The first vice-principal, Sister Eugenius recalled when the school first opened: �I watched hundreds of young girls from 11 to 14, and a group of teachers fresh from university or college, troop into the Assembly Hall for the blessing of the building by Bishop O�Doherty. Hundreds of times we would gather in the same hall for morning assembly, concerts, operas, plays, retreats and various functions, including discos at the end of term.

�There were moments of hilarity, like the day the dining-hall was in uproar, with girls standing on chairs, screaming. I was told that a mouse was scurrying around, so I sent for two P.E. instructors. They restored calm, and enquired as the cause of the disturbance. When told about the mouse on the loose, they jumped away form the door, and said they would never have entered the hall had they known.

Mrs Gleenan of the Home Economics Department recalled her first day as a teacher, which was also the first day for pupils at St Mary�s. The new staff was assembled; they included Aileen Higgins and Anne Treanor, whom I had known at the Sacred Heart School, as well as Mary McQuillan, Mrs McCourt and Mrs Rafferty, who were to be my colleagues in that department. There were plenty of cupboards, but very little equipment for some time.�

Mrs McCourt described her first day as �absolute chaos. Since there was no equipment for the first two terms, the girls had to sew with their hands. But my pupils later won awards at agricultural shows and horticultural competitions.�

However, Mrs Mackey of the Arts Department said that her initial impression had been �very exciting. It was a beautiful new school; and all were agreed that it was the finest site in the North. The first caretaker, Paddy Kennedy, was very keen on gardening. The grounds were well-kept, with rocky beds, a vegetable garden and greenhouse. Those all had to go when the extension was built.�

The Arts teacher, Rita Connolly, who was on the staff for 24 years until retirement in 1985, had fond recollections of such productions as The Quiller Girls, `The Arcadians,` `Waltzes of Vienna,` `The Gypsy Baron,` and `Miracle Man.` Later came `Oliver,` `the Merchants of Venice,` as well as`The King and I` for the Silver Jubilee.

But the person with the longest association with St Mary�s High School is the legendary Sister Regina McDermott. She paid tribute to former principal, Mrs Florence McMahon, also Newry Cathedral organist, whose term of office she described as "memorable."

�The curriculum was changing radically, but Florence very ably guided us through it. She ensured that the staff had an opportunity to attend courses, and had personnel from the S.E.L.B. to assist us. She was seconded to the Southern Board, and appointed to the Inspectorate in 1994.�

Florence McMahon stated: �From the beginning in 1961, St Mary�s was built on a sound foundation, laid by Sister Pacifica and her staff. They committed themselves to providing a Catholic education for the girls entrusted to their care.�

Education Minister, Dr Brian Mawhinney visited the school at her invitation and spoke to some of the 545 pupils. Asking a student in the accountancy class what it felt like to be in a secondary school rather than a grammar school, he was told that they were �proud to be at St Mary�s.�

One pupil told the minister how she felt that �my world had fallen in,� when she failed the 11-Plus, but now she was �delighted to be in a good school, and had no regrets.� Dr Mawhinney described St Mary�s as being �a very innovative school, in a variety of areas.�

Of course, sport and the arts have played a significant role at the school, including netball, camogie, athletics, ladies football, unihoc, volleyball, gymnastics and swimming. School teams have won the All-Ireland Cross-country Championship; Northern Ireland Netball Championship; and Co Down Vocational Schools Championship, etc., while Elaine McCourt was a member of the Down squad, which won the All-Ireland Ladies Football Championship.

At the cultural level, the school has won many awards at Irish Dancing, Verse-speaking etc, at Newry and Warrenpoint Feiseanna, etc, while the choir and orchestra, folk and drama groups have participated at many events and competitions. One memorable occasion was the 40th anniversary concert in 2002, when many past pupils were performing on stage. In charge of music has been Michele Corkery.

Meanwhile, among the awards gained by students have been in the National Young Writers Poetry Competition, when St Mary�s was runner-up out of 200 schools. They also had two prizewinners in the Newry Soroptomist Public Speaking Contest. The school also celebrated an action-packed �Our world is a global village� week.

But the top accolade must go to Carla McManus, Cathy Keenan, Marie-Claire McAteer and Eve Finnegan, who represented the school with such distinction at the Annual BT Eat Young Scientist Competition in the Dublin RDS in 2904. They took their projects to a similar competition at Belfast in June.

The previous principal, Mrs Anne Vallely, described St Mary�s as: �A school where staff and pupils receive and give of their best. Above all, it is a place where pride in ourselves and our school is central to its ethos. St Mary�s has been a haven of tranquillity for many, a caring family for those who needed its extra love and support, and a place of encouragement for all. We hope that your world is a little better, because St Mary�s was important in your life.�

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