Ráthín an Uisce is near two towns called Portlaoise and Stradbally.  Rathín an Uisce is in county Laois, in Ireland.  We know people lived here for a long time because there are very old houses, an ancient  castle, a church, some old looking graves, the candle holder in the church has wax all over it, our grandparents lived here and our school was built in 1953 and now it is 2001.  So that is how I know people lived here for a long time and there is a really old stone near our school.  There are bits of grass on the stone and there are weeds all around the stone.  My Mammy came to this school but granny and grandad did not because they are from Killkenny.  Maybe a lot of people lived here because the castle called the Rock of Dunamaise is nearby.  In those days the castle might have started to crack.  I know that people lived here for long time because people lived in the castle like Fionn Mac Cumhaill and King Conchubhar Mac Neasa.

There are a lot of people who work in Ratheniska and who take care of Ratheniska.  Teachers, care takers and secretaries all work in the school and the children come to school to work and learn.The priest sometimes comes to the school to talk to the pupils.  The care-taker works around the school.  and takes care of the school.  He paints the school and fixes windows or doors and lots more. Outside the school there are farmers and some builders. 
There are many farms and animals around Ratheniska. There is a pitch across from the school and we play football and soccer in it. 
There are lots of people who help us in Ratheniska. In the school there are two P.E
teachers. Their names are Ann and Nolleen. They are from F.Á.S.  They play games with us.  In the hall of Ratheniska we do all sorts of things.  Some nights there is Ceoltas.  That is where some pupils from the school go to play music.  On certain times of the year there is a Goose club to help the school and people win something if they have the right numbers. 
Sometimes Ratheniska needs other people too.  We need things like shops and furniture so sometimes we order or get stuff from Portlaoise or Stradbally.  We need banks for money,  funiture for the school and we need food from the shops.  We can get service people to bring those things to us aswell.