Ballyholland Primary School Colm

McAteer

In the early part of the 19th century Ballyholland, located on the outskirts of Newry, was a densely populated townland, with an economy dependent on farming small plots of land. For those who wanted to learn, education was usually through a hedge school, with one recorded in the nearby townland of Grinan.

After the 1830s, National Schools were gradually introduced by the government. By 1902 elementary education was free and attendance at school was compulsory until the age of twelve. Local children mainly attended schools in the neighbouring townlands of the Commons and Grinan.

In the years leading up to, and during the First World War, it became apparent that a larger school was needed to accommodate the growing school population, and one-room schools such as Grinan were no longer sufficient to meet demand.

Lobbying for proper school facilities led to a site being obtained for a new school. Land was purchased from the Dowdall family, who lived near the Ballyholland cross-roads, and building work commenced in 1920.

Ballyholland School opened in April 1921, and the first pupils that joined the school were 55 boys and 52 girls. The majority of the children transferred from the Commons and Grinan schools and also the Christian Brothers and St Clare’s Convent School in Newry, while the rest were infants. Ballyholland Primary School was the first co-educational school in Newry Parish.

By the 1930s the school had three classrooms divided by a partition that could be pulled back for meetings and dances. There were two teachers at this time,

Pupils at Commons National School, 1913. The Commons school was a typical 19th school building consisting of a one room classroom and an adjoining residence for the Master. Catholic children transferred from this school to the new Ballyholland Primary School in 1921

Courtesy of William McAlpine the Principal, Mr McGuigan, and Mrs McShane and teaching emphasis was on the three ‘Rs’, reading, writing and arithmetic.

During the Second World War, evacuees from Belfast were billeted locally and attended school in Ballyholland. In February 1944 Mr McGuigan died and was replaced with a new principal, Dan White.

Major renovations came in the mid 1960s when electric light was introduced and sanitation improved. There were now four classrooms and an office. School dinners were no longer made on site and were now delivered in large steel containers. One of the class rooms doubled as a small canteen with adjoining kitchen. Two mobile classrooms were also erected in the playground.

By the early 1980s, with an expanding school catchment area and rising pupil numbers, four more classrooms were built as well as a large dining room that doubled as an assembly hall. Meals are cooked on site and the kitchen staff has always excelled in the quality of meals provided.

The school was totally refurbished in 2006 with an additional three purpose built classrooms and a resource area added to meet demand for places in the school.

This tradition of strong support by the local community continues, and teachers and support staff provide outstanding pastoral care, teaching and sporting excellence for the pupils.

Mourne Grange School, 1900 – 1971

Ken Abraham

Mourne Grange Preparatory School was set up in 1900 by Allen Sausmarez Carey. Originally from Guernsey, A.S. Carey was the tutor to Francis Needham, the future 4th Earl of Kilmorey and was offered Dromindoney House on the Kilmorey estate at Mourne Park, near Kilkeel, in which to open a preparatory school. The first of its kind in Ireland, the purpose of the school was to prepare boys between eight and thirteen years of age for public school.

Although the school opened with only four pupils and three teachers, the early years saw expansion in terms of pupil and staff numbers, schools buildings and curriculum. By 1908 classrooms and dormitories had been added to the original house and the school uniform of a royal blue blazer with white edging and dark blue cap with the badge of the Carey family was being worn. Subjects taught included Mathematics, French, History, Latin and Greek. English Language and Literature were bolstered by Mrs Carey’s readings of novels to the boys on Sunday evenings, a tradition maintained by Mrs Carey until her death in 1960.

Sport also played a vital part in the school curriculum. A cricket pitch was laid out in 1903 and other games included rugby, football and athletics. In 1915, the school was divided into two houses – Greeks and Trojans – to create rivalry and competition in sport. ‘Education expeditions’ to local places of interest were also introduced and over the years there were annual excursions to destinations and notable events in Britain and Europe.

By 1927 there were 92 boys, nine masters and three mistresses at Mourne Grange and these numbers remained much the same for the next ten years. In 1933, Patrick Carey, the Headmaster’s son, joined the staff. Known as ‘Mr Patrick’, his main contribution was amateur dramatics which were a major part of school life up until the 1960s, often undertaken in association with the Newpoint Players from Newry. Patrick Carey became Headmaster when his father died in 1954.

Circumstances began to change at Mourne Grange during the 1960s. A tougher economic climate, competition from other preparatory schools in Ireland, greater improvements in state education in the post-war years and a changing attitude towards sending young children away to boarding school, led to a gradual decline in pupil numbers. The school eventually closed in June 1971 and is now the home of Camphill Community Mourne Grange for adults with special needs.