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Message from
Fr. Gerry Needham, Chairman, Board of Management
It is a pleasure for me to greet you on the occasion of the 100th birthday of St. Peter's National School, Snugboro. St. Peter's obviously has a high place in the
minds and hearts of the Snugboro community.
The centenary celebrations have been greeted with great enthusiasm and with a spirit
of co-operation.
If only the walls of the old school could talk! What stories? The children, the teachers, the parents, the priests who passed through the classrooms of St. Peter's are all part of the story. The building, which is so familiar to you all, sheltered countless hundreds of children for nearly 100 years in their pursuit of education. They learned to read, write, 'to do their sums, 'to love God and their neighbour.
The skills and values which were taught here have served its pupils well. The 'old' St. Peter's served us well for 96 years as an educational establishment. I hope the present community will do all in its power to use it for whatever needs are most called for in the last decade of this century and into the next.
I was happy on coming to this parish six years ago, to undertake the building of our new St. Peter's. I hope and pray that it will serve us well into the next century.
May God bless you all.
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Martin Browne looks back on his schooldays
Uniforms, lunch boxes, centrally heated classrooms, computers, common features of national schools in modern Ireland. This is a far cry from the schooldays of Martin Browne, a past pupil in his late eighties.
Martin, one of the oldest past pupils of St. Peter's National School, here recalls memories of his schooldays.
Martin was born in Knockashallon, just off the Newport Road, and started school at the age of four. As motor cars were a very uncommon feature in those days, Martin, like everyone else, walked to school in his bare feet along the two-mile sandy road. Before entering the school he met with his friends such as Pa, Mike and Joe Moran, Boradruma, the Tierneys, John McGough, Sis Murray from Tullycommons and James Moran, Crocalough.
The school entrance was situated at the front. The entrance to the new school is at the side. The boys hung up their caps and the girls their cloaks in the hall. With only two classrooms the pupils proceeded to their respective classrooms, both junior and senior. There was usually ten or twelve pupils in each class.
The floors in both classrooms were slanted in order to give the teacher a better view of the students. Often there were not enough desks for the students so they had to rotate every half-hour, leaving some of them standing around in a semi-circle chalk line which was drawn on the floor for that purpose. The pupils in this line did reading, mental arithmetic or whatever else could be usefully done in that position.
There were fireplaces in both classrooms. The fuel was turf which was supplied by each pupil. If a student neglected to bring the turf, stacks along the road were often raided. As well as heating the school, the fire was used to dry coats on wet mornings. Sanitary facilities were primitive, consisting of earth closets at the rear of the school. There was no water supply as such, other than the local wells.
The master and mistress were David and Mrs.Joyce. They lived in the teacher's house which is now occupied by Pauline and Geraldine Bourke. Mr. and Mrs. Joyce later moved to Newport and they were replaced by Mr. James O'Quigley from Phillipstown and his wife, orginally from Carlow.
The schoolday lasted from 9 in the morning until 3 0'clock in the afternoon. Those who failed to do their homework or were mischievous during the day were kept in school until 4 o'clock.
The playground at the back was divided by a wall which separated the boys from the girls. According to Martin, all his classmates after fourth class emigrated. Some returned but many were scattered in different parts of the world. Martin recalls that night classes in agriculture and the Irish language were held in St. Peter's. Irish was not taught in the early days in the school. The classes in agriculture were given by Gerry O'Callaghan, Newtown, and Sean O'Connell, also from Newtown, gave the instruction in Irish.
The only form of weekend entertainment was the crossroads dance at the bottom of Browne's Hill where music on the melodeon was provided by Mary Craddock, a very accomplished musician.
When we look at the conditions during Martin's schooldays and compare them with the facilities in our new school we cannot but be impressed. Michael Cunningham, principal, and his staff do wonderful work for the pupils in a number of spheres. Certainly wonderful progress has been made over the past one hundred years. But we must also remember the dedication and hard work of all the teachers who have served in Snugboro over the past one hundred years. With very poor facilities, they battled bravely against the odds and they should be remembered with pride and gratitude.
The staff and pupils of St. Peter's wish to thank Martin Browne and the other past pupils for the part they played in the development of the school over the past one hundred years and wish them well on this auspicious occasion.
The history of education in the Snugborough/Carrowbrinoge area
The history of education in the Snugborough/ Carrowbrinoge area goes back to the
mid-nineteenth century. Children from surrounding areas who were interested in learning were taught by a travelling teacher at the rear of where McGough's house now stands. In winter they used McGough's barn. The teacher was paid in money and often by vegetables and poultry. Each time the travelling teacher came round families would take turns in keeping him in their homes.
Most parents fought hard for the provision of a school in the area but schools were very uncommon in Mayo. The clergy did not want to get involved with the English in establishing schools. Following the death of Bishop MacHale there was a complete change in the education system in the Tuam Diocese. Schools sprung up everywhere in the 1880's — and Snugboro was no different.
In 1859 a site was chosen in Carrowbrinoge on the land owned by Lord Kilmaine, now owned by the McGough family. The site was chosen because it was central to the surrounding townlands of Tullycommons, Snugborough, Drumnacarta, Coarsepark and
Derrymanus. On the 27/8/ '89 a grant of !254 was approved for the building of a school in the Snugboro area. In the parish of Aglish an extra f53 was made available for the building of a house for the teacher. This was situated a few hundred yards from the
school, now occupied by Pauline Bourke.
