http://www.irishtimes.com/news/irel...rse-s-st-enda-s-closes-100-years-on-1.2655424
I was timid and quite shy, and I joined in the last month of the term so I only had to deal with a few weeks before I had a summer break. I was walked up to the door by the vice-principal (vice-principal of the whole school, effectively principal of the Primary school though) and when she opened it I had about 15-20 eyes on me staring, and then one kid who jumped over 3 desks and shouted (in a friendly way) "HELLO!" while everyone else waved and welcomed me. And yes he got in trouble for that.
It is probably the smallest school imaginable for most people. We had no canteen, we had a big-enough yard but no grass, just concrete and nothing set up for football or any other sports (and we had a tiny shed-like feature near it to cover yourself from rain). All of the primary school rooms had no proper heating so they used plug-in radiators and moved them about the room. These rooms were practically made of wood, there was no brick or concrete. At one stage while I was in the secondary part of the school (which was on the opposite side, although we did have 4 rooms that were part of the secondary on that side but were further up and did have brick foundations [but still no heating]) it was set on fire during the night (hard to tell by who, but a school not too far away always had an issue with our school so many presumed it was them), and it consumed and completely destroyed the entire primary school area. We had one set of toilets that had (for boys at least) 2 urinals and 2 stalls that were unusable. We had no shop, vending machines or anything like that. The teacher's lounge was a small-enough room considering it was supposed to be able to hold about 10-12 people and it was supposed to be an area for them to relax in. You could barely get into it as the door always hit the chairs by the long table. My class was the biggest for years and at our peak we had 26 students (which didn't last long, it was 24 for the longest period of time).
At the centre of the school was "the house" - an actual house with part of the family that owned the school living in there. This had "the office" (which is pictured, along with the principal of my time at the school), mainly for speaking to the principal, and the other part of the office which was opposite where you'd normally go if you got in trouble and had to get the complaints book for your year and give it to your teacher. 3 of those and you got a nasty letter at the end of the week to give to your parents, although as you can imagine giving them to the person that is going to get in trouble wasn't the wisest idea and they were often returned with forged signatures. The one bathroom in here was the only bathroom for the teachers, but it was also the family's bathroom which I'm sure was more than a little awkward, but it seemed to work regardless, it was a unique place.
In primary school I had my first real crush, I was given a random Valentine's Day card by someone that accidentally signed her name on the card, and because it was in pen she had quite some trouble hiding it (and failed). I made my best friend for about 12 years who I'd always either have over in my house for the day on Friday evenings (since we finished early) or I'd go to his house and we'd play PES or FIFA (whatever was good at the time) or Call of Duty and watch whatever football was on TV at the weekend when I'd normally go see him too and then hang out in his neighbourhood since he lived closer to the school and we knew more people there. I was laughed at by kids from other schools for the utterly ridiculous uniform we had (bright pink tie and blazer). I got interested in football (watching and playing) which I loved for years and still do.
In secondary school I had my first actual brush with someone properly flirting with me from the class above me for weeks and didn't cop on to it whatsoever until she moved on to someone else (although she ended up just being a tease to him). I leaned more towards a certain group of guys that were eventually labelled "the blazer squad" because we for some reason decided to wear the blazers that were part of our uniform when the cool guys didn't. I was part of that "nerd" group of sorts for a couple of years but my best friends were either in other classes or in the cool group and I was also friends with the one other guy that wasn't really part of any defined group so I was in quite an odd place in regards to "high-school politics". I had my first real interest in a subject awakened when I did Spanish and I excelled at it and genuinely loved it. We had about 4 different teachers of Irish in our final year which really made things difficult for our class, but despite me not even being Irish when it came to our oral exam for Irish I was chosen to go up second (and they made it clear they expected the best to go in the first 4 or 5) which was weird to me. I slipped at Maths when I was told if I made the effort from 3rd year onwards I would have been able to do Higher level and do well but instead I did Ordinary and was content with a solid pass. I had to make a huge effort with Geography in my final year and was damn proud of myself for getting the grade I did in Higher level as my teacher didn't believe in me it seemed, but I think it might have been an attempt to make me work harder and if so, it worked. I came back from a summer break having spent a lot of it eating well and losing some weight and physically I changed a bit and got a lot of attention from girls and didn't understand it for quite a while (never acted on it in any of those 2 years though). I got sick of being in school around that time despite always being the type of person who just put my head down and did my work for so many years and almost ruined my Leaving Certificate (final secondary school exams) and my post-school job or education possibilities because of my carelessness. I got sick of the group I was slightly closer to and on lunch I went out of my way to get away from them some times, and one day I ran to the shop nearby without even saying it and I saw them all following behind me. I had Spanish class one day when rocks came flying over through the yard at the window from students from the other school. I belted a teacher in the face with my ridiculously-heavy bag one day and she said "sorry" to me. I got in trouble not often but every now and again in my last 2 years because I stopped trying. On one of those unique years where it snowed like crazy in Dublin the night before (especially now with Winter becoming so dry), I threw a snowball at the very second the vice-principal came out and shouted "next person to throw a snowball is being sent home" and hit someone right between the eyes with it (he let me away with that one though). Towards the end of my time there the principal made some effort to make it more enjoyable so we converted two rooms into a Games Room of sorts - she got a pool table, a darts board, and a hi-fi, and brought in things like guitar classes.
