Methodist College Belfast

Methodist College Belfast (MCB), locally known as Methody, is a co-educational voluntary grammar school in Belfast, located at the foot of the Malone Road, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1865 by the Methodist Church in Ireland and is one of eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It is also a member of the Independent Schools Council and the Governing Bodies Association.

In the 2023 The Sunday Times Parent Power Best UK Schools Guide, which ranks schools based on GCSE and GCE Advanced Level examination results the college failed to make the top 100 in the United Kingdom but was placed 19th in Northern Ireland

In rugby union the school has won both the Ulster Schools Cup and the Medallion Shield a record 37 times outright. The college choirs have won Songs of Praise Choir of the Year, Sainsbury's Choir of the Year and RTÉ All-Island School Choir of the Year. The Chapel Choir has performed in Westminster Abbey and the Carnegie Hall as well as during Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the Republic of Ireland.

Past pupils of the college style themselves Old Collegians and the college has a former pupils' organisation known as Methody Collegians, which has branches across the world, including London, Hong Kong and Canada. The college has links with Belfast Harlequins, the successor of the former sports club for staff and past pupils, Collegians. Methodist College is a registered charity.

Methodist College Belfast was founded in 1865 by the Methodist Church in Ireland and opened three years later in 1868. In 1844, the Conference of the Methodist Church in Ireland approved a proposal to establish a Methodist school in Belfast. Shortly after, a decision was taken to relocate the site of the school to Dublin. Funds for this school were raised in 1845 and it was opened the same year, first as the Wesleyan Connexional School and later to be called Wesley College after the founder of the Methodist religion, John Wesley.

It was only in 1855 that the idea was raised of founding a school specifically for the education of sons of ministers like the Methodist Church in England had at Kingswood School in Bath. Funds were raised with significant amounts coming from the United States and England. The original site for the school was to be in Portadown but the location was changed, first of all to Dublin. Land was acquired in Dublin but proceedings stalled. Several prominent Belfast Methodists began a campaign to have the school built in Belfast. The Methodist Conference allotted the remaining £2000 left from the purchase of the Dublin site to Belfast so long as they could raise £8000 extra with the added proviso that no building could take place until they had raised £10,000. A last attempt was made 1863 for the building to take place in Portadown but this failed. The necessary money had been raised by 1864 to satisfy the Conference's stipulations but it was held that £10,000 would not be sufficient. Further fundraising missions were made to the United States and England in 1866. These were led by Robinson Scott, Robert Wallace and William McArthur. Wallace would die on this mission in Cincinnati from cholera. However an additional £10,000 was raised. Several subsequent missions took place to fund building work.

The present site of the college, near Queen's University Belfast on the Malone Road, was purchased by James Carlisle and offered to the committee on the same terms. The site covered 15 acres all of which have been developed by the college to the present day. In addition to the school it was proposed that a strip on the North side be let for building and the rest used by the college. This would become College Gardens which is still owned by the college.

The school originally had a dual foundation as a school and a theological college and the school was designed with this in mind. The architects firm Joseph Fogerty & Son of Dublin won with their bid to design the school. The foundation stone for the Main Building was laid in 1865, and in 1868 the college was opened.