| Ballyshannon Technical School 1914 was the first in County Donegal. The school was in the three storey building in the centre foreground, between the Courthouse and the former Methodist Church, St. Anne's Church is on top of the hill. |
Technical/ Vocational
education in County Donegal had its beginnings a century ago in Ballyshannon
which linked with Letterkenny in providing the first two schools in the county.
This article looks back to the early days in the first school on the Mall,
Ballyshannon and the people who paved the way for others to follow. The great
pioneer of technical education James O’ Neill was the first principal of both
Ballyshannon and Letterkenny Technical schools at the same time in 1914. He
resided in Ballyshannon and later became the first C.E.O. of Co. Donegal V.E.C.
with its offices in Ballyshannon from 1930 to 1949. For almost 40 years the
school was situated on the Mall overlooking the renowned Assaroe waterfall. From 1914 until the era of the Second World
War Ballyshannon Technical school provided the only available post-primary education in
the community. The only alternative was for those with sufficient income or who
won a scholarship to go off to boarding schools. The school was established in
a most historic period coinciding with the First World War and the independence
struggle. Its legacy to the local community still continues in 2015.
Technical Education from Pettigo to Bundoran 1902
As early as 1902 James
O’ Neill, a native of Larne Co. Antrim, had come to County Donegal as an
itinerant woodwork teacher and devoted his life to the provision of technical education
for the people so that they could be
self sufficient. Itinerant teachers travelled around the county spending upwards
of a month in locally rented accommodation, to which they transported their
equipment, enrolled classes and provided hands on service to isolated
communities. James O’ Neill travelled extensively throughout the county
including Buncrana, Letterkenny, Killybegs, Ardara and Ballyshannon. Local
instructors such as Ellen Hannigan in Pettigo were employed to provide crochet
classes for four hours a day. By 1914 there were sprigging classes in the
courthouse in Pettigo with further classes in Lettercran in a room in Mr.
Flood’s house. Meanwhile the Bundoran Co-operative Home Industry and the
Bundoran Carrickmacross Lace and Crochet Group taught skills and enabled the
students to sell their finished products. Ms. McKenna who was later to be
employed in the first technical schools in Ballyshannon and Letterkenny
conducted cookery classes in Ballintra. In Belleek a lace group was organised
and conducted by Ms. Slevin which operated four hours a day and three days a
week.
Ballyshannon had two
groups with Ms. Mulligan and Ms. Margaret McMenamin providing instruction in
lace and crochet respectively. Classes sold their lace products on the open
market but with the outbreak of World War 1 the value of the work dropped and
earnings fell by 50%. Early technical education had its humble beginnings in
hired accommodation with itinerant teachers and locally based skilled
instructors providing a valuable service to people whose education had ended with
primary school. The opening of schools in Ballyshannon and Letterkenny in 1914 was to provide the first permanently
based technical schools in the county.
Ballyshannon Technical School 1914
In 1914 the two
largest towns in the county were selected by County Donegal Joint Technical
Instruction Committee to establish the first permanent technical schools. Locally
much of the talk in 1914 would have been about men enlisting in the army at
Finner Camp and going off to fight on the Western Front in France. The roadway
outside the technical school on the Mall in
Ballyshannon would have been busy with salmon fishermen coming and
going, to the
Assaroe waterfall and the Mall Quay nearby. James O’Neill was appointed
Principal of both Ballyshannon and Letterkenny Technical schools which
both
opened in October 1914. Undaunted he took on the challenge and commuted
between both
locations by C.D.R. train. The logistics of running two schools so far
apart required
military precision and frequent reference to the railway timetables. Mr.
O’
Neill was also required to conduct a short course of instruction in some
other
part of the county during the summer holidays. Generations of local
people from
the urban and rural areas around Ballyshannon were provided with
educational
opportunities to follow on from their primary education.
In
1914 the search for
a building to house the first technical school resulted in the selection
of a
three storey building on the Mall beside the Courthouse. The building
had
originally been a warehouse in close proximity to the harbour at the
Mall Quay.
The building was leased from the Sheil Trustees and was to be the home
of the technical school until the present building was constructed on
College Street
in 1952. (Subsequently the building on the Mall was to be the home of
the
Catholic Club, the Boxing Club and the local library. The site is
nowadays
occupied by a private residence between the Tyrhugh Centre and the
former
Methodist Church). John McCaffrey, architect, who had previously been
Principal
of Armagh Technical School, planned the alterations to the building in
1914. On
the ground floor were the Mechanical Drawing, Manual Instruction and
Metalwork
rooms; the first floor housed the Domestic Science room while the second
floor
had the Commercial Department and an Art room. There were a number of
offices,
stores and toilets. Ballyshannon Technical school had a most attractive
location as it directly overlooked the Assaroe waterfall which was the
most beautiful
natural attraction in the town.
