Union Hall National School 1885 - 1989

Myross (Cork)

Around the year 1880 it appeared that the old school in the townland of Cooscroneen was getting too small to accommodate the number of pupils attending and owing to its proximity to Lough Cluichir there was very little room for expansion. On the 12th of December 1882 the Commission for Education sanctioned a grant of £510-6s-8d on expenditure of £800 or slightly less than two thirds of the cost of the school. The grant should have been two thirds but they decided, as there was £25 worth of materials and furniture in Cooscroneen, which could be transported to the new school, there was no need to pay the grant in full.

Built to accommodate 300 pupils it consisted of two rooms measuring 38 x 24 x 13 and 37 x23 x 13 plus two porches which could also be used as turf stores. Fr. McCarthy. Adm., Myross and Castlehaven acquired the site from Mr. J. Minihane and on the first of March 1883 a 900-year lease was signed with the J.P. Welphy, the landlord.    It is not known who built the school but one of the stone masons involved was a member of the Maguire family of Ballinatona, who were noted stone masons. The stones probably came from quarries within the parish and the bricks around the windows and for building the chimneys were sourced from some other part of the county. They were transported to Skibbereen by train where they were collected by local farmers with horse and carts to bring them the final leg of their journey to Union Hall a distance of 8 miles.

The school was officially called “Union Hall National School” and not Cahergal after the townland or Myross after the parish. The doors of the school opened on September 25th 1885 to receive pupils from the old school at Cooscroneen. 132 girls transferred and probably a similar number of boys.

The first teachers were – John Collins, Principal, Jer. O’Driscoll and Daniel O’ Donovan assistants. They were assisted by two monitors Patrick Shanahan (grandfather of the last principal of the school) and Tim O’Brien.

In the Girls School Mrs. Cullinane was Principal and her assistants were Mary A. Collins and Annie Casey.

School Subjects:

Reading, Arithmetic, Writing, Geography, Agriculture, Book Keeping, Sewing and Dressmaking, Religious Education and Navigation.

Length of Day

9.30 a.m. to 4.00p.m.

Some pupils paid fees and these remained on in the school for private tuition. Monitors also received tuition after 4.00p.m.

From 1909 onwards inspectors’ reports indicated that there was a serious problem with overcrowding in the school. In 1914 the Commissioners agreed to the extension of the girls’ room and the division of this room into three classrooms by the insertion of movable partitions. The male school took possession of one of the rooms leaving both schools with two rooms.  There were open fires or stoves in all rooms and up to 1942 all fuel, mainly timber and turf, was stored in the class rooms.

In 1962, with numbers falling fast, due partly to immigration, the total number of teachers fell from four to three. The Department decided to amalgamate both schools under the Principalship of Mr. Daniel Burke, Principal of the Boys’ School.  Mrs. Catherine O’Donovan was the last principal of the Girls’ School and she remained on as a teacher until retirement age.

 

Interesting facts

1. When built it was regarded as one of the finest buildings in West Cork

2. In Ireland there were two types of school in existence, those vested in the local parish the upkeep of which was the responsibility of the parish and church and those vested in the Board of Works who were responsible for their upkeep.  Union Hall National School fell into the latter category.

3. If a pane of the glass broke, the chimneys needed cleaning, toilets had to be unblocked or a light fitting needed replacing a letter had to be written to the Board of Works outlining the different problems. This was followed by a visit from the Board of Works inspector checking out the list of what needed to be done. He returned to Cork and wrote a letter to a local builder who would duly carry out the repairs and forward his bill to the Board. After a number of months, the inspector would return to check out that the builder had indeed done the repairs to his satisfaction and he then received his payment. The whole process could take up to two years

4. So bad and outdated were the conditions in the school in the early 1980’s that the I.N.T. O. following a ballot of the teachers withdrew the staff for four days until the Department agreed to plough ahead with the building of a replacement. It was one of the first strikes in the country for better conditions for both teachers and pupils.  The following year the school led the way again when the parish Priest at the time appointed a local farmer as one of the first lay chairpersons in the county.

5. Hundreds gathered in the school in September 1985 to celebrate its centenary and the photographs taken at the time will keep the memories of the occasion alive for many years to come.

6. The school closed in September 1989 with the opening of the new school beside the Church.

7. After the closure the school was renovated and reopened as a hostel known as “Maria’s Schoolhouse”. Its first guests were the cast of the film “War of the Buttons” directed and produced by Lord David Puttnam. Today it is a private residence.

 

 

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