The work on Snugboro school commenced in September, 1889, and it was built from stones and lime gathered in the area by men like Thomas McTigue, John McGough, Stephen McHale and John McDermott and carried by donkey and cart to the site. As
the Department would not recommend an additional grant for the use of cement, the front walls were left bare until 1906 when they were plastered.
On the 23rd October, 1890, the school was opened by Rev. John McGough and named St. Peter's N.S., Snugborough, even though it was in theCarrowbrinoge townland. The first teacher appointed was Mr. David Joyce, assisted by his wife and daughter who
was employed as a monitor. The attendance at the school in the first few years was around 120.
Emigration was rampant in those years following the economic situation after the Famine and parents wanted their children to have some form of learning before emigrating. The 3 R's formed a large part of the curriculum — reading, writing and arithmetic.
Pupils wrote on slates with chalk and sat on large wooden benches. In the year 1915
Mr. and Mrs. Joyce left the school and returned to their native Newport where they purchased a pub. They later emigrated to England. Mr. Joyce, principal, was replaced by Mr. O'Quigley, a native of Co. Sligo, who had been teaching in the Midlands where
he met and married his wife who was a Carlow woman by birth. Mr. and Mrs. O'Quigley,, with their large family, moved into the teacher's residence. Their family included in future years a priest, Fr. Michael, a nun, Mairead, and a barrister and a number of
teachers, all of whom were taught in St. Peter's N.S., Snugboro.
The numbers on the roll increased so that by 1918 the average attendance warranted the appointment of a third teacher. Mr. Henry Hoban was appointed. Mr. O'Quigley was very involved in politics and stood as a Labour candidate in many elections. The two male teachers taught in the big classroom while the mistress taught the infants in the other room.
The heating arrangement was that each pupil brought two sods of turf to the school each morning. As Pat Quigley recalls, anyone with a stack of turf near the school found it diminished as the term progressed! The sods were inspected for quality and dampness. As there was no free secondary education most pupils waited on until they were fourteen or fifteen. The older students helped on the farm during the summer months.
In Easter, 1935, the late Mr. Henry Hoban left Snugboro N.S. to take up an appointment in Derrywash. His position was filled by Martin Heverin, Liscromwell. Easter, 1937, saw another change in Snugboro N.S. when the area was shocked by the death of Mrs. O'Quigley. As the average attendance had dropped below 95, no one replaced Mrs. O'Quigley.
There was now the unique situation where there were two male teachers teaching in a mixed school. About that time Mr. O'Quigley built a house in Blackfort and he
then left the teacher's residence for his new home. In July, 1937, Mr. Heverin moved to Burren N.S. and was replaced by Mrs. Mary Hanley who, along with her daughter, Joan, moved to the teacher's residence.
Major repairs and renovations were carried out in 1939 and in 1943 Mr. O'Quigley retired having spent twenty-eight years in Snugboro N.S. He later moved to Dublin
where he died. In 1943 the late Eddie Corcoran took up the position of principal. He had formerly taught in Breaffy. In 1948 his untimely death took place and he was succeeded by his brother, Richard Corcoran.
The depressed economic conditions of the fifties took its toll on the enrolment of the school. The average attendance dropped below the fifty mark which was the figure set by the Department of Education for the retention of a trained assistant teacher at a school. In 1957 Mrs. Mary Hanley was appointed to the teaching staff of the boys' N.S. in Castlebar where she came to be affectionately known as "Mammy" Hanley.
Miss Fionula McTigue, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andy McTigue, N.T., Blackfort, took up the position vacated by Mrs. Hanley.
By the early sixties Mr. Richard Corcoran had fallen into ill-health and he retired. In August, 1979, he died and was replaced by the present principal, Mr. Michael Cunningham. Shortly after his appointment major renovations took place. In the summer of 1968 electric light and central heating were installed. Also the existing dry toilets were converted to flush toilets.
The days of the sod of turf were over for ever. As the economic climate of the late sixties and seventies began to improve, many young couples married and settled in the area. Enrolment at the school began to increase and by 1978 the number had risen to over eighty and so a third teacher was appointed. She was Mary Armstrong from Tubbercurry.
The year 1979 was a very eventful one in the school's history. The first case was the bad news that Mrs. Flanagan's husband, Michael, had been transferred to Dublin. A special social was held in St. Gerald's Club, Castlebar, at which she was presented with a canteen of cutlery. Next came the news that Fr. Arthur Devine, who had been manager of the school for ten years, had been transferred to Taugheen. Also the news
came that Mrs. Armstrong was leaving for Sligo. Fr. Michael Goaley replaced Fr. Devine, Miss Marie Gibbons replaced Mrs. Armstrong and Mrs. Angela Gavin was appointed to the other vacancy in the school.
By this time the Department had decided that the old school had become seriously overcrowded and outmoded. A site was acquired in 1980 and development on the site was carried out. The wheels of the Government Department move slowly and, mean-
while, the school numbers continued to grow. By Christmas, 1984, the number on the roll was 110. In June, 1986, a fourth teacher, Miss Josephine Curran, was appointed. In 1986 Fr. Gerry Needham took over Fr. Goaley's position. September, 1986, saw the new school commence in McGough's field at the crossroads.
The long years of waiting were over and at last the clouds of depression were scattered. A new era dawned when the pupils and teachers moved into the new school on the 2nd September, 1985.
May it last well into the 20th century to serve the community.
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