The foundation stone for St Columbanus' Secondary Intermediate School, as it was formally known, was laid by Bishop Daniel Mageean on the Feast of the Assumption, 15th August 1959.The school was built to serve the parishes of Bangor, Holywood and Newtownards and opened within a week of the feast of St Columbanus' on 29th November 1960. A wide curriculum was offered with an emphasis on the teaching of vocational and technical skills. Many pupils left at the age of fifteen to take up employment while a small GCE class remained to study for external examinations. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw a significant growth in enrolment which required a major extension to the original building. In fact we are now in process of applying for a new College to be built to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing education system and to accommodate all our students including a growing sixth form. In the last twenty years the College's intake has changed significantly. In addition to pupils from our maintained school we welcome pupils from many controlled primary schools in North Down. We are pleased that our College is inclusive of all denominations and is a place where we can make a positive contribution to the spiritual development of each student.

We are privileged to have St Columbanus as our patron. He was a man born in the south of Ireland, educated in the north and imbued with a missionary zeal to take the gospel message to Europe.

He would have been proud of our College and applauded our motto Lex Dei in Corde Meo, which literally translates as 'The law of God in my heart' but provides an invitation to all in our College community to respond to God's law through living with love in our hearts for all.