We were very lucky to have a special visit from (L to R) Sr Catherine, Sr Margaret Mary and Sr Madeleine today. They shared a wealth of knowledge and experience with our 5th class.
They told us of the origins of the school and how on September 16th 1879, nine Sacred Heart of Mary Sisters arrived in Ferrybank on the steamship Reginald. Prior to this, there were hedge schools or fee paying schools. Two women from the parish were teaching in a small school in the area before St. Brigid’s school was founded in 1879.
Sr Margaret Mary taught at the school from 1954. She taught the infant classes in St. Brigid’s school. At one point, she taught over 52 children in one Junior Infant class and over 90 children religion. Sr. Madeleine taught from 1964 to 1982 and after 18 years as a class teacher, she became principal of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Sr. Catherine taught at the school until 2004, and was the last of the Sacred Heart of Mary Sisters to teach at the school.
The school was split into two big rooms and two smaller rooms. The ceilings were very high and stoves heated the rooms. The children practiced writing on black slates with chalk. When they were prepared and well practiced, they moved onto using ink and metal nibbed pens. Boys attended St. Brigid’s school from junior to senior infants and then they would attend St. Mary’s Boys school. Boys sat on one side of the room and the girls sat on the other side of the room. Some of the children were very poor at that time and wore no shoes to school. Sr. Margaret Mary said they would not need to go see a chiropodist! Some children had very little food to eat and Sr. Catherine recollected how one of the sisters would bring food down from the convent to feed the children. Back then, there were very few forms of transport and if you had a bicycle you were seen as well-off. Sr. Margaret Mary remembered how cars were very scare and people had to walk everywhere.
When asked what was their favourite subject, Sr. Margaret Mary said she loved teaching mathematics. After Sr. Margaret Mary retired, she came back and taught mathematics to some of the classes. Sr. Catherine enjoyed teaching religion, hearing the stories and the children’s interpretation of the stories. Sr. Madeleine loved Irish, especially the songs and poetry. She recalled her favourite memory was when the school sang mass through Irish. The prominent Irish composer Séan O’Riada had composed an Irish mass.
St. Brigid’s school was a beautiful Ferrybank landmark, that people would come from near and far to view from 1879 to 1959. Sadly the school fell into disrepair and was knocked down.
The uniforms have changed a lot over the years. This is a uniform from the 70’s, whereby the girls wore velvet ribbons and royal blue shift dresses. The St. Brigid’s school uniform was a pale-blue shirt and navy gymslip with a navy cardigan. Now we have our royal blue and sunny yellow uniform.
We looked at many, informative and historical primary source artefacts, such as the roll books, religious reports and music books dating back as far as 1899. Our class have been very privileged to hear recounts and first hand knowledge of the history of our school. We would like to say a special thank you to The Sacred Heart of Mary Sisters for visiting us and sharing their invaluable experiences with us.
