The Old School in the 60's

When you think of all the modern conveniences that fill our houses and indeed the new school, it is hard to imagine that when I started teaching in the "old Court N.S." on 5th December 1966, there was no electricity and no running water.

The cold draughty building was heated by a stove which was fuelled with sticks and coal. All in all it was not a satisfactory system,as the stove heated only the area directly in front of it and the large classroom was cold all day.

One of the main reasons that the classroom was so cold was it had a very high ceiling with no insulation and was practically impossible to heat. The school had been built in 1887 and opened in 1888 so it is no surprise that by the 1960's it was no longer suitable.

The floors were timber and the gaps between these boards were traps for dust and dirt. Sweeping these floors was not an easy job as desks had to be moved before sweeping started and these desks were extremely heavy as they were made of cast iron frames with solid oak seats, backs and desk tops.

The most tedious task that teachers faced every morning was lighting the fires. First the stove had to be cleaned out and then small sticks and newspapers were used to start the fire. This job sorely tried the teachers patience especially when she had a class, or a number of classes, to attend to.

Most children walked to school in those days and on wet days the children stood around in a semi-circle in front of the stove to dry their clothes and get a warm-up and perhaps say their tables or spellings at the same time! This was considered a treat,after walking, perhaps 3 or 4 miles, to school, as their clothes and shoes would be extremely wet after such a jouney on "Shank's Mare."

Monamolin N.S. was a three teachers school with Mr.Seamus Kavanagh as Principal and Mrs.Mary McDonald and Miss Joan Hickson (as I was then), as assistants.

Despite the lack of facilities the school was a very happy place. Good work with was carried out there and the pupils who went on to Secondary School got on well.

Extra curricular activities consisted of singing, tin whistle playing and school concerts in the old hall.

Games of any kind were not done owing to lack of play space, which is amazing when you consider how many of our past pupils went on to represent Buffers Alley and Wexford with distinction in both Camógie, Hurling and Football. Indeed many of our past pupils were on the Buffers Alley teams that won All-Ireland Club Senior Camógie and Senior Hurling titles.