The school was opened in 1865 and remained in operation until 1971

1. The New School of 1865
May 1865
Beechpark
Avenue
Beechpark
Avenue
This is an aerial shot of the old
school. It stood at the corner of
Beechpark Avenue ( called the side
road) and Castleknock Road. There
are apartments on the site now.

2. The Tunney Family outside the old school.

3. Early Days
• On May 8th
1865 boys and girls moved into the
new school in Castleknock.
• Prior to this the school was a little thatched house
on the site of our school now.
• The new school was actually two schools, boys
and girls. The roll numbers were 697(same as
now 00697s) for boys and 698 for the girls.
• There was two separate entrances, one for boys
and one for girls. The girls went in the gate and to
the left. The boys went to the right.
• A wire fence divided the yard.
• The schools were amalgamated in 1939,

4. Record Books
Schools had several important books
• The register kept the names, addresses , fathers occupation
of children and dates enrolled.
• Attendance was marked each day in the roll book
• The daily report book kept records of each classes’
attendance and grants the school received and teachers
pay.
• If the books were damaged or lost the principal had to pay
for new ones from his salary.
• Most of the old record books are in the National Archives
and we still use these today.
• Some schools kept corporal punishment record books.
• There are records of children paying varying amounts to
the school though many did not pay at all.

5. An old register

6. Who went to the old school?
• The first boy’s name on the new register in 1865 was a Michael Mc
Kenna and was 15 years old. His Dad was a farmer. Four other boys
were registered aged between 6 and 16 years old. Occupations
were listed as farmer, miller and bootmaker.
• Other occupations listed were railway porter, orphan, professor,
cowman, pauper and ploughman. Amazingly, the ploughman lived
in Deer Park!
• In the girls’ school Mary Healy was the first name on the register,
the daughter of a laborer. The other girls registered this day were
aged were 7,10,11 and 13 but it was their first time to attend
school. One girl, Emily Hunt was listed as an orphan.
• 123 children were on the rolls but only 64 were marked present.

7. • In 1865 Mr. John Friel and Ms. Mary Friel were
the master and mistress of the boys and girls
and lived upstairs.
• The principal of the boys was called The
Master and The Mistress was principal of the
girls.
• The Junior Infants were called Low Babies and
Senior Infants High Babies.

8. Links to the Past
•His son Michael was Principal in our old school
1903-1924
•His grandson Raymond Snr .designed the 1971
school
•His great great grandchild Clara was in 6th
class
last year.
Michael Mc Donnell below lived in the house behind
Justin’s Fruit shop. He was supposedly principal in
Blanchardstown in 1865.

9. How many rooms?
• In 1865 its thought there was one apartment upstairs
but according to the 1911 census, the school had 13
rooms. 5 upstairs where the Master Michael Mc
Donnell lived with his wife.
• A second flat upstairs had 5 rooms for the Mistress,
Elizabeth Mangan who lived there worth her mother,
daughter and a friend.
• The two large rooms downstairs were the classrooms.
• Later the upstairs rooms became classrooms , the
juniors upstairs and the seniors downstairs with four
teachers in the school. One of these upstairs rooms
had a kitchen range in it.
• When the school was amalgamated 1st
/2nd
and 5th
/6th
were upstairs.

10. Plumbing
• There was no toilets indoors. The toilets were
outside and had no running water or sinks or
toilet paper.
• Everyday water had to be fetched from the pump
for the teacher’s tea and from a water barrel
across the road for washing dishes and “flushing”
the toilets
• The children loved to get the job of “flushing “
out the dry toilets with water as they were
outside missing school.

11. Classrooms
• Children sat on benches and stored books under
the desks. The floors were timber and were
swept each day by the children. Furniture was
sparse. The windows were high so the children
wouldn't’t look out!
• Juniors used slates and chalk and older children
used pens and nibs.
• The teacher mixed ink from powder and this was
poured into ceramic inkwells on each desk.
• Children used blotting paper to dry their writing
but it was really hard to write neatly and not blot
the page .

