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Founded in October 1977, it is now located in the beautifully restored St. Patrick's School Building, Donegall Street, Belfast BT1 2FL. The renovation of St.Patrick's was organised by the Belfast Buildings Preservation Trust.

It is an excellent example of how one of Belfast's most historic areas is being enhanced. The listed building dates from 1828 and is the oldest surviving example of gothic revival architecture in Belfast. It became the first national school in Belfast in 1832 and was run by the Christian Brothers until its closure in the early 1980s.

DRC Bookshop is a registered charity (No. X01247-90), under the trusteeship of the bishops of the diocese. Its aim is to provide pastoral aids and resources for the advancement of the Catholic faith in Catholic homes, schools and parishes within the Diocese of Down and Connor and throughout Northern Ireland.

We are stockists for; Veritas, Columba, Redemptorist Publications, Heinemann, Collins, Nelson, Hodder, etc.

If you have a request for a particular title please email us at enquiries@drcbookshop.com

HISTORY OF DRC BOOKSHOP

DRC Bookshop is a registered charity (No X01247-90) under the trusteeship of the bishops of the diocese. Its aim is to provide pastoral aids and resources for the advancement of the Catholic faith in Catholic homes, schools and parishes within the diocese of Down & Connor and beyond. Here's how it all happened and how we arrived in Donegall Street.

During the mid 1970's the Down & Connor diocesan schools advisers noted the dearth of good religious text books in schools. Because of the demise (for commercial reasons) of local religious bookshops, it was decided to set up a small-scale resource centre in the attic of the Diocesan Schools Office in Fleetwood Street, Belfast. The Diocesan Resource Centre was opened in October 1977 by Father Padraic Gallinagh one of the school Diocesan Advisers in Religious Education, at that time. He was assisted in the venture by Sister Deirdre O'Leary of the Mercy Community. In October 2007 they celebrated 30 years service with DRC Bookshop. The bookshop quickly developed from what was little more than a reference facility to become a substantial retailing service to schools and clergy.

The Rex library in Berry Street had been set up in 1970 as a diocesan managed pamphlet outlet replacing the former CTS depot. It merged with DRC Bookshop in November 1983 when the refurbished premises in Berry Street were opened by Bishop Cathal Daly. In expanding the stock to include books as well as pamphlets, the aim of the new venture was to provide a family bookshop while Fleetwood Street continued to meet the needs of schools and clergy.

In 1990 DRC had to vacate Fleetwood Street which was demolished to facilitate the extension to the nearby Mater Hospital. At about the same time the Berry Street premises had to be vacated because of structural refurbishment of the entire property block. As a matter of expediency the Berry Street service was relocated to a new commercial development at Andersonstown. A new base for the Fleetwood service was set up in premises in Donegall Lane which quickly developed also into a family bookshop.

The Andersonstown venture did not prove profitable and because of the drain on resources had to be closed in 1996 when all activities were centralised in Donegall Lane.

In 1999 DRC moved into the beautifully restored St Patrick's School Building in nearby Donegall Street. The renovation was organised by the Belfast Buildings Preservation Trust and is an excellent example of how one of Belfast's most historic areas is being enhanced. The listed building dates from 1828 and is the oldest surviving example of gothic revival architecture in Belfast. It became the first national school in Belfast in 1832 and was run by the Irish Christian Brothers until its closure in the early 1980's.