On my recent phototrip to Dundalk with Mairéad I saw this old National School. It made me think of all those in my family who would have taught in similar buildings,going back to the last quarter of the nineteeth century.
My great-grandparents,my grandmother and indeed my father, would all have taught in schools of a similar size.Often they had only two rooms, one for the Junior Pupils,the other for the Seniors.Usually a female teacher taught the Juniors,and a male the Seniors.
The teaching aids were rudimentary, but the will to learn was strong. Many of these old schools have fallen into ruin now, so it was lovely to see this one still in good repair.It is no longer a schoolhouse however: it has in the recent past been converted into a pub, and is now up for sale.