St Colmcille's BNS

In 1887, the Governors of the Old Borough Schools amalgamated their Boys’ and Girls’ Schools, and they closed the separate Infant School (now the Old Schoolhouse Restaurant). The school would not have been viable without the boys of the Protestant Orphan Society who lived in the Orphanage on Church Road. World War 1 and the Civil War brought about a reduction in the Protestant population in Ireland, and these factors had implications for the numbers in the Old Borough School.

The Old Borough School

In 1961, the numbers had decreased to such an extent that it was possible to accommodate the pupils in the study of the Vicarage, and to lease rooms in the Old Borough School to the pupils of the New Borough School where overcrowding had become a major problem. When Mrs Skinner, principal of the Old Borough School retired in 1969, it was decided to close the Old Borough School thus bringing to an end 160 years of education in the premises on Main Street. The Protestant children of Swords attended school in Malahide for a number of years, but in September 1977, the Old Borough was re-opened.

New Premises

During the next 20 years, its numbers increased to such an extent that the premises on Main Street were no longer adequate so it was decided to build a new school. The pupils and teachers of the Old Borough School re-located to their new premises opposite the Round Tower in 2001.