Skerdagh School 1840 - 1850.
Joe McDermott
Before 1831 there was no government-organised education on a national scale. Some attempts had been made in the eighteenth century by the Archbishop of Dublin (Church of Ireland) to propose the establishment of schools where children would be thought the English language and the Protestant religion. This came to nothing as there was no money available. The charter school system was an implementation of this, these schools were seen as proselytising (attempting to convert students) and as a result were not very popular though State supported. The problem lay in the local management of the schools, inefficient and corrupt . In 1831 a new National Board of Education was set up to control the newly proposed national education system. In a letter to the new Board of National Education dated July 4th 1839 the Parish Priest of Newport refers to a local " proselytising school"he goes on to say "I am left with no means of counteracting his efforts but my own scanty revenues" he adds "at least 10 other schools wanted"
This was the situation that obtained in the Parish of Burrishoole as the population soared towards its 1841 peak which saw Mayo with a population in excess of 450,000 and perhaps as high as 500,000.
A new road commenced construction from the town of Newport toward Glenhest and Nephin in the years immediately after 1831. The engineer Alexander Nimmo who had designed many of the new roads of County Mayo had instigated it in an official report in 1831.
The growth of road building had a number of results, it gave employment to distressed areas, indeed it was often pursued for this very purpose and it encouraged the development of markets and trade and of course building of homes and cabins along the way. In the case of this new road into Glenhest two schools a church and a R.I.C. Barracks were to be developed. The first of the schools was to be a few hundred yards inside the O'Donel property, in the Archdiocese of Tuam in the townland of Knockmoyle, although the school would answer to the name Skerdagh. This name was to reflect the catchment area that it would serve. The Board of National Education had been set up with an initial grant of £30,000 "to enable the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to assist with the education of the people"
In order to get financial assistance from the Board of National Education it was necessary to make an application to the Commissioners of Education for aid toward a schoolhouse. It was usually the Parish Priest that made the application which was supported by other members of the community, where possible Catholics and Protestants signed jointly. The schools were to be non- denominational and religious education was not intended as part of the daily curriculum.
Fr. James Hughes had made other applications for funding for Newport town schools3. In the case of Skerdagh School the application E D 1/61 is not actually signed by the Reverend Hughes, but undoubtedly he would have supported the application, on another occasion he had declared that " at least 10 other schools are wanted". The trustees of the school were to be Alex and George Glendenning of Westport. The first application was made prior to 1843 and was rejected. The successful application was made in time to allow for the school to open on the 1st of January 1846, in fact it was signed by Glendenning on 24th May 1845. The building must have proceeded with alacrity. For a time Archbishop McHale - a Lahardane man - had withdrawn Tuam Archdiocese schools from the Board of National Education system and forbidden his priests to sign applications for funds believing that such schools would become centres for proselytising.
Skerdagh school was to have Alex and George Glendenning, managers of the Bank of Ireland Westport, as its first trustees on a rent free lease of 31 years or 3 lives. The school was to accommodate 150 males and females in one school room 34 feet by 18 feet. The site acquired was one acre. It is situated on a North-facing slope at approximately 200 feet above sea level and some 3.5 miles from Newport. It would appear to be isolated from all habitation and has no focal point, as does for instance the Glenhest school a few miles further out the road. However an examination of the 1838 Ordnance Survey maps shows that its location, while initially strange, was well suited to the fan-like scatter of homes that had grown up along the Black Oak River and up its tributory the "Abhainn Sciordach" toward Glenlara and Buckoogh mountain and from thence back around through Letterlough and into Graffy.
In the application for funding it was stated that local aid and funding would be available to build and maintain the school. Brackla school which was not vested in the Board of National Education was the nearest school, it held 106 students. The current view was that clergyman were offered to the lyceum. Those applying felt that there was much need for the school "There is a large population living locally". The superintendent of schools visited in April of 1845 to see for himself the circumstances. When the school was built it cost £66-13-4 and to furnish it a further £7-10-0. Its size was 24 feet by 18 feet.
So on the first of January 1846 David Caine took up his position as teacher at Skerdagh School, he was aged about 40 had trained at the National model school in Dublin and worked in Derradda school for a number of years, his salary was 12 pounds per year . The local contribution was nil and scholars had no contribution to make. There were an average 30 males and 20 female children present.
On the 22nd February 1847 just one year into its life Skerdagh school received its 2nd school inspector. He most likely travelled on horseback from Newport along a slowly improving "new line". Cresting the hill before the school he would have stopped to look toward Nephin. No immediate houses in sight just a vast expanse of blanket bog, to his left Buckoogh, the crisp February morning light picking out cabins dotted along its lower slopes, to his right Croaghmoyle its darkened Western slopes not yet in the frosty sun's rays. It had probably taken over and hour to reach the school and word of his arrival must have sped before him - all was in order, all was ready except - - there were only 12 students there that day, 10 boys and two girls - where were the other 130? Their average attendance had been 23 over the previous six months. The reason may have been to do with the McHale disagreement with the Board of National Education but perhaps more significantly, this was 1847 and a famine stalked the land. That any one would be thinking of education was in itself surprising. The teacher himself when asked stated that he "was always trying to get meals for his family" , such were the times. The hours of business of the school where from 10 o'clock till 4 o'clock in summer and from 10 o'clock till 3.15 in winter. Surprisingly the Newport parish schools show a better attendance in summer than winter, one would have expected farm work to deep students away from school.
Of the school in general that first inspection reports that the state of repairs was good, that is the roof, the walls, the floors - all except the glazing. It had not been whitewashed within six months. There were 8 desks and forms. The length of the forms was 12 feet. Yes and Mr Caine had a teachers desk and a press in which to put books. We are not told what books were used but nearby Newport used the following, which may give a clue to Skerdagh's library.
In Newport the following books were used