The school was on the west side of Catherine Street set above the street and accessed by a winding driveway. It consists of two mid 19th Century blocks in a plain Tudor style and a large 1960s extension . It was built as a District Model National School by the Commissioners of National Education and was designed by Frederick Darley, architect to the Commissioners. It opened in 1849 and was the first school of its type in Ulster (the earliest is in Dublin, 1835). There were separate spaces for the “infants”, boys and girls. Some students boarded. SOURCE: Northern Ireland Environment Agency