Much has happened since that initial period. Buildings have changed, staff have come and gone and the school has grown in a wide variety of ways. Nevertheless, the memories and building blocks set in place in Hardinge Street are still alive in the school today. In this article I hope to briefly reflect on this period, sharing and addressing the vast significance of the Brothers and their impact on our local north Belfast community, and how this historical contribution is still felt in today’s college. Hardinge Street opened in 1903 as a Trades School for Catholic working class boys at the bottom of the New Lodge Road. Its proper name at the time was St Joseph the Worker. The school changed its name several times reflecting changes in the educational system. It was known as Hardinge Street Junior Technical School in the 1930’s and following reforms brought about by the Education Act of 1947, was renamed Hardinge Street CBS.
When I arrived at the doors of Hardinge Street CBS as a nervous year 8 student in August 1971, little did I know that I was embarking on a journey linked with the school that would span four decades. However, the beginning of my journey ironically crossed with the end of another i.e. after nearly seventy years, the historical building of Hardinge Street would close its doors for the last time that coming Easter, and the school would move from its New Lodge site to areas outside of the then troubled inner city of Belfast.
When I arrived at the doors of Hardinge Street CBS as a nervous year 8 student in August 1971, little did I know that I was embarking on a journey linked with the school that would span four decades. However, the beginning of my journey ironically crossed with the end of another i.e. after nearly seventy years, the historical building of Hardinge Street would close its doors for the last time that coming Easter, and the school would move from its New Lodge site to areas outside of the then troubled inner city of Belfast.
