorial, control, the shipyard boomed – and alongside it, so did the city of Belfast. Pirrie was elected Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1896 and 1897, and played a key role in the drawing up of the plans for the magnificent new City Hall (work began two years later and the building was completed in 1906). He was the first person to be named a Honorary Freeman of the City in 1898; was the first Viscount of Belfast in 1921; and was elected to the Northern Ireland Senate in 1921. A bust of Lord Pirrie was unveiled in the grounds of Belfast City Hall in 2006.
Pirrie and his expanding shipyard embarked on some of their most ambitious projects at the beginning of the 20th century. First came the ‘Laurentic’ in 1908 and then the three sisters ships of the ‘Olympic’ class. However, the shipyard’s crowning achievement was soon followed by its moment of infamy – the sinking of the mighty ‘Titanic’ on April 15th 1912, less than one year after its launch. Pirrie was due to travel aboard the Titanic but illness prevented him from joining the ill-fated passage. In an ironic twist of fate, Pirrie died at sea on June 7th 1924 while on a business trip to South America.
In the early days of the House, boys from East Belfast were allocated to Pirrie House where the House became synonymous with the “hard men from the east” according to former Senior Housemaster and historian Brian Todd. These boys certainly did not know how to give up in House competitions. In more recent years, boys enter the House from various parts of Belfast and beyond but the Pirrie fighting spirit is still alive and well.
Back Row: Josh Price; Dylan Robertson; Michael Scott; Robbie Scott; Owen Shane; Jack Stewart; Dylan Voce; Jonny Wright
Second Row: Harris Lundy, Riley Lynch; Nathan McCorry; Benjamin McIlwaine; Shea McKernan; Archie McLucas; Connor McMath; Joshua Nelson; Evan O’Neill
Front Row: Finlay Acheson; Scott Burgess; Noah Burke; Hugo Callanan; Mr Scott; Mr Seath; Ezra De Silva; Enzo Gowdy; Carter Gray; Riley Irons
Pirrie House
Senior Housemaster: Mr DS Scott
Year 8 Tutor: Mr JH Seath Year 9 Tutor: Miss FM Green
Year 10 Tutor: Mr D McCann Year 11 Tutor: Mr S Archibald
Year 12 Tutor: Mr ME Titterington Year 13 Tutors: Mrs VH McCord and Mrs KS McClean
Head of House: Ryan Ferguson
Deputy Head of House: Luke Nelson
House Secretary: Jamie Magill
Deputy House Secretary: Toby Hawthorne-Smith
Prefects: Ryan Ferguson, Bailey Hanna, Toby Hawthorne-Smith, Joshua Holmes (Senior), Jamie Magill, Luke Nelson, Adrian Olszewski, Nathan Roberts, Sam Scott, Patrick Woods (Deputy Head of School), Peter Wright.
Mentors: Daniel Armstrong, Rudi Crawley, Bailey Hanna, Toby Hawthorne-Smith, Jamie Magill, Charlie Methven, Luke Nelson, Sam Scott
Valete: Matthew Armstrong, Joshua Brown, Reuben Burnham, Calum Dornan, Adam Draper, Michael Giboney, James Henry, Alex Hogg, Kalum Hull, Dan Kernohan, Will Kernohan, Allen Lyons, James Mamijs, David Martin, Alex O’Neill, Ryan Reid, Olly Roy, Charlie Savage, Ashton Simms, Timothy Sinclair, Raphael Smith, Zakk Stevenson, Bryn Ward
Alastair Watt, Oliver Redmond and Bryn Ward received the Todd Cup at the House Rewards Assembly
Head of House Reuben Burnham and Deputy Head of School Will Kernohan received the Pirrie Cup
First, I would like to extend a warm welcome to those who have just joined Pirrie House, and I wish them all the best at Inst. The aim of our school is to provide an environment where people from all walks of life can have access to a good education and realise their potential, and the members of Pirrie House have shown that this is possible in the past academic year.
