From the archives: St. Angela’s NS in Mayo county town opened 60 years ago

By Tom Gillespie

SIXTY years ago an account of the official opening of St. Angela’s National School in Castlebar in December 1963 appeared in The Connaught Telegraph. It read as follows:

Monday, December 16, 1963, marked another phase of development in Castlebar and another chapter of progress in the history of the town when the new girls primary school was officially opened on the grounds of the Convent of Mercy.

The official opening ceremony was performed by the Minister for Lands, Mr. Michael O’Morain, and the school was blessed by Venerable Archdeacon William Nohilly, P.P., Castlebar.

The ideally laid out school, which possesses every modern amenity, is a 10-teacher school, with accommodation for domestic science instruction, and was erected at a cost of £70,000.

The opening ceremony was a red-letter day in the history of the members of the community of the Mercy Order who have been long associated with the education of school children in the ancient parish of Aglish; it was also a great day for the people of Castlebar who joined with the nuns in celebrating the occasion.

With the pupils of St. Joseph’s Secondary School forming a guard of honour along the entrance route to the new school and the school children with their parents and teachers assembled around the building, a very impressive ceremony was witnessed when Archdeacon Nohilly performed the official blessing ceremony of the exterior of the school.

The Minister for Lands, Mr. O’Morain, after being presented with a golden key on a silver salver by the architect, Mr. J.F. McCormack, amid prolonged applause then performed the official opening ceremony.

The interior of the building was then blessed and afterwards those present attended Mass celebrated by Archdeacon Nohilly in the beautiful new assembly hall.

The attendance was representative of the professional and business life of the town and officials of the Department of Education and Board of Works.

Rev. Fr. Tom Shannon, C.C., and one of the Sisters of Mercy were in charge of the choir, while also present were Rev. Fr. A. Fair, C.C., Rev. Fr. P. Moran, C.C., and Rev. Fr. C.O’Malley, C.C.

Later, after a formal reception at the Convent, a number of guests were entertained at a dinner held in the Imperial Hotel, and presided over by Archdeacon Nohilly.

The contractors were Messrs. Malachy Bourke Ltd., Galway; Mr. Ernie Evarard, electrical contractor; Mr. Thomas Brett, painting contractor; Messrs P.J. Kelly, Westport, furniture contractor; Messrs. Martini, Dublin, terrazzo specialists and floor layers.

The new school replaces the old St. Angela’s Primary School founded in 1853 - some time after the Sisters of Mercy came to Castlebar.

It is one of the most modern schools in the country and merited the high measure of praise attributed to it by those present at the opening ceremony.

Mr. Michael O’Morain, Minister for Lands, said: It is a particular pleasure and honour for me as a Castlebar man to attend here today as a representative of the Irish Government to open this new school for the Sisters of Mercy.

For over 100 years the Sisters of Mercy did a tremendous job in educating and moulding the character of the young girls of Castlebar.

The old school, known as St. Angela’s Convent, was finished in 1897 and has long ago passed its time.

The community of the Sisters of Mercy has grown with the town of Castlebar and it was natural that it would expand to provide these modern facilities which we witness here today.

I am glad to say that our two new schools, both our boys primary and the school which I have opened today, compare more than favourably with any school which I have seen not alone here but also abroad.

It was a tremendous undertaking for the nuns here to embark on a programme that is estimated to cost £70,000 with a local contribution from the nuns of approximately £11,500. No doubt the community here took inspiration from their saintly foundress, Mother Mary Catherine McCauley, and remembered her advice to her spiritual daughters, which I quote: “While we place our confidence in God we must ever act as if all depended on all our exertions.”

Your saintly founders was a very practical woman and no doubt this community of Mercy nuns here took inspiration from her words and proceeded with this tremendous undertaking.

The vital statistics are: accommodation for 432; there will also be a special room for the teaching of cooking and a beautiful assembly hall with an area of 1,920 square feet, with play spaces, play shelters, cycle sheds and the most modern system of sanitation.

Although Archdeacon Nohilly has told you it is the intention of the nuns here not to ask the people for any help towards their very heavy liability, I want to assure them that as a Castlebar man that we are deeply appreciative of their work for our children; if at any time the nuns feel the burden too heavy to bear I have no hesitation in assuring them, on behalf of the people of the town, that we will come to their assistance.

It is true to state that both our teachers and people have inherited the tremendous educational traditions from the hedge schools of Ireland in the old days and indeed I would like to see Professor Dowling’s book on the hedge schools of Ireland compulsory reading in schools.

The head schoolmasters of those days, such as Donnacha Rua MacNamara, Brian Merman, Owen Rua O’Sullivan and others, were not alone tremendous teachers but were noteworthy poets and masters of the classics in their time.

Many of these men compiled special grammars - hand inscribed - which provided for the teaching of language structure from Greek to Hebrew. Strange to say, Brian Meriman was famous in his lifetime as a mathematician as the author of ‘Cuairt an Mean Oidche’.

I know that the good nuns here will wait until these children get a lot bigger before they allow them study this book.

What I do emphasise is that these men and people in the penal days, and afterwards, displayed such an inherent love of education that they risked heir lives to acquire it and many of the teachers in their own life times achieved European reputations as educationalists. It is no wonder that we have Orders such as the Sisters of Mercy, who are doing such great work in the Gaeltacht areas, carrying on that great tradition.