Old Schools

transcribed at

Old Schools  [duchas:4731881]

Old Schools
The year 1839 was a memorable year for the people of this locality.
It was in that year that the Department of Education built their first national school, and the hedge-schools became obsolete.
These schools are to be found in several localities generally in some secluded or well sheltered place. There was a hedge-school in this locality about fifty years ago situated in the townland of Drumfernesky about two miles from my home. It was built against the front of a precipice or high ditch, averaging from twelve to fourteen feet long, and twelve feet wide. The wall was composed of rough wicker work. A number of poles were driven into the ground. The space  between these poles was warped or plaited with branchy wattles. The door was on the most sheltered place, and the back wall was always formed by the back ditch and contained the fire place.
The whole structure was then externally plastered with clay.

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mixed with water, (with) and white washed for appearance sake. The roofing was completed with light peat or bog sods dried in the summer sun. This school was afterwards the centre of a cruel tragedy. The man who taught in this school was known as Michael Owens, but the advent of the national schools lowered his average, which broke Michael's heart.
In 1839 his numbers reduced to three scholars. Tradition tells us that Michael Owen's always opened his school with prayer, which was always in the rish or native language. There were two essentials which every child had to produce when coming to this school. He had to produce a seat, and a few sods of turf to make a fire. The seat was a square piece of bogmoss cut from a bog and dried in the sun. Michael Owens was not a first class teacher. He could teach his scholars to spell, read and count to some extent. His scholars could not write, for the simple reason the master could not write.
The farm of and on which

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the school stood was owned by two brothers John and Patrick Mc Court. Michael Owens abandoned his school in 1839 and went to teach another hedge school near Roslea in a mountainous district.
Before leaving his school in Drumfernesky he gave it over to two ladies old maids. At that time housing accomodation was hard to procure, and these two old ladies spent a miserable existence at carding and spinning wool.
They were supposed to have some money which afterwards turned out to be a trite supposition. A neighbour named Brian Roe heard this and for these few paltry pounds he murdered the two one May morning 1840. To try to cover up this cruel and fiendish act, he burned the hedge school and their mangled remains were found next morning by the neighbours. This is the tradition of the last hedge school in the area.
Name of pupil  (Marion[crossed out]) Annie Hall
Ardkirk
Emyvale