Our Educational Heritage- Our School

Our School

Our school is situated about four miles east of the town of Athenry, Co. Galway. It is an eight teacher school - six class teachers, a Learning Support Teacher and a Resource Teacher. The school has six classrooms, a staffroom and small kitchen. Even though our school is bursting at the seams and appears small, yet, I am sure, it would appear palatial to those who founded the original school on a site nearby.

The year 2006 is a special year in the history of our school. We are celebrating 150 years in education in Newcastle. The very first school was built on a site opposite this one 150 years ago in 1856. It was built by local contributions nine years after the social upheaval of the Famine of 1847. It is unlikely that local people had much money to spare. In spite of this however enough money was raised to build a school. It is very likely that the school was built by local labour as well as local contributions. This would have helped to keep costs at a minumum. The original building was made of wood and nothing of its structure remains today.

The official opening of the first school was performed on the 5th. of May 1856. We can only wonder at what that day must have been like as no written account of it has come down to us except a single entry in a Roll Book telling us when the official opening took place. Many questions have been left to our imaginations to answer. What must the celebrations have been like? How were the pupils dressed? How were the teachers dressed? What size were the classrooms? How many pupils first attended on the opening of the school ? Did all children of school going age go to school? At what age did the pupils leave primary school? The answers to some of these questions are to be found on the photograph of the first page of the roll book dated 1856, directly underneath this text.

The day the school opened for the first time must have been a very special day in the lives of the people of Newcastle. The school's founders must have been conscious of the beginning of a new era, of the casting off of an era of discrimination when Catholics were not allowed to own or run a school and the beginning of a new era of hope for a better educated population with greater opportunities and a better life in the future.

The school was first recognised as a National School on 1st. of June 1856.

Our School's Crest

The crest contains our school's name "St. Oliver Plunkett National School". It also contains an image of the Templemoyle Bell and an open book. The bell symbolises our long history of involvement in education dating back to the foundation of a monastic settlement at Templemoyle in the seventh century A.D. The book symbolised our present day commitment to learning. Our crest stands for our educational heritage, our present commitment to eduction and our future plans for personal and collective development.

Our Local Historical Heritage

The Bell of Templemoyle

To find out the full story of the Templemoyle Bell click on the link to Fifth & Sixth Class. You will find it well worth your while.

Our Catholic Heritage

Our Patron Saint - St. Oliver Plunkett.

The patron saint of our school is St. Oliver Plunkett. He was a person of great character, learning and spirituality and is therefore a very suitable choice as patron. He was devoted to learning and he endured hatred, discrimination, and betrayal during his life. He lived during a time of political unrest in Ireland. There were land wars and plantations in Ireland and Civil War in England. He endured even more than most of his compatriots. Read his Time Line below and find out more about his life.

Time Line of Main Events of his Life.

1. He was born in Loughcrew in Co. Meath on the 1st. of November 1625.
2. He was ordained a priest in Rome on the 1st. of January 1654.
   
3. He was consecrated as bishop and appointed as Professor of Theology in Rome on the 23rd. of November 1669.
   
4. He returned to Ireland after 23 years of exile abroad on the 7th of March 1670.
   
5. He was arrested on the 6th. of December 1679.
   
6. He was brought to trial in London in June 1681 on trumped up charges and was sentenced to death.
   
7. He was hanged, drawn, quartered and beheaded on the 1th. of July 1681. He was canonised on 12th. of October 1975.
   
8. His feast day is the 11th. of July.

Our Environmental Heritage

How We Look From Space

Examine the map carefully and see if you find us. The effects of human influence are to be seen everywhere on the landscape. Human influence is evident in towns, fields, bogs, marshes, forests and stone wall fences. Visit Google Earth and see us in three dimensional form.

It is the policy of the school to encourage pupils to protect the local environment. If you should visit us, play your part in protecting the environment also.

Protecting Our Environment - The Garden Project

Marie Mac Namara (outside the wall) speaking to the pupils of Fifth and Sixth Classes. Looking on are Tina Kessler (Parent, left facing) and Cathy Treacy, Teacher.

The Ducks

Three ducks on loan to the school looking for slugs to eat.

The School Garden
On Thursday the 23rd. of February, the staff, together with Tina Kessler and Marie Mac Namara, organised the visit of three ducks to the school garden. The ducks belonged to Marie Mac Namara of Gloves West, Athenry, Co. Galway. Marie introduced the ducks to each of the classes in turn, starting with the Infants. She discussed the purpose of bringing them to the garden and how pupils could learn from their habits. She explained that they were being used as a form of biological pest control in the garden. In recent weeks the garden has become infested with slugs and since slugs form part of the ducks' diet, they could be used to control the slug population in the garden. "Pest control in this way would be preferable to using slug pellets or other forms of chemical pest control," she said.The pupils had many questions about the lifecycle of ducks, their usefulness to humans and their use as a form of biological pest control. By the end of the visit pupils had a much better understanding of the delicate balances that exist within the natural kingdom and how we should seek to protect these through organic methods rather than distroying them by using chemicals.

It is the policy of our school to protect our natural environment and heritage.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

A Prize Winning Project About Our Local Heritage

Title Page of Winning Project.

A project entitled "Our Local Heritage" was a prizewinning project for our school. The main topic of the project was Athenry a Heritage Town. The project was undertaken by the pupils of Fifth and Sixth Class of 2004 - 2005. Athenry is a medieval town situated about three miles west of our school. The medieval town of Athenry has survived largely intact for almost one thousand years. Its walls and castle, some of its towers and its market cross survive intact to this day. The project describes this medieval heritage and the heritage of Templemoyle - an old monastic settlement situated beside our school.

Our Spiritual Heritage

The Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Stained glass

This photograph of the stained glass window in the front of the church depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary in a blaze of light. Our Church has many stained glass windows. Others are situated on the sides of the building. A better understanding of their positioning may be had by viewing the post entitled Our Church. The positioning of the windows is important, as they reflect the suns light into the building at different times during the day. Sunlight is reflected through the windows onto the floor of the church. This light is then reflected back onto the congregation. The religious significance of this play on light is that Jesus is the light of our lives and that the congregation who pray here must seek to reflect that light in their own lives. The church is part of the architectural heritage of our community.

The Main Altar

It is around this altar that we celebrate school events such as our beginning and end of year masses. But most particularly it is here that we celebrate our First Holy Communion and Confirmation. This altar is an important part of our Christian heritage.

Our Church - The Church of The Immaculate Conception

Our church is situated in the centre of the community of Newcastle. It is situated directly opposite our school. The design of the windows is the most significant feature of the building. The position of the stained glass windows on the side and front of the building are obvious from this photograph. Observe the way in which the sunlight plays on the stained glass windows on the west side of the church. This church plays an important part in the spiritual development of the pupils of our school.