City Centre

Royal Belfast Academical Institution, or Inst., occupies an eight acre site in the centre of Belfast. The eminent English architect John Soane, who designed the new Bank of England in 1788, drew up plans for the school in 1809 and its foundation stone was laid in July 1810. The building was formally opened at 1.00pm on 1 February 1814.
Money was collected to pay for the buildings by encouraging rich merchants and businessmen to subscribe one hundred guineas each for the privilege of being able to nominate one boy to receive free education at Inst.
Speaking at its opening, William Drennan said that the aim of the school was to 'diffuse useful knowledge, particularly among the middling orders of society, as a necessity, not a luxury of life.' He also referred to the particularly noble and rural setting of the school - in front a fair and flourishing town, and backed by a sublime and thought-inspiring mountain.
In the early days boys could choose which 'schools' they wanted to attend within Inst. If a boy attended all the schools his education was likely to cost £12 a year. In May 1814 the number of boys attending schools was as follows: Classical - 80, English - 230, Mathematics - 140, Writing - 155 and French - 20. School meals consisting of meat, bread and two vegetables were introduced in 1908. The cost was 7d - the



equivalent of about £0.03 today.
Until the middle of the 19th Century Inst. fulfilled the role of both a school and a university. The collegiate (university) part of Inst. opened in November 1815. An important 'school' within the collegiate department trained ministers for the Presbyterian Church. The collegiate Department was closed in October 1849, although the Inst. Medical School continued until 1862.
Among the many renowned pupils to have passed through Royal Belfast Academical Institution was Thomas Andrews (born 1873), the Chief Designer of RMS Titanic and nephew to Lord William Pirrie, the owner of Harland and Wolff shipyard. He went down with the vessel when it sank after striking an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912.

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