Holy Rood High School, Edinburgh

Holy Rood High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school situated on the edge of Holyrood Park, near Arthur's Seat beside Duddingston Village, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is about half a mile a way from Castlebrae Community High School.

1. Headteacher and senior leadership team

The headteacher is Joan Daly. She is assisted by depute headteachers Martin Connelly, Fiona Forbes, James Campbell, business manager Linsey McKay and senior development officer Michael Scott. Dennis Canavan is a former Assistant Head.

1. History

The original Holy Rood RC High School was opened in 1971, when it replaced St Anthony's Secondary School. The current school building was officially opened in September 2009 with the original 1970s build being demolished. On the 4th April 2025, rapper JAAD and influencer Caz Milligan showed up outside the school gate and began rapping on top of a car. No one knew that this was going to happen. They handed out pizza to students and filmed videos, which have since been taken down from YouTube and TikTok.

1. Admissions

The school has a current pupil roll of approximately 1050 pupils and 80 teaching staff.

1. Alumni

Pauline Knowles (1967-2018), actress and singer Lewis Vaughan (born 1995), footballer

1. Notes


1. References

Webb, Chris (3 May 2011), Holy Rood High School, The City of Edinburgh Council (PDF), HM Inspectorate of Education, archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015, retrieved 20 December 2014

1. External links

HMIE Inspection Reports

Nearby Places View Menu

Duddingston

Duddingston Village is a historic village in the east of Edinburgh, located beside Holyrood Park. It should not be confused with the wider Duddingston area, which extends down towards Portobello.

Landmark Neighbourhood

Edinburgh East

Edinburgh East was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It existed from 1885 to 1997 and from 2005 to 2024. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was expanded to include most of the town of Musselburgh. As a consequence, it reverted to the name of Edinburgh East and Musselburgh used from 1997 to 2005.

Government Landmark

Sheep Heid Inn

The Sheep Heid Inn is a public house in Duddingston, Edinburgh, Scotland. There has reputedly been an inn on this site since 1360, although the core of the current building appears to date from the 18th century with later additions and alterations. If the 1360 foundation date was proved correct it would make The Sheep Heid Inn perhaps the oldest surviving licensed premises in Edinburgh, if not Scotland. Famous visitors to the pub include Mary, Queen of Scots, Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Queen Elizabeth II, Paul Heaton and Kelly Clarkson.

Landmark Restaurant

Duddingston House

Duddingston House is an 18th-century mansion in Edinburgh, Scotland, located south-east of the village of Duddingston. It was built in the 1760s for James Hamilton, 8th Earl of Abercorn, and was designed by Sir William Chambers. It is now protected as a category A listed building, and the grounds of the house are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.

Historic Site Landmark