What do YOU Remember About Primary School?
Have you a memory of Primary School that sticks
in your mind? Is it funny, sad, happy, terrifying..? We would love
to hear about it.
Contact us at school@lumcloon.net
We will be updating this page regularly, so check back soon. Here are some memories we have received from people to date (you may have heard of one or two of them!!)
Hello Lumcloon and thanks for asking me to take part in your project. I really enjoyed thinking about this. I went to the Waterside Girls' School in Derry in the late 1950s. It was a typical Victorian two-storey school with high ceilings, draughty sash windows, wooden floors, blackboards on easels and open fires. The toilets were hateful - a block of cubicles with doors you couldn't lock and one wash-hand basin with cold water only. The playground was a yard with no grass and certainly no flowers. We played hopscotch and skipping, tig and "In and Out Go the Dusty Bluebells."
I loved everything about school except the "school milk" and the headmistress. Miss McGill was tall, imposing, ugly (let's be frank) and had a hairy wart on her nose. And she yelled. She yelled a lot. Even the teachers were afraid of her. She had a bamboo cane (this was a time when it was still legal to hit schoolchildren) and she regularly laid into people (six strokes on each hand) for the most minor "offences", like talking in class, forgetting your homework or handing up untidy work.
I managed to get through my whole primary schooling without being caned - until my last year. We were doing the eleven plus exam to go to secondary school so we were always being given tests. One day we were doing a maths test and the girl in front of me moved her paper over to show me that she was stuck at one question. I wrote the answer on a corner of a page and was about to pass it on when Miss McGill swooped down on me. I stuffed the paper into my pocket. "Empty that pocket!" she yelled, hairy wart quivering at the end of her nose. I guiltily put the paper (and a bit of bottom-of-pocket fluff) on the desk. The long and the short of it was that she jumped to the conclusion that I had been given the "cog", tore up my maths test and gave me "six of the best".
I can still remember the terrible hot stinging pain and feel how the palms of my hands became bright red and swollen. I also remember feeling that it was very unfair - and I still do to this day.
Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you about the school milk. In Northern Ireland, every school child used to be given a little bottle of milk every day. I HATED milk but you had to drink it. The bottles, sealed with silver foil caps, were distributed to each class first thing in the morning. In good weather, the milk got warm and the cream at the top of the bottle almost turned to butter. Disgusting. In very cold weather, the teacher left the crate beside the fire so that it nearly boiled and skin formed on the top. Repulsive.
Just before break-time, the "milk monitors" poked a hole in each bottle cap, stuck in a straw and passed them around. By this time, I was nearly sick at the thought of having to drink it. But the snag was, if you refused to drink it, you might be sent to Miss McGill. I slurped it up through the straw, nearly gagging at the taste and the smell of it. It was bad but Miss McGill was worse. Lots of love and best wishes,
Maeve Friel
P.S. I have a new picture book for younger children coming out now in May. It's called Felix on the Move and it's published by Watts.
To the 5th and 6th Classes Lumcloon National School, Cloghan, Birr Co.Offaly.
I am delighted to hear that you are putting together a project for your school website. I was at primary school in a school for boys in Cabra Dublin run by Dominican Nuns. My aunt was, and still is, a nun in the convent but she was not involved with the school that I was in. I played football in the school, and I remember that we even learnt latin in 6th Class. I am not sure how much use that is to me now.
I wish you well in the development of your website and hope that you all have a very happy time in school.
Yours sincerely
John Bruton T.D. Leader of Fine Gael
Hello Everyone,
Thanks for your email. I have a particularly fond memory of primary school.
In 1968 I was six years old and attending St. Patrick's Primary School, Mayobridge, Co. Down. That year, Co. Down won the All Ireland Football Championship, and the Nuns who ran the school organised for Tom O'Hare, a local Mayobridge man who played on the Down team, to come to the school and bring the Sam Maguire trophy with him. We all lined the road up to the school and as Tom approached with Sam, we all sang "He's Football Crazy, He's Football Mad!!!". I must have been singing louder than the rest, because when he got to the school gates, he bent down, picked me up and put me into the cup! It was the best day of my (young) life. I doubt if I'd fit in it now, though!
