Stranorlar Vocational School opened its doors in September 1940, contrary to the sign above its door stating 1939 (which was the year it was built).
However, it just so happened that many of the ‘Big Houses’ of the departed English Landlords were being tumbled and burned by the new Free State. At the top of Drumboe Avenue stood the grand residence of one Lord Hayes, Drumboe Castle. It made perfect sense therefore that the rubble from the castle should help to build the new school on the site at the bottom of the avenue.
As a result, the first floor of our grand main building is built from the rubble of Drumboe Castle. The enrolment figures for that first year, 1940 were approx. 24 boys and 30 girls. Its first Principal was Mr. Louis Emerson.
The man who would become the school’s next Principal, Mr. Eddie Mc Devitt, joined the school as a Rural Science teacher in 1941.
After Mr Mc Devitt, the principalship was taken over by a local man Mr Brian Mc Dermott. Principalship was undertaken by Mr Frank Dooley, a former science teacher in the school, which led to a dramatic upsurge in numbers, peaking at over 350. Then, after years of efforts and letdowns, a new, state of the art school was built at its site in Drumboe. The new school opened for students in September 2011, under Mr Dooley and continued to grow and excel under the leadership of Mr Alan Thompson who acted as Principal until December 2023.
No doubt, further chapters will be written into the school’s long and distinguished history under its current Principal, Mr Séan Mc Fadden.