It is recorded in the Vestry Minute Book of St. Columba’s Church of Ireland that in 1825 the Rev. Charles Doyne, the curate of the parish, applied to the Lord Lieutenant for a for a grant to build the present school. One hundred and fifty pounds was granted provided a like sum was raised by local subscriptions. Many members of the Doyne family of St. Austin’ Abbey were to continue to act as benefactors to the school., including James Walter Chaloner Doyne (1851-1898), whose photographic portrait adorns the school.