School History
Leitrim N.S Painted by Lily Cox
"...I have stood so long by a gap in the wall,
Maybe I shall not die at all..." W.B Yeats
Early Education: The Hedge Schools
“My eyelids red and heavy are
With bending o’er the smould’ring peat
I know the Aeneid now by heart
My Virgil read in cold and heat
In loneliness and hunger smart.
I teach these by the dim rush light…..
In smoky cabins night and week”
A Poor Scholar by Padraic Colum
The Penal Laws introduced in 1695, had a significant impact on the social, economic and political fabric of Ireland. Under these laws Catholics were not allowed an education and were forbidden to establish schools, anyone found guilty of doing so was fined £20.00 and sentenced to three months imprisonment.
Despite such rules, a popular educational tradition emerged in the early part of the 18th century called the Hedge School. The name Hedge School derives from the fact that lessons, taught in secret, were in hedges, near rivers, under overhanging rocks, in mud huts, barns, chapels, in the homes of people and or “ in out-of-the way barns too deteriorating to house animals” Dawn Duncan Postcolonial Theory in Irish Drama 100 – 2000. It was estimated that 9,000 such schools existed and were attended by 400,000 students.
The hedge school had one teacher called a head master. They were sometimes paid a shilling or two. The teacher and students met secretly, anywhere out of sight of local officials. The teachers had a wide range of accomplishments and many travelled long distances to learn their craft under the tutelage of an established teacher. Many writers have attested to the high quality of the education provided. Subjects like arithmetic, bookkeeping, writing, Latin, Greek and Music were taught. It was commented by an anonymous writer that “a poor ragged boy was well acquainted with the best Latin”
In the Leitrim Barony, according to the Parochial Returns to the Commission of Irish Education Inquiry (1826-1827) 30 Hedge School teachers were listed. The Hedge School in Leitrim was situated in Kylebrack and the headmaster was called Edward Kean.
The number of School Masters and School Mistresses in Galway in 1826-1827
The names of the teachers employed in the Leitrim Barony in 1826-1827
In the late 1700’s the penal laws were eased. By 1763 the ban on Catholic education had been removed. In 1831 The National Schools Act of Ireland was passed. Lord Edward Stanley established an education system that was non-denominational, therefore Catholics who had been denied the right to an education could attend the national schools.
Map of Leitrim in 1839
Foundation of Leitrim National School
The local establishment of Leitrim N.S. was in 1829 and the school became connected to the National Board in 1842 according to the National Schools Register.
The very Rev. Fr. Andrew Griffin was parish priest in Leitrim at that time. He died in 1884. While the name of the school and church is named in honour of St. Andrew the apostle, Fr Griffin's christian name might also have influenced this decision.
The site of the first school in Leitrim was a house adjacent to the present day school, locally known as Downey's house. Francis Swift, was one of the earliest headmasters' of Leitrim N.S. He trained in Malborough Street Teacher Training College in 1849 and qualified in 1850 aged 26 years old.
Training Register Malborough Street Teacher Training College
Downey's House
In 1862, according to the National Schools Register, the transfer of a house was approved albeit as a temporary arrangement and an inscription was erected. This consolidates local knowledge that the school at this point transferred from Downey's house to the present day site.
In 1863 Mr John Hogan was principal followed by Mr John Butler in 1891.
Register of Leitrim N.S 1863
Bridget Craughwell was employed as a Workmistress in 1886. Rule 142 for National Schools state that "In a mixed school conducted by a master in which there is no Female Assistant a Workmistress may be employed... but first must be deemed by the inspector as competent" Bridget Craughwell carried out Needle Work and assisted in literary instruction in Leitrim N.S and in 1887 she was employed as an Assistant Teacher and paid £27 a year.
Report Upon an Application for Salary to a Workmistress
Salary of a Workmistress
Salary as Workmistress approved by Rev. Sellars P.P. Loughrea
Report upon application for salary to Assistant Teachers
Master John Skelly was appointed principal of Leitrim N.S in 1903 aged 23 years old. He subsequently trained in St Patrick's College Drumcondra, Dublin. Nora Deely was appointed Assistant in 1907 having trained in Limerick.
Master Skelly and pupils of Leitrim N.S
The Schools' Folklore Collection, Leitrim N.S
The Schools' Collection of Folklore was complied by school children in Ireland in the 1930's. This extract was collected by Mary Kenny from her father Edward Kenny (aged 60) Newtown Daly, Loughrea, Co Galway. Máirtín Ó Máinnín was the teacher at the time.
The Development of the School Through the Years
The original building of two classrooms and a small hall serviced the children of the area from 1863 to 1979. In 1979 a small extension was built which extended the hall and added toilet facilities.
In September 2001 a third teacher was appointed due to an increase in enrolment. A pre-fab was provided as a temporary measure.
In 2003 the school was included in a new devolved scheme whereby the Department of Education gave money to Boards of Management to build the required extensions. Two new classrooms were built and one of the existing rooms was divided and converted into a learning-support room and a staff-room. In 2007 a fourth classroom teacher was appointed, and our 5th classroom teacher was appointed in 2012.
2015 was a very significant year. We officially opened an additional two-classroom extension, two new offices and a connecting corridor. Also, a pedestrian underpass was completed providing safe access to a community sports/playground, astro turf and car park facilities. Click here to view footage.
Today our school community enjoy a beautiful school building enriched by the memories and footprints of all that have gone before us. Ar dhéis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha.
Maps, school documents, photographs and extracts from the Schools' Collection courtesy of the National Archives of Ireland, Clonfert Diocesan Archives and www.duchas.ie