Anyone for cricket? Academical College, Coleraine

"School building, 2 storey (3 in central wing) 3 bays deep, 11 wide, professors in foreground boys with cricket bats"..Keeping with our academic theme, the "zoomed" view of this stereo-pair (or at least one half of it) has a lot to offer. From the well-dressed professors, to bowler wearing cricket players, to the myriad chaps peering from windows, there's a lot to take in. While the catalogue listing didn't offer us a specific location or date, Dr O Mac ( /photos/91549360@N03/ ) came back in double-quick time to establish that this is Academical College in Coleraine - and a firm suggestion that the photo was likely taken within a decade of the college's opening in 1860. (So on the early side of the 1860s to 1880s range)..Proposals for a grammar school in the town were first put forward in 1846 and then shelved during the economic crisis which accompanied the Great Irish Famine. Built between 1854 and 1860 – during which time the projected cost of £2000 had exactly doubled – the new school began operation with two masters and fourteen boys. The size of the school peaked at around 1100 boys in the 1970s, and today enrolment stands at slightly below 700....Contributors: Lawrence, John Fortune | Lawrence, William (William Mervin) 1840-1932 | Mares, Frederick Holland, fl. 1820-1880 | Simonton, James..Collection: Stereo Pairs photograph collection ( http://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000034077 ) ..Date: ca 1860-1883..NLI Ref: STP_2525 ( vtls000565844 ) ..You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie ( http://catalogue.nli.ie )