College History
Our Lady and St Patrick’s College , Knock was founded as a Diocesan Co - Educational Voluntary Grammar School in 1985 with the amalgamation of the Sacred Heart of Mary Grammar School, Holywood, Co Down and St Patrick’s College, Knock. The College is situated in its own spacious 20-acre site in the Cherryvalley district of Belfast. Students come to the College from a wide area covering South and East Belfast, North Down and Ards. The wide catchment area has the advantage of allowing young people from diverse backgrounds to mix and make friendships. As students of Our Lady and St Patrick’s they are all assured access to a comprehensive, progressive curriculum and a variety of creative, sporting and cultural activities
The words of the College crest are "Gratias Agamus" ( ‘Let us give thanks’) and echo the gracious obedience to the Divine Will characterised primarily by Our Lady and also by St Patrick in his writings. They challenge us to bring our pupils to an understanding of the world as God’s creation and of the sacredness of life; and to an appreciation of their vocation in Christ and how to fulfill that vocation. As a school community we grow in Christ through a combination of prayer, sacramental and non-sacramental worship and the development of the strength of character to live the Christian life. The ethos of Our Lady and St Patrick’s College is best summed up by the following quotation: