Thornhill College

Thornhill College is a Roman Catholic grammar school for girls. Located in Derry, Northern Ireland, it has a student population of approximately 1500 and a staff of 100 teachers.

The nucleus of the present Thornhill College commenced shortly after the Sisters of Mercy came to Derry in 1848. The Sisters started a private school for girls in Pump Street. The school started in Artillery Street, Derry in 1887 as the Ard Scoil na Maighdine Mhuire - Convent of Our Lady of Mercy School. Its first Scheme of Government under the then Ministry of Education was drawn up in February 1925. When Watt's Distillery closed in Derry, and the Estate at Thornhill, on the outskirts of Derry, became available for sale, the Sisters, with the kind assistance of Robert Boyle, a builder in Derry, completed the purchase of the property in 1929. The house was adapted to the needs of the nuns and of the boarders. The Sisters involved moved to Thornhill Convent along with the boarders, and the Convent of Our Lady of Mercy School was officially transferred and opened on 8 September 1932 with an intake of 120 pupils, and a staff of about seven Sisters and three lay teachers.

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