The History of Education in Our Locality


      Hundreds of years ago most people in Ireland could not go to school. The only schools were bardic schools, for people who were going to be poets.
      The monks in Ireland created great centres for learning in their monasteries but like the bardic schools not everyone got an education.
      Hedge schools became very common during the penal times of the 17th and 18th centuries when education was forbidden for Catholics. Many travelling schoolmasters set up hedge-schools where children were taught reading, writing and arithmetic.
Hedge School

      School as we know it today began in 1831 when a law was passed that set up the National School System in Ireland, to educate children between the ages of 6 and 12 from all classes and backgrounds.
      Tubber National School was opened in 1852. It was part of the present chapel. The fifth standard was the highest-class level and there were about one hundred pupils in school.
      The first teacher was James Kelly whose salary was £24 per annum in addition to any fees he got from his pupils. The Senior classes paid 1/- per quarter but some of the pupils were so poor that the teacher would reduce the fee for them.
      The subjects taught were Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, History and Geography. Classes were held from 10-4 in Summer and 10-3 in Winter. Children who could afford it bought steel pens, but the others used pens made from quills.


School 100 Years Ago

       Life in Irish Schools was very different 100 years ago. There were no computers, tape recorders, CD players, gel pens or markers. Many schools were small; often they had only one room. There was no running water and the heat came from a fireplace behind the teacher's desk. Windows were usually high so that the children could not see out and be distracted! Going to the toilet meant crossing the schoolyard to the outside toilet. Often there were no doors on these toilets.

      Children sat at long desks with inkwells in them. They wrote with pens that had sharp nibs that they dipped into the inkbottles in the inkwells. In some schools you were not allowed to write with your left hand! Most of the work was done with chalk on a slate, as books and copies were very expensive.


Inkwell
       Discipline in the national schools was very strict. Children who misbehaved or did not learn their lessons were hit with a cane. Some teachers had a "Dunce's Corner". Any child who missed a question had to stand there. Most children would have preferred a slap!
       All the girls learned needlework but the boys did not. Some schools had gardens attached where the pupils grew vegetables and plants. At lunch time the children played schoolyard games like football, tag and skipping.


Dunce's Corner

REGISTER RECORDS. We are very fortunate in our school to have some register records dating back to November 1880. A plaque on the outside wall gives a date of 1875 as the foundation year of the school.

Plaque on School wall


      This new school, which is the building still being used today, was built to replace a thatched cabin that was part of the present church.
      The old "Girls Register" dates from November 1880 to 1925. The enrolment in the school was quite high at that time. In fact 305 girls were registered between 1880 and 1895.
      A new "Girls Register" was begun in 1925 and this book is still being used today to register all girls enroling in the school.
      Unfortunately the original "Boys Register" is not available in the school. The new "Boy's Register" dates to 1905 and it commences at register number 492. This original register is still in use today to record register details of all boys enrolling in our school.
      Recorded on the register are the occupations of the parents of the child on roll. Some occupations listed included tinsmith, laborer, farmer, shopkeeper, teacher, stationmaster, farrier, carpenter and sergeant R.I.C.
      We have many visitors to our school looking for information about their family members who would have attended here. We are very proud to be able to offer this service to these people.

Information contained in register books of Tubber N.S.


From the above register we gather information on the child being enroled
.
Note that the children were examined in the 1880's on reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography and needlework. Unlike us today they did not study Gaeilge, Science, S.P.H.E., S.E.S.E. and Arts Education.

An example of stitchery
dating back to 1942
An example of woolcraft



We also noticed in our attendance registers that during the 1940's and 1950's school continued until Mid/Late July and the children returned to school in Mid September. Local Fair days held on 15th July and 3rd week in September were days off for the pupils.

The graph here illustrates the population decline from the early days of education in Tubber to the present day. Hard times and emigrants have left their mark on the current population of our Community.