I realised at the end of my 11 years there that I was done with it. I was sick of my classmates, of school and of that method of learning. I was so happy to be able to say "I'll never have to deal with any of those people again". I remained friends with my good friends from various circles in the school for a while afterwards, until I realised they weren't being friends to me and were excluding me so I dropped all of them at once. I came into contact with that one guy who was also between groups last year when I ended up at a retail job where he was my assistant manager. I've been friendless since all that. But, I guess I am sad. I clearly am having written all of this out. It was unique. It was rundown, it didn't have facilities, but it was myrundown and facility-less school. It had mixed students (as in girls and boys) and I thought it was all the better for it, and then it wasn't anywhere near as regular here as you might think it even though it was only about 10-15 years ago. I adore learning and languages (I since continued my Spanish studies in university, learning Portuguese alongside it and I also taught myself Italian for a summer and Japanese a few winters ago (although that was harder to fit in in one month and I never really finished what I wanted to). I learned to love studying English from the university style of teaching at least and that started in school despite our teacher having to teach us the "read this and memorise it", I always felt he never really liked that. Since I've gotten my newest job in administration in a big company I haven't felt very happy and when I'm hearing co-workers talk about them doing part-time courses and stuff I feel a yearning for it, and it's weird for me to roll back this far and think that it's because of here that this started... and that I can't go back when I want and look in and see how the place and teachers are doing.
I'll miss you Ard Scoil Eanna, thank you.
_____________________________________________________________
Apologies that this turned into an essay or a blog post, I really didn't plan it. I guess I'm just more sad about this than I ever thought I would be. Tl;dr: My old school is closing today, and I go on a nostalgic train of thought about my time there and how it helped to form and change me.
Weird to see an article on this. This is one of the smallest, quietest schools around. Every time I spoke to people in other schools they told me of the vast size of their yard or field for playing sports in and spending break on, the amount of pupils they had in their classes hitting 30 or 40 or 50, their canteen and the different food options they had maybe or how big their classrooms were. Our primary school (around ages 6-11 I guess?) comprised of 3 tiny rooms, each one getting slightly bigger to accommodate the growing sizes of kids at that age. I remember my first day vividly. I had been in school in England and was just about to go into 4th class, but we moved over to Ireland due to family circumstances. Over here, though, I was put all the way back into 1st class - I'm not sure how it is generally across Europe or indeed North America and other continents, but in the UK you're put in younger, probably to make up for the years you spend in Sixth Form which are at the end of your secondary school / high school term which are supposedly designed to bridge the gap between school and university / college.
A secondary school founded on the principles of Patrick Pearses St Endas School is to close after 77 years.
Ardscoil Éanna in Crumlin was set up by a former Irish Volunteer James OByrne in 1939, four years after the closure of St Endas due to financial difficulties.
One of its first teachers was Pearses sister Margaret, who taught at Ardscoil Éanna for many years.
Mr OByrne believed that every child should have access to a secondary school education, irrespective of means. It was known as the shilling-a-week school because of the relatively low fees charged for secondary education, which was not free at the time.
The school was rare in being a Catholic one run by lay people and in private ownership. It has remained in the OByrne family to the present day.
