Mullahoran NS marks 50 years

Big weekend of celebrations planned

Mullahoran Central School will this weekend commemorate it’s golden jubilee and a 50 year legacy of providing the highest quality education provision to their community.

To mark this momentous occasion the local national school has planned a number of events.

The founding celebration on Sunday, September 8, begins with a Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Mullahoran at 10am, to be attended by current and past pupils, teachers and staff, as well as friends of the school over the past five decades.

The Mass will be followed by a parade from the church to the school at 11am, a wonderful opportunity for those in attendance to take a trip down memory lane, meet friends, classmates and staff and to view an exhibition of old photos and other memorabilia.

There will also be activities at the school from 12 noon, to include the burying of a time capsule for generations to open in another 50 years’ time, refreshments, classroom displays, and the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the day.

Later that afternoon, from 5:30pm, the school will host a meal at Mullahoran Community Centre. Tickets for the celebration meal cost €20, with a limited number available.

Proud history of education

First opened on September 3, 1974, Mullahoran Central has since been a cornerstone of education and social life for generations of families living in the area. For over half a century, the modest school and its teachers have shaped the minds and futures of countless young children, becoming not just an educational institution, but a symbol of the community’s values, of resilience and a commitment to nurturing future generations.

Built at a cost of £40,000, it replaced three other existing schools in the area - St Mary’s NS, Kilcogy (1884-1974); St Kieran’s NS, Cloncovid (1885-1974); and St Joseph’s NS, Loughduff (1887-1974).

Much of the support for the development has been credited to the late John Wilson, former Minister for Education, a native of the parish.

The school was officially opened by Mr. M. O’Dalaigh, assistant Chief Inspector to the Department of Education, and formally blessed by Rev M. Mimnagh, and Most Rev Dr C. Daly, Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois.

Bishop Daly said in his sermon 50 years ago that the opening marked an “important new chapter” in the history of the parish.

Much like this weekend it was preceded by a special Mass held in the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes celebrated by Most Rev Dr Daly, after which pupils of the school marched to the school accompanied by the Bishop and their teachers.

First teaching staff

The teaching staff then consisted of the late Paid Fay as Principal, May Fay who previously taught at Loughduff NS, Michael and Peggy Moroney (vice-principal) who had taught at Cloncovid NS, and the late Maura Fitzsimons who taught at Kilcogy NS.

Generations of families have passed through the school’s doors, with many current students being the children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren of former pupils.

Some of the current school faculty, like current Sixth Class teacher Mairead McKeogh, was a pupil there when the school first opened. She is now the current acting deputy principal at Mullahoran Central.

She remembers the fanfare. Such was the size of the crowd that attended the opening ceremony 50 years ago that the official speeches had to be made outside. The then six-teacher five-classroom school catered for 213 pupils. It has since evolved to an 11-teacher school with nearly 170 students. It has rural DEIS status and is very active across a range of initiatives from Active Schools to Green Schools and more.

The 25 year celebrations drew an equal sized gathering at a time when the late Rosemary O’Reilly, a stalwart of the community, was teacher and later principal.

A modern approach to learning

Moreover, in recent years the school has also embraced modern technology and teaching methods, ensuring that its students are not left behind in an increasingly digital world. At the start of this latest school year Mullahoran Central opened a new Autism Classroom.

The current staff are: Fionnuala McGahern (Principal), Deirdre Shaughnessy (Acting Principal), Mairead McKeogh (Acting Deputy Principal), Veronica Cassidy, Marie Shanley, Ronan Donnelly, Sarah Cullen, Sarah Donohoe, Denise O’Reilly, Stephanie Scanlon, Aileen Byrne, Kevin Lynch and Rosemarie Heaney. SNAs are Joan Hackett, Rosie McGauren, Lorna Rabbitte and Karen Reilly; secretary Roisin Fegan, caretaker Carmel Smith and Josephine Brennan (bus escort).