Royal School, Armagh

The Royal School, Armagh is a co-educational grammar school in the city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. The Headmaster, Mr Paul Crute, is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference HMC. The Royal School is a voluntary grammar school of ancient foundation. It has a boarding department with an international intake and is similar to the former English public schools of the Direct grant grammar school type.

One of a number of free schools created by King James I of England & Ireland, James VI of Scotland in 1608, the school was to provide an education to the sons of local merchants and farmers during the plantation of Ulster. It has four "sister" schools: Royal School Dungannon, in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, the Royal School Cavan in County Cavan, and the Royal and Prior School in Raphoe, County Donegal.. In November 2013 the school was placed 78th in 'The Sunday Times Top 200 UK Schools Guide' for results at A level and GCSE combined. In May 2014, an inspection by the Education and Training Inspectorate found the leadership and management of the school to be 'outstanding'.

Originally intended to be sited at Mountnorris in south Armagh, the turbulent situation in Ulster at the time led to a move to the relative safety of Armagh city. Despite this, an early headmaster of the school, John Starkey, and his family, were drowned by insurgents during the 1641 Rebellion. The school arrived at its current 27-acre (110,000 m²) site on College Hill in the 1770s. A boys' school from its inception, the Royal School was amalgamated with Armagh Girls' High School in 1986 to become co-educational.

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