It was founded to provide an education for children in Crumlin, which was then a new suburb of Dublin.
It is closing following the death of its former manager, Eibhlín Ní Bhroin, in 2013. She was the daughter of the founder. He went on to become a Dublin Corporation councillor.
Ms Ní Bhroin stipulated in her will that the school should close after her death. Though the salaries were paid by the State, the family funded all other activities. She felt that a small school such as Ardscoil Éanna could not survive without substantial private funding.
Before she died, she wrote: The school has served its pupils well. Daddy had a great vision and Réiltín [her sister and former principal] achieved it. I am immensely proud of both of them. I do not regret my decision to close the school. Ardscoil Éanna has fulfilled its purpose.
Etáin OMoore, who is Ms Ní Bhroins niece and has been the schools principal for 20 years, said she was heartbroken at its closure. At its peak, between primary and secondary school pupils, it had 500 pupils. Now there are just 50 left, a third year and Leaving Certificate classes. Its most famous past pupil is the actor Gabriel Byrne.
Its been my lifes work. I went to school here. I have been a teacher here, Im a member of the family and the principal. Its very sad for me that it is closing, Ms OMoore said.
When given the option of closing within three years or five years, she opted not to drag out the closure and chose three years.
I wasnt thinking that the school would close in 2016. It was after the fact that I realised the significance of the date. Patrick Pearses old school desk is in my office. Maybe it was the right year to be closing. It adds a poignancy to it.
The school will have a farewell mass today which will be attended by past pupils.
The 11 teachers and the existing pupils who are going on to the Leaving Certificate cycle will be accommodated elsewhere.
I was timid and quite shy, and I joined in the last month of the term so I only had to deal with a few weeks before I had a summer break. I was walked up to the door by the vice-principal (vice-principal of the whole school, effectively principal of the Primary school though) and when she opened it I had about 15-20 eyes on me staring, and then one kid who jumped over 3 desks and shouted (in a friendly way) "HELLO!" while everyone else waved and welcomed me. And yes he got in trouble for that.
It is probably the smallest school imaginable for most people. We had no canteen, we had a big-enough yard but no grass, just concrete and nothing set up for football or any other sports (and we had a tiny shed-like feature near it to cover yourself from rain). All of the primary school rooms had no proper heating so they used plug-in radiators and moved them about the room. These rooms were practically made of wood, there was no brick or concrete. At one stage while I was in the secondary part of the school (which was on the opposite side, although we did have 4 rooms that were part of the secondary on that side but were further up and did have brick foundations [but still no heating]) it was set on fire during the night (hard to tell by who, but a school not too far away always had an issue with our school so many presumed it was them), and it consumed and completely destroyed the entire primary school area. We had one set of toilets that had (for boys at least) 2 urinals and 2 stalls that were unusable. We had no shop, vending machines or anything like that. The teacher's lounge was a small-enough room considering it was supposed to be able to hold about 10-12 people and it was supposed to be an area for them to relax in. You could barely get into it as the door always hit the chairs by the long table. My class was the biggest for years and at our peak we had 26 students (which didn't last long, it was 24 for the longest period of time).
At the centre of the school was "the house" - an actual house with part of the family that owned the school living in there. This had "the office" (which is pictured, along with the principal of my time at the school), mainly for speaking to the principal, and the other part of the office which was opposite where you'd normally go if you got in trouble and had to get the complaints book for your year and give it to your teacher. 3 of those and you got a nasty letter at the end of the week to give to your parents, although as you can imagine giving them to the person that is going to get in trouble wasn't the wisest idea and they were often returned with forged signatures. The one bathroom in here was the only bathroom for the teachers, but it was also the family's bathroom which I'm sure was more than a little awkward, but it seemed to work regardless, it was a unique place.
In primary school I had my first real crush, I was given a random Valentine's Day card by someone that accidentally signed her name on the card, and because it was in pen she had quite some trouble hiding it (and failed). I made my best friend for about 12 years who I'd always either have over in my house for the day on Friday evenings (since we finished early) or I'd go to his house and we'd play PES or FIFA (whatever was good at the time) or Call of Duty and watch whatever football was on TV at the weekend when I'd normally go see him too and then hang out in his neighbourhood since he lived closer to the school and we knew more people there. I was laughed at by kids from other schools for the utterly ridiculous uniform we had (bright pink tie and blazer). I got interested in football (watching and playing) which I loved for years and still do.