12. Heating
• The classrooms were heated by an open fires. If you sat near the
front you were warm and if you were at the back you were cold.
• Children brought a sod of turf to school to pay for their education
• One boy came early to school and lit the fires
• Lack of heat meant every winter children got chilblains among
other illnesses.
The classroom in Bunratty
Folkpark.

13. Lunches
• Children brought cold tea or milk in glass bottles.
They were placed by the fire to heat them so
they could have a warm drink before going out to
play.
• Lunch was usually bread and jam and the lunches
were hung on wall hooks so the rats did not eat
them.
• Rats were often seen eating crumbs in the yard.
• Children who lived nearby went home for their
lunch

14. What were lessons like?
• The subjects taught were listed as Reading, Spelling Writing
Arithmetic, Algebra, Grammar, and Geography.
• Boys also learned Agriculture and the girls learned
needlework.
• In the early records there was no mention of PE, Irish. or
Religion.
• Music and Catechism were taught later. A favourite song
recalled by a past pupil was Frere Jacques
• Children learned by rote. They recited tables, poems and
spellings
• Books never changed and were handed down from brother
to sister so after listening to the other classes chanting you
often knew a book by heart before you got it.
• If children didn't’t know their lessons they got 2 slaps of the
cane or the strap. Past pupils said the cane was much
worse.

15. Items from schhol
Slate
Abacus
Bell

16. Book
Pen and nibs
Penny Catechism
Ink Bottle

17. • This was a leather
strap known as “Black
Jack”. It belonged to
Conor Carolyn’s (5th
class) Grandfather
and was returned to
him in 2008 as a relic
of the past !

18. The Yard
• The yard outside was small and mostly covered in
grass. , There were lots of tree stumps that
children fell over, probably because the trees
were cut for firewood. In much later years the
principal Dan O’ Leary went out with a pick axe
and dug them up.
• The children played football, hide and seek, tag,
ring a rosie, hopscotch, marbles, conkers and
skipping, Spinning tops were bought or made.
• In 1931 a small area of the yard was converted
into a school garden

19. Religion
• The school was Catholic. Children had a green
catechism and had to learn complicated answers
to questions like “Who made the world?”.
• The priest came to school regularly to “examine”
the children on their catechism especially before
communion or confirmation.
• Once a month children aged from 7 walked to
Blanchardstown to attend confessions and every
Saturday to attend mass. They had a special area
in the church to sit in.
• On the way to mass, a Mrs. Henry always left a
bucket of water and a cup at her gate so the
children could have a drink.

20. 1939 A mixed school
The Infant boys attended the girls school. As
sometimes children started when only 3, the girls’
principal claimed the older girls were better at
minding them. However she sometimes kept the
boys until 2nd
class. Numbers in the boys’ school
were falling and this led to bitter feuds between
the two principals. When both principals died
within a year of each other the schools were
amalgamated.

21. Fighting for a new school
• In 1931 the priest wrote to the department
complaining about conditions in the school
• For the next twenty years a new school was
promised so no improvements were made to
the old school
• Electricity was installed in the early 50s
• In 1955, the plans were deferred as
Blanchardstown was getting a new school.
• By 1970, the outdoor boys toilet had no roof
and a prefab was being used as a classroom

22. • On Feb 1st
1971 he led the pupils up the “side
road” (Beechpark Ave) to our current school
where they were joined by 31 pupils from the
lower road school
• The new school grew rapidly and Harry Allen
became a walking principal in Sept 1971.

24. 1945

25. 1932

26. Dan O’ Leary Principal 1924 - 1961 and
Harry Allen 1961-1976

27. 1975

28. The Ladies Committee at Ms. O’Learys’s retirement
dinner (1925 – 1972)
Mrs. Kitterick back row 2nd
on right worked as a voluntary school secretary
until the mid 80s