In 1572 King James VI awarded the Burgh Council of Irvine money sourced from the church and the Carmelite friars towards creating the ‘King’s School of Irvine’.  The school was opened in a house on Kirkgatehead next door to the entrance to the Churchyard.  In addition to teaching, the school master also acted as Session Clerk and occasionally as the reader in the Kirk.

The Grammar School at Kirkgatehead was a thatched cottage consisting of two apartments, one of which was the classroom.  The windows were shuttered and the furniture within the classroom consisted of the teacher’s desk and chairs.  The school could take a maximum of 80 students.   The town doctor assisted the Schoolmaster by teaching some lessons and in 1746 a third master joined the school staff.  In 1724 the school was given new lights and desks, by 1745 the floor was paved.  In 1750 the school was rebuilt with two large schoolrooms and a bell tower and in 1785 an extension was added.  In 1750 the Schoolmaster’s title changed to Rector.

The school week lasted six days from Monday to Saturday and on Sundays the students had to attend church.  The school day started at 7am and finished at 6pm with breaks for breakfast and lunch.  They had recreation periods three times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons.  Initially most students were taught religion and reading with those few whose parents could afford the additional fees being taught handwriting, music and Latin.  Slowly the school curriculum increased to include lessons in Greek, French, Geography, Astronomy, Arithmetic, Book-keeping, Mathematics and Navigation.

The Grammar school prepared students for university.  Local churches provided bursaries for a few children to attend the school and in 1698 Irvine Town Council gave grants to two local students attending university.  Bailie John Grey left a bequest to provide school fees for a few poor pupils to attend the grammar school.

Pupils attending the Grammar school included Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton, his brother Archibald Montgomerie (11th Earl); David Boyle of Shewalton (later Lord Chief Justice); Henry Eckford (shipbuilder for US Navy); John Allan (Merchant); John Galt (Novelist) and Edgar Allan Poe (Poet).  

Attendance began to dwindle in the early 1770s, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War and continued to decline as private schools opened in Irvine, due in part to the lack of room at the school.  Irvine Town Council provided ground at the north end of the town for the building of a new school and engaged 31 unemployed men to level the Gallows knoll. 

The foundation stone of Irvine Royal Academy was laid on 22 April 1814 with a procession which included two bands, freemasons, Town Councillors, clergy, the Incorporated Trades, subscribers and the 370 pupils from the Grammar School, the English School and the Free School.

Irvine Academy, designed by architect David Hamilton of Glasgow, opened on 03 July 1816.  It cost about £2000 to build, £1,600 of which came from the Common Good Fund, the rest being raised by public subscription.  The school building consisted of seven apartments, four of which were the principal teaching rooms.  The first rector was J. L. Brown who had previously taught the students at the Grammar School in Kirkgate.  He was followed by Daniel Stewart, then George Paulin.

In 1818 a royal charter was obtained by Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton which laid out the terms of how the school was to be administered by directors.  The school could accommodate 455 pupils but high school fees and the availability of places at other schools within the town meant that initially it didn’t reach capacity.

In 1832 gas lighting was installed in the school.  In 1872 when the Education (Scotland) Act came into effect the school was taken over by the School Board.  The Education (Scotland) Act provided funding for elementary education, but Irvine Academy did not qualify as they provided higher education, as a result the school had no option but to raise the fees, resulting in a decline in the school roll. 

In 1883 the school roll began to improve under Rector Thomas Robert Stuart.  In 1884 more girls were enrolled and in 1892 after the establishment of a County Committee for Secondary Education the school received annual government grants.  In 1889 the School Board began making plans for a new academy building.

Also, in 1889 school fees for elementary education were abolished, although parents still had to pay for slates, jotters and books until 1908.

Irvine Academy was demolished to make way for the new school buildings which were designed by local architect John Armour.  On 27 December 1901 the new school was officially opened by George Arnulph Montgomerie, 15th Earl of Eglinton, 3rd Earl of Winton and named Irvine Royal Academy. 

Secondary School fees were abolished in 1827 and the school roll rose, necessitating the building of an annexe in Kilwinning road in 1932.  In 1952 the Primary Department was closed and in August 1969 a replacement building, named Ravenspark Academy was built.  In August 1992 Irvine Royal Academy and Ravenspark Academy merged with the school being named Irvine Royal Academy.  The annexe was demolished, and the school building became Sovereign House.

Notable students of Irvine Academy were:

  • Alexander MacMillan of MacMillan Publishing (1818-1896);
  • Rev. David Landsborough, (1826-1912) minister of Henderson Church, Kilmarnock for 61 years;
  • William Jack, LL.D., D. Sc., (1834-1924) Professor of Mathematics at Glasgow University;
  • Robert Logan Jack (1845-1921), the geologist who mapped Queensland, Australia;
  • John MacMillan Brown (1845-1935) was one of the three foundation chairs at the newly established Canterbury College in Christchurch, New Zealand.  (In 1886 he married Helen Connon the first woman admitted to Canterbury College and the first woman in the British Empire to earn a university degree with honours.)

Notable students of Irvine Royal Academy were:

  • Sir Hilary Rudolph Blood, GBE KCMG, (1893-1967) was Governor of Gambia (1942-1947); Barbados (1947-1949) and Mauritius (1949-1954);   
  • Sir Sandy MacAra, FRCP FRCGP, (1932-2012) Professor of epidemiology at Bristol University and chairman of the British Medical Association
  • Julie Graham (1965- ) Actress