In secondary school I had my first actual brush with someone properly flirting with me from the class above me for weeks and didn't cop on to it whatsoever until she moved on to someone else (although she ended up just being a tease to him). I leaned more towards a certain group of guys that were eventually labelled "the blazer squad" because we for some reason decided to wear the blazers that were part of our uniform when the cool guys didn't. I was part of that "nerd" group of sorts for a couple of years but my best friends were either in other classes or in the cool group and I was also friends with the one other guy that wasn't really part of any defined group so I was in quite an odd place in regards to "high-school politics". I had my first real interest in a subject awakened when I did Spanish and I excelled at it and genuinely loved it. We had about 4 different teachers of Irish in our final year which really made things difficult for our class, but despite me not even being Irish when it came to our oral exam for Irish I was chosen to go up second (and they made it clear they expected the best to go in the first 4 or 5) which was weird to me. I slipped at Maths when I was told if I made the effort from 3rd year onwards I would have been able to do Higher level and do well but instead I did Ordinary and was content with a solid pass. I had to make a huge effort with Geography in my final year and was damn proud of myself for getting the grade I did in Higher level as my teacher didn't believe in me it seemed, but I think it might have been an attempt to make me work harder and if so, it worked. I came back from a summer break having spent a lot of it eating well and losing some weight and physically I changed a bit and got a lot of attention from girls and didn't understand it for quite a while (never acted on it in any of those 2 years though). I got sick of being in school around that time despite always being the type of person who just put my head down and did my work for so many years and almost ruined my Leaving Certificate (final secondary school exams) and my post-school job or education possibilities because of my carelessness. I got sick of the group I was slightly closer to and on lunch I went out of my way to get away from them some times, and one day I ran to the shop nearby without even saying it and I saw them all following behind me. I had Spanish class one day when rocks came flying over through the yard at the window from students from the other school. I belted a teacher in the face with my ridiculously-heavy bag one day and she said "sorry" to me. I got in trouble not often but every now and again in my last 2 years because I stopped trying. On one of those unique years where it snowed like crazy in Dublin the night before (especially now with Winter becoming so dry), I threw a snowball at the very second the vice-principal came out and shouted "next person to throw a snowball is being sent home" and hit someone right between the eyes with it (he let me away with that one though). Towards the end of my time there the principal made some effort to make it more enjoyable so we converted two rooms into a Games Room of sorts - she got a pool table, a darts board, and a hi-fi, and brought in things like guitar classes.
I realised at the end of my 11 years there that I was done with it. I was sick of my classmates, of school and of that method of learning. I was so happy to be able to say "I'll never have to deal with any of those people again". I remained friends with my good friends from various circles in the school for a while afterwards, until I realised they weren't being friends to me and were excluding me so I dropped all of them at once. I came into contact with that one guy who was also between groups last year when I ended up at a retail job where he was my assistant manager. I've been friendless since all that. But, I guess I am sad. I clearly am having written all of this out. It was unique. It was rundown, it didn't have facilities, but it was myrundown and facility-less school. It had mixed students (as in girls and boys) and I thought it was all the better for it, and then it wasn't anywhere near as regular here as you might think it even though it was only about 10-15 years ago. I adore learning and languages (I since continued my Spanish studies in university, learning Portuguese alongside it and I also taught myself Italian for a summer and Japanese a few winters ago (although that was harder to fit in in one month and I never really finished what I wanted to). I learned to love studying English from the university style of teaching at least and that started in school despite our teacher having to teach us the "read this and memorise it", I always felt he never really liked that. Since I've gotten my newest job in administration in a big company I haven't felt very happy and when I'm hearing co-workers talk about them doing part-time courses and stuff I feel a yearning for it, and it's weird for me to roll back this far and think that it's because of here that this started... and that I can't go back when I want and look in and see how the place and teachers are doing.
I'll miss you Ard Scoil Eanna, thank you.
_____________________________________________________________
Apologies that this turned into an essay or a blog post, I really didn't plan it. I guess I'm just more sad about this than I ever thought I would be. Tl;dr: My old school is closing today, and I go on a nostalgic train of thought about my time there and how it helped to form and change me.