School: Gortnaskeagh (roll number 16321)

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1. Old Schools

   

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   In olden times when not even a shed could be obtained in which to teach the children of an Irish village the school master selected a green spot on the sides of a hedge which he thought was adapted for this purpose and there under the searching rays of the summer's sun carried on the work of instruction. From this circumstance the name Hedge schools came to be used. Hedge schools were used only for awhile until a school house could be got big enough to hold such a number of children as would be in the district. The schoolmaster usually taught in the next school in the district.
   The only hedge school I heard of in this parish was about a quarter of a mile from where Killcoosey school now stands. The teachers who taught there were Mr. O'Donnell, Mr. McGovern, Mr. McGee and Mr. O'Brine[?] who came from different counties. This school was situated in the open air in a little green field surrounded by a plantation of white thorn trees near where three roads meet. Children flocked from every place to get instruction in this school and made steady and fast progress. The subjects taught there were Irish, English, Arithmetic, Geography, and some History. They were paid according to the number of children who

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. objects
      1. man-made structures
         1. buildings
            1. schools (~4,094)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Maggie Kelly

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Ballynaboll, Co. Leitrim

   Informant

   Patrick Kelly

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Ballynaboll, Co. Leitrim