The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern Ireland whose Head is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History The Academy was founded in 1785 by James Crombie. Originally situated near St Anne's Parish Church in what is now Academy Street, it moved to its current location on the Cliftonville Road in 1880. For more than a century the school was named Belfast Academy. On 27 November 1887, Queen Victoria granted permission for the school to style itself Belfast Royal Academy, and its name was officially changed in November 1888. "Barring out" incident On 12 April 1792, a group of schoolboys (eight boarders and two day boys) barricaded themselves in the mathematics classroom. In doing so they "declared war against the masters until their requests should be granted". As they expected to be holed up for some time, they had taken a quantity of provisions from the Academy kitchens; further they managed to arm themselves with 5 pistols and a large quantity of gunpowder and shot. A letter, headed “Liberty Hall”, was sent by the students to their masters in which they stated they would not surrender until their demands had been met. The Academy authorities, in an attempt to break the siege, sent workmen to break down the door and pour water down the chimney, without success, as the boys opened fire on them. Finally the Sovereign of Belfast, William Bristow, was summoned, he read the Riot Act to the boys but failed to end the barring out, and one of the boys opened fire on him. The siege ended by negotiation between the governors and the boys soon after; the boys, however, refused to show remorse and were later beaten, all leaving the school shortly following their punishment. Headmasters James Crombie (1785–1790) William Bruce (1790–1822) James Gray (1822–1826) Reuben John Bryce (1826–1880) William Collier (1880–1890) T. W. Foster (1890–1898) T. R. Collier (1898–1923) Alexander Foster (1923–1942) John Darbyshire (1943–1968) Louis Lord (1968–1980) William Sillery (1980–2000) William Young (2000–2008) Moore Dickson (2009–2017) Hilary Woods (2017–present) School emblem The school emblem comprises the rose, the thistle and the shamrock, along with the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, the Arms of the City of Belfast