In the first full year back to education without restrictions linked to the pandemic, 14P achieved outstanding results in their A2-Level courses. Dan Kernohan top scored with four A* grades while Will Kernohan and Raphael Smith achieved three A*s and an A. Head of House Reuben Burnham achieved two A*s and an A while Calum Dornan and Alex O’Neill obtained an A* and two As. I wish the leavers all the best as they move on to third level studies or to work.
13P also received a pleasing set of AS-Level results. Joshua Holmes top scored with an A* and three A grades while Peter Wright achieved four A grades. Luke Nelson obtained three A grades while Jamie Magill and Sam Scott achieved at least two A grades. 12P produced a good set of GCSE results with Harry McAllister top scoring with 31 points. Other pleasing scores came from Adam Binu, Ben Crawford, Gannon Robertson, and Alastair Watt. Congratulations to all the pupils who sat public examinations especially as the marking of those examinations has returned to pre-Covid standards.
In the past year, it was pleasing to see that Pirrie House improved again and finished in third place in the House Championship. There were wins in Swimming, Water Polo, and Senior Cross Country with a commendable second place in Junior Rugby. In 8P, Drew Adair, Lewis Buchanan, Cai Jones, Matthew Madden, Zach Murphy, Jude Robinson, and Jonnie Westhead won the House Rugby Competition. Daniel McBride presented a House Assembly. 9P successes continued with Ruairi Irons winning the discus event at Junior Sports Day while Dylan Gray won the shot, 100m and 200m events. Dylan was also selected for the NCU Under 15 Development Squad. Bobby Cunningham, Thomas D’Arcy, Dylan Gray and Ruairi Irons won the 4 by 100m Relay event. Aaditya Singh represented Ireland in table tennis at the European Championships in France having won the Ulster Schools Under 14 Chess Championship earlier in the year. In 10P, Sam Holmes won the 200m and Javelin at Junior Sports Day as well as representing Ulster Under 16 Hockey. Toby Lyons also represented Ulster at Under-16 level. The tutor group finished second in House Swimming.
In 11P, Reuben Edmondson and Andrew Purcell were involved with the Ulster Under 17 rugby squad while Caleb De Silva played for Northern Ireland Cricket. Theo Wilson fenced internationally while Niall McNarry made an Irish National Swimming final. Bruce MacDonald played in the Ulster Under 16 Golf Inter Pro team while Oliver Peron boxed for a Northern Irish Novice team. In Year 12, Ryan Hamilton, Guy Morrow, Ollie O’Hara, Gannon Robertson, and Jude Thompson won the House Swimming competition.
Gannon Robertson, Niall McNarry, Calum Dornan, Dylan Gray and Oliver Jones received the House Swimming Shield at House Assembly
In the past academic year, Pirrie House was represented at Pupil Council meetings by Amos Binu and Davon Hanna (8P), Oliver Redmond and Charlie Skeggs (9P), Matthew Bradley and Jackson Walker (10P), Caleb De Silva and Ryan Bassett (11P), Adam Binu and Alastair Watt (12P), Jamie Magill and Bailey Hanna (13P), James Mamijs and Matthew Armstrong (14P). Pupil Council representatives are an essential part of our school in ensuring that pupils feel represented and that they have a voice. For this, I would like to thank all representatives for stepping up to the role. At the end-of-year Rewards Assembly, The Pirrie Cup for Leadership was presented jointly to Head of House Reuben Burnham and Deputy Head of School Will Kernohan; and the Todd Cup for Best Contribution to the House was presented jointly to Oliver Redmond, Bryn Ward and Alastair Watt. House Contribution Certificates were awarded to Daniel McBride and Brolyn O’Doherty (8P), Aaditya Singh (9P), Leon Coey and Sam Holmes (10P), Bruce MacDonald (11P), Adam Binu (12P), Patrick Woods (13P), and Joshua Brown (14P).
In conclusion, I would like to welcome Miss Green into Pirrie House and wish Ms Gordon all the best for her future retirement. Ms Gordon was a tremendous tutor, always having the welfare of her tutor group at heart. I would like to thank everyone across Pirrie House, both pupils and teachers, for their continuous efforts in providing a positive environment for the pupils to enjoy and in which to excel.
Jamie Magill (House Secretary)