Good luck with your project.
Kieran Goss.
Ann Carroll - Author of the "Rosie" series of children's books
Greetings to Sixth Class,Lumcloon. Delighted to hear from you. I'm very impressed that you are able to do a project for your website. This is actually my first time to use the e-mail!
I have lots of memories of primary school, even though it's so long ago.One is where my friend and I were very cheeky and shouted rude things after one of the teachers (this incident comes into 'Rosie's Quest'). We were both put into the Dunces' Row and for a time we even thought we might be expelled. We also got whacked on the hands with a ruler. Given the times that were in it, I suppose we were lucky we weren't hanged.
Another incident is when I hid in an enormous press at the back of the classroom. I just wanted to see could I fit in beside an old harp that was kept there. Sitting in presses wasn't encouraged by my teacher and when she suddenly arrived into class, a 'pal'shut the door on me. I sat perfectly still until it occurred to me that I wasn't missed at all. That hurt! So I began to pluck at the few strings that were left on the harp. Every time the teacher spoke, I played. She got very annoyed and wondered where the "awful noise" was coming from. Now I knew I was no musician, but that wasn't very nice, was it? I played louder and was discovered. Fear set in - a bit too late! But the teacher just laughed when she opened the press and found me plucking the strings.
Good luck with your website.
All the Best, Ann Carroll.
Trevor Sargent, T.D., The Green Party
Dear Friends in Lumcloon N.S.,
My schooldays began in Rathfarnham N.S., Dublin, in 1964. The only vivid memories for me are happy ones. I had good friends and friendly teachers. Once, a few classmates and myself took to writing stories. The adult characters were named after ourselves, the pupils, and the children in the stories had the Christian names of our teachers. It was a bit cheeky really, but our long suffering teachers decided to grin and bear it. I suppose they had the satisfaction at least of seeing us become avid writers as well as readers of each others short and not so short stories.
Yours for the Earth
Le gach dea-ghui
TREVOR SARGENT, T.D.
Green Party/Comhaontas Glas
Pat David Nolan - Barry from "Fair City"
Dear 5th and 6th classes,
I can remember my first day at school (37 years ago!). The school was the Model School in Inchicore, it was over 100 years old. They used the playground in the movie "Angela's Ashes", which I also had a small part.The class was mixed and if you were bold you were sat between two girls , at the time this was the worse thing the teacher (Mrs. Ryan) could have done.Slaps would have been easier!! In 4th class I moved to the De La Salle Brothers in Ballyfermot.It was in this class that I had my first experience on stage.The show was a tribute to the 1916 Rising, these were pre revisionest days,when the men and women who died were seen as heroes and not fools or terrorists! We sang a lot of now un-P.C. Rebel songs complete with guns and flags. How things have changed. The rest of my time at school was pretty uneventful, I got thru it .The classes were big (about 40 boys ). There was a lot of poverty about (not as bad as Frank Mc Court)and I don't know about them being the best days of my life, but there you go. Hope this may be of some use to you ......
Pat David Nolan
(Barry from Fair City)
Niall Sweeney - Offaly County Manager
Early Autumn 1958 back at school. Saint Brigids hasn't changed over the Summer. 10 o'clock and chalk dust floats and flickers on shafts of Autumn sunlight that shine downwards through the high classroom windows. No distractions. We cannot see out. Mind wanders out the window, onto the canal bank, lots of pinkeens dash among the reeds, if only I had -----------
"Sweeney - pay attention", Mr. McGeehan roars, red-faced from the blackboard, "take these sums down from the clr dubh"
Slide back the brass plate over the inkwell. Dip pen and begin to write, --- reluctantly! "Sweeney" whisper from Birdie Smith in desk behind, "give us your nail for me conker!" Smugly I pass back the nail and check the three chestnuts in my pocket, already holed and on twine, ready for the challenge at 'sus'!
The memory fades. I can't remember who won!
