Orangefield High School, Belfast, Northern Ireland

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Maybe you lost touch with an old classmate. Ask here 👇🏼

“What was that Teachers name?”
Trying to remember the name of a teacher you had
while attending Orangefield High School?
Ask in this thread. Maybe the Orangefield community can help🙂

Does anyone remember the name of the female English teacher that was in the room beside Mr Irvine? Would have been around the years 1999/2000.

How many of you went to the Orangefield Youth Club⁉️Share your memories below⬇️⚽️🏀🏓🏸🎼🎹🎯

Van Morrison at Orangefield High School

Van Morrison - Orangefield Van Morrison - "Orangefield" 22082014 Orangefield Highschool

Where was your favourite spot to have lunch when you were at Orangefield High?

Who was your form teacher?
What was your best memory while attending the school?

Van Morrison: Orangefield

Orangefield Original Orangefield by Van Morrison from the album 'Avalon Sunset'

Former Orangefield Pupils


Van Morrison
Former pupil

Born George Ivan Morrison 1945. "Van the man" as he is know to his friends attended Orangefield High school in the 1950's. He wrote the song "Orangefield" as a memory of his time here. Learn More
www.vanmorrison.com



Orangefield - By Van Morrison
On a gold autumn day
You came my way in Orangefield
Saw you standing by the riverside in Orangefield
How I love you then in Orangefield
Like I love you now in Orangefield

And the sun shone on your hair
When I saw you there in Orangefield
Saw you standing by the riverside in Orangefield
How I loved you then in Orangefield
Like I love you now in Orangefield

And the sun shone so bright
And it lit up all our days
You were the apple of my eye
Baby it's true... Source

Van Morrison - International Singer songwriter


John Stuart Gallagher
Former pupil 1959-63

John was a pupil at Orangefield High School from 1959 to 1963 along with his bother Lee Martyn Gallagher who became a pupil in 1962.

John was elected mayor of the London Borough of Ealing on 24th May 2011 and was enrolled as an honorary freeman in 1999.

John was an alderman of the council from January - May 1978 and councillor for the Springfield Ward, 1986 to 1998. John is currently a councillor for South Acton, London, and has represented this role since 2006





John Stuart Gallagher, Mayor, London Borough of Ealing 2011


Gerald Dawe
Former Pupil
Associate Professor and Fellow Trinity College Dublin. Gerald Dawe was born in Belfast. He attended Orangefield Boys School. He was later involved in the Lyric Youth Theatre. Around this time he started to write poems and after a brief period living in London, he returned to the North, receiving a B.A. (Hons) from the University of Ulster (1974) where his professor was the left wing literary critic and novelist, Walter Allen. Source

Learn more




Author and Associate Professor Gerald Dawe


Brian Keenan
Former Pupil
Brian was born in east Belfast in the 1950's. He attended Orangefield boys and left to become a heating engineer. He had an interest in literature and in the 1970's he gained a degree in literature from the University of Ulster, Coleraine and a post graduate degree from the Magee Campus. He accepted a teaching post in an American University in Beirut. Four months into this post on the morning of 11 April 1986 Keenan was kidnapped by Islamic Jihad. Source

(1) Learn more (2) Learn more




Brian Keenan (author and former hostage)


David Ervine
Former Pupil

Ervine left Orangefield Boys at the age of 14. Later he was considered to be one of the most progressive unionists in Northern Ireland politics. He had been a strong supporter of the Good Friday Agreement and was one of the few unionist politicians to still actively support the Agreement. At a Labour Party meeting in 2001, then Northern Ireland Secretary, John Reid, described him as "one of the most eloquent politicians in Northern Ireland". Some of his opponents made references to him having swallowed a dictionary. Some saw Ervine as one of the few politicians actively engaged with conflict resolution... Source





David Ervine (Progressive Unionist Party MP)


Dr. Alan G. Ruth
Former pupil

BSc, MA, MBA, PhD, CBiol, FBS
Chief Executive Officer
Irish Health Trade Association

Alan was born in Belfast in 1951. At Orangefield he was best known as a competitive swimmer. He was an all-Ireland swimming champion and represented Ireland at swimming and water polo. He is Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Health Trade Association and Vice President of the European Federation of Associations of Health Product Manufacturers. Previously, he was Managing Director of the Irish subsidiary of an American multinational pharmaceutical company.

Alan is a graduate of Queen’s University, Brunel University, the University of Westminster and the University of Ulster. His qualifications include a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, a prize-winning Master of Business Administration degree, a Master’s degree in Marketing (with distinction) and a Doctorate in Organisational Psychology (with distinction). He also qualified as a Chartered Biologist. During his career he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Biology (UK), a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK), and a Fellow of the American Institute of Stress. He is the author of over 100 articles on subjects which include health psychology, stress management, cognitive behavioural therapy, training and development, and marketing.




Dr. Alan G. Ruth

Van Morrison - Official Website | Van Morrison tours, songs, concerts ...

With Orangefield due to close. What were you're best and worst memories during your time there?