Years Gone By

Our school has a very long and interesting history dating back to over 100 years ago. On this page you can see some pictures of, and extracts from, our school's history.

A past pupil wrote to us with some of her past memories about the school:

1949

Headmaster - Mr Shanahan

Infant Teacher - Miss Burke

Parish Priest - Fr Joseph Ryan, followed by Fr Horace Relph

Fr Relph had a dog called Paddy who used to come into school for biscuits.

The main body of the school, under the church, was one big room which was divided into three by moveable partitions. Most of the time it was used as three classrooms, very rarely opened into one.

The school was heated by large hot water radiators; we used to dry out wet clothes 'on the pipes.' The toilets were across the playground, three or four boys' and girls' in adjacent blocks and one for staff which opened only with a yale key. It was very cold in winter and they often froze.

The canteen was a prefabricated building in McKean Road, where the school now stands. Pupils were marched in a crocodile round to the canteen at lunch time, obviously in all weathers.

One morning a week pupils attended Mass in church. As we had fasted (from midnight before morning Mass), we brought something to eat and drink to school. I especially remember bringing cocoa powder and sugar mixed in a tiny paper bag. We made the drinks in a small kitchen off the Infant's classroom.

At Christmas we each brought in a plate, dish and spoon for a party of jelly and blancmange and a slice of cake.

Every year there was a May procession which came out of church and processed around the playground. Mrs Hood, a local florist, made a tiny garland of fresh flowers to use to crown a statue of Our Lady. The crown was carried in the procession on a blue satin cushion by a small child, who walked in front of the May Queen. The May Queen wore a long dress and a blue cloak with a stand-up pleated collar. The cloak was carried as a train by other girls in white dresses.

Here are some extracts from the school's log books - accounts of school events and information recorded every day by the Headteacher:

The 'new' school was built around 1967, though it has had many extensions and modifications since then! Can you spot what some of them are as you walk around school?