Niall Sweeney
Offaly County Manager
Brian Cowen - Minister for Foreign Affairs
Thank you very much for your recent e-mail regarding the project you are putting together for the Lumcloon NS website. It is very pleasing to see our young people learning how to use and master up to date technology such as the internet. I wish you well with your project and look forward to visiting your website when it is completed.
The following is an incident that I recall from my schooldays which always brings back fond memories.
One day the teacher was drawing a map of a foreign country on the blackboard listing a number of cities, mountains and rivers. There were about ten or so different places listed and the teacher asked each member of the class to copy the map into their copy books and learn the various places for class the next day. The pupils duly began to take down the map from the blackboard. However, a number of pupils had difficulty making out exactly what was on the board as it was a long classroom and some of the pupils had bad eyesight. One young pupil with poor eyesight (lets call him Jack) asked his friend beside him (Michael) if he could copy the details from his copy book as he could not see the blackboard. Michael agreed and continued to copy the details into his copy book and allow Jack to see what he was doing. But as Michael took down the details, he began to get a little bored and he started too add extra cities, rivers and mountains to the map - ones that didn't exist! Jack, of course, didn't notice and duly took down all details contained in Michal's copy book. When Michael got home, he erased the fictious add ons. The next day teacher asked various pupils questions and at one point Jack was asked to name all the rivers they had learned. The teacher was slightly amazed and Jack's classmates found it very funny when Jack named at least three rivers that did not exist! But thankfully, he did see the funny side of it later.
Brian Cowen T.D.
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Dear All,
Please accept my apologies for the delaying in replying to your e-mail on primary school memories. My childhood days in Mountmellick were in the main uneventful much like most national schoolchildren in rural Ireland in the 60's. I went to Irish college in Ring, Co waterford for fifth and sixth primary classes. Ring was a long way from home and I was boarding there for 5th class when I was ten. At that time there were no mid-term breaks and term ran from September to Christmas; from Christmas to Easter and Easter to Summer. While overall I enjoyed the experience, I was often lonely and longed to be home. However I survived the experience. Some eight years after I left, my youngest sister Maeve endured the same experience for one year. She also found the experience very worthwhile, if somewhat lonely because of the length of term and distance from home. One day she was 'out of bounds' near the beach along a walk area to which access was denied to students because of the fairly strict rules and regulations that obtained in Ring. She was sitting on a garen seat with a friend when she noticed carved boldly on the seat the message 'Seachain mo taibshe go deo ins an ait ailinn seo' Cathal O Flannagain. Needless to say she was most amused and had difficulty in telling the story to my parents because she herself had to break the school rules in order to read the message.!
My late father Oliver J. Flanagan was at national school in Mountmellick. He was a very poor attendor and left school before concluding sixth class. Years later as a T.. D. he was also a member of Laois County Council. The chairman of the Council at the time was one Mr E.J. Breen was was also headmaster at Mountmellick in my fathers time. One day during the course of a heated debate the Chairman admonished my father and accused him of being thick and ignorant. "If I am thick and ignorant as you say chairman" piped up my father " it's all your fault as you were the teacher responsible for my education". Needless to say The Chairman never crossed my father again.!
I hope these two stories are of interest and I would like to send my best regards to staff and students at Lumcloon.
With every good wish Charles Flanagan T.D.
Mick McCarthy Manager of Irish Soccer Team
Hello 5th & 6th classes of Lumcloon Primary School,
I have very happy memories of my time at Our Lady's Primary School in Worsbrough Bridge, Barnsley, but one of my best memories is of how we used to be given a small bottle of milk every day. We were all supposed to drink the milk because "It is good for you". However I used to sit next to a girl who hated the taste of milk so much that it used to make her feel sick. No problem there, then, because me being the gent that I am I used to drink her milk as well and nobody was any wiser.
But you know what they say, there is no such thing as a free lunch? Well that little girl still hates milk to this day, and we have been married for the last 20 years.
So to all you young fellas, if you fancy the girl sat next to you, you now know how to get in to her good books, unless of course she likes milk.
