Leskenfere Church Education Society School

Ferns (Wexford)

 

In January 1877 Charles and Eleanor Kelly retired from teaching at Leskenfere School.  

The Kelly’s received what was referred to as an ADDRESS.  It read:

Mr. And Mrs. Kelly,

LATE TEACHERS OF THE LESKENFERE CHURCH EDUCATION SOCIETY SCHOOLS

We cannot allow you to retire from the office of Teachers of the above Schools, occupied by you for a period reaching to half a century with the exception of an interval of only Sixteen years without expressing our regret at your departure and bidding you an affectionate farewell.

Both you and Mrs. Kelly have won the esteem and regard of all, not alone for your attention to the duties of the schools, but also for the high moral tone that characterized you.

We beg your acceptance of the accompanying Tea Service, which we trust will prise, not so much for its intrinsic value, but as a memento of the kindly relations existing between us at parting your memory will live in the loving hearts of your pupils.

Praying that the blessing of the Almighty may rest upon you and Mrs. Kelly for time and eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We remain, faithfully yours,

The Friends and Pupils of the Leskenfere Schools.

Signed on their behalf

 Wm. BRANDON, Rector    JOHN WARREN, Church Warden    JOHN DOWLING & JOHN HILL,    Secretaries

The following is Mr. and Mrs. Kelly's reply:

My Dear Friends. - - How can I sufficiently thank you for the kind Address you have now presented to me, and for the beautiful present that accompanied it.  I thought I should have been able to receive both calmly, but my heart is so full of gratified emotion, that I fail to find words to express my thanks, and how much I feel at this testimony of your appreciation and good will.

Need I say that Mrs. Kelly and myself feel deep regret to leave a Parish in which we lived and worked so long, and which had become endeared to us by many interesting associations but you are aware that the state of her health made it imperative on me to find some place where she might have rest and quiet during the remainder of the time she may be spared to live.

I feel deeply thankful for your assurance that our anxiety for the improvement of the children committed to our care, has been noticed and appreciated both by them and their parents, and it gives me sincere pleasure that this Address has been presented by two friends, one who has been a former pupil, and whose friendship I have enjoyed since he grew up to manhood, and the other parent whose children, eight in number, have all been pupils, and who has often before expressed his satisfaction at the way his children were treated.

Again thanking you most sincerely for your kind wishes for our future welfare, and praying that God may abundantly bless both the children and the parents.

We remain, dear friends and gratefully yours,

C & E KELLY