Best wishes to all at Lumcloon Primary School,
Mick McCarthy
Aidan Egan, Ph. D., Past Pupil of our school
To the children of Lumcloon National School,
I have many fond memories of the time I spent at school in Lumcloon. This was back in the seventies - a time that must seem like ancient history to all of you now (have they started teaching about it in the history books yet?). It was back before there was even central heating in the school. I remember that there was a solid fuel stove at the front of each classroom, from which the previous day's ashes had to be emptied every winter morning. Then we would light the fire (I can still smell the fire-lighters!) and, throughout the day, we would have to keep it topped up with turf. On really cold mornings, Mrs. Kerin and Mrs. Guinan would have us all stand by our desks and do exercises to get us warmed up. After jumping up and down for 5 or 10 minutes, we never really seemed to notice the cold any more.
I remember Christmas concerts in the school too. We would spend weeks practising our singing and acting, so that we could entertain our families, friends and neighbours in time for Christmas and raise a little money for a worthy cause. I remember Arts and Crafts on Friday too. I remember making Halloween masks, Christmas cards and decorations, St. Patrick's day badges and religious art at Easter. I wasn't much good at art back then, and still don't have much talent, but I was taught well in the areas I really liked. I remember doing sums on the black board, especially long division and multiplication with Mrs. Guinan. Little did I ever think as I sat in the wooden desks of a small rural school in County Offaly mastering the basics of Mathematics, that I was being prepared for a career which would one day take me through a Doctorate in Physics and on to a job with Intel Corporation in the middle of Silicon Valley.
So, to you, the current generation of Lumcloon school-children, I say - make the most of this opportunity, and of every other opportunity that life presents you. If you learn all you are taught in Lumcloon now, you'll be well equipped to take on the rest of the world.
Regards,
Aidan Egan.
I attended the north monastery primary School in Cork City. It was a huge school with two primary schools, a secondary school and a technical school on the campus. There were over 2,500 pupils in all. 51 boys started in my class that year and there were four classes of Junior Infants - over 200. This was the year 1966, the 50th anniversary of the 1916 rising so the Proclamation was everywhere. Every morning the National Anthem was broadcast on the Tannoy system and every class faced the Flag which hung in the middle of the campus outside.
It was a great hurling school and produced some famous people. Jack Lynch was a past pupil and he returned to the school to address the boys in 1966 when he was, I think, Minister for Finance.
One day I was walking along when I was called over by one of the teachers, a Christian Brother. The next thing I remember is being sent flying by a box on the side of the head. I didn't know where I was and got up with my head reeling. I was told "Don't 'what' me, it's 'Gabh mo leithscal, a Bhrthair' the next time". For my punishment I was put standing under the flagpole every morning during the National Anthem for a whole week in disgrace, where the whole school could see me. Tears ran down my face on the first day, but as the week went on they gave way to anger and eventually I vowed to get my own back by Friday. But of course I forgive him now, but I'll never forget!
John Creedon
Cora Harrison, Author of the "Drumshee Timeline" series
Memories of my primary school well that's a difficult one. You see, I never really went to primary school. When I was seven I got something called rheumatic fever and then I kept getting pneumonia and pleurisy and I was always ill. In fact, between the ages of seven and fifteen I spent most of my time in bed-either at home or in hospital.
What did I do? Well, I think I spent most of my time reading. I read and read and read - anything I could get my hands on. I used to write stories, too, but I preferred just making them up in my head rather than writing them down as I had very bad spelling.
One thing that I enjoyed doing when I was ill was making up historical novels. I used to draw all the figures in my story - dressed beautifully, of course, In medieval or Elizabethan gowns - and used to cut them out and pretend that the bedclothes were hills and valley where my heroines used to ride their horses and have great adventures hiding in caves etc. I used to be a bit embarrassed about this - particularly as I was so useless at drawing - so if anyone came near me I used to hide all the little figures under the sheet. It was a great way of passing the time, though, and I still remember my little cut-out dolls with affection. So there you are - that's my memory of those years.
Best Wishes to you all,
Cora Harrison.