The Technical School on
the Mall was to provide exceptionally high standards in draughtsmanship,
carpentry, joinery and metalwork and many local offices and businesses were to
benefit from the skills learned in the typing and commercial departments in the
school. Brother Hugh Gallagher O.F.M. a native of Mullinaleck Co. Leitrim,
recalled attending the Technical School on the Mall where he made a horse cart
under the guidance of Louis Emerson, which he later drove home from the school.
The school also provided skills for those who were forced to emigrate in search
of employment and many emigrants and older members of the community acknowledge
the educational opportunities they received and which equipped them to find
employment. Many successful local businesses credit their origins to the Technical School.
Educational
Opportunities in the era of the First World War
By November 1914 a
total of 144 students were enrolled in Ballyshannon Technical School on the
Mall which must be some kind of record as the proposal to open the school was
taken in April of the same year. This enrolment also reflected the demand for
further education in the community. Students were drawn from a wide catchment, encompassing
the areas in and around the town,
extending to Bundoran and Kinlough areas and out to the Rossnowlagh and
Ballintra areas.
Fermanagh students were also a significant feature in the school and the
bicycle was widely used as a means of transport. It was to be a further
50
years and more before school transport enabled generations of students
from the
wider area to go on to second level education with progression to third
level. In
1914 students had a choice of four main courses of study in the school
namely;
Commercial, Domestic, Farmers and Building Trades plus an Introductory
Course.
To encourage wider participation and to make education accessible to
all, the
school had enlightened scholarship schemes. The top 15 students who
obtained
highest marks for attendance and homework in the session 1914/1915 were
given
free education in the following year. As many families would have had
economic
difficulties, another enlightened grant was that given to students who
had over
80% attendance as they had half their examination fees paid for
Department and
RSA examinations.James O'Neill, although not a native speaker,had a
tremendous love of the Irish language and the Gaelic League, and ensured
that staff and students throughout the county were given Irish courses
to keep the language alive.
School
Life and the Commute to Letterkenny
In 1914 classes in
Ballyshannon Technical school began at 3 p.m. for day students and night
classes commenced at 7.30 p.m. Some staff including the Principal commuted
between Ballyshannon and Letterkenny and taught classes in both schools. On the
12th April 1915 Ms. McKenna, the Domestic Economy instructor, had a
predicament which she solved in a novel manner. She had missed a train at
Letterkenny on her way to teach in Ballyshannon and was unable to arrive there
before 8 o’clock. She wired instructions to one of the students to conduct
classes until her arrival! Some staff who are still remembered from the school on
the Mall include Mr. O’ Neill, the Principal, Ms. Hilda Boyle, Mr. T.W. Smyth,
Ms. K. McKenna, Ms. O’ Doherty, Charlie Stuart and Louis Emerson.
Mr. Francis Doherty N.T. Creevy National School taught the Introductory Course
in the evenings after completing his days work in the primary school. Michael
Walsh was the secretary and Patrick Patton and his son were caretakers in
succession in the school on the Mall. In subsequent periods Louis Emerson and
Paddy Gallagher who both arrived in the county during the 1930’s were
to continue the pioneering role of technical education in Ballyshannon.
Paddy Tunney, renowned
author, ballad writer, historian and singer recalled in his book “The Stone
Fiddle” attending the old Technical School on the Mall. After finishing primary
school he and many others cycled in the Belleek road to Ballyshannon and the
following are a few of his reminiscences of the school and one of his teachers,
Ms. Hilda Boyle:
"When
I finished school in Derryhallow, my course was set for Ballyshanny on the
winding banks of Erne, where at the Vocational school; a wry old bachelor from
Oughterdrum told me that headsheaf would be put on my learning. My abiding
memory of the school on the Mall is the music of Casca Aodh Ruaidh that filled
our ears as we listened to Ms. Hilda’s recitation of Herrick’s “Fair Daffodils”
or struggled with her dissertation on self-balancing ledgers. In the school on
the Mall overlooking famed Assaroe, we gathered to garner wisdom and learning.”
In the years prior to
the border being established, Ballyshannon was the market town and educational
centre for areas such as Belleek and Garrison in County Fermanagh. Concerns
were expressed in the 1920s during the Boundary Commission review that the
border would hamper the local economy by cutting off part of the town’s natural
hinterland in County Fermanagh.
Gaelic Football team in Ballyshannon Technical school 1936/1937
Front (l.tor.) P.McIntyre, J.Gallagher, H.Maguire, J.McGahern (captain), J.Feely, J.Gallinagh, S.Cleary, E.McIntyre
back (l.tor.) F.Grimes, S.Slevin, B.Loughlin, K. Connolly, L.Slevin, J.McGarrigle, W.O'Donnell
Legacy
of Vocational/ Technical Education in the Ballyshannon Area
At the very beginning
of the 20th century teachers travelled out to local communities such
as Bundoran, Belleek, Ballintra and Pettigo and provided educational training
in technical skills for the people. By 1914 with the opening of the Technical School
on the Mall in Ballyshannon, generations of local people were equipped for the
world of work and for highly valued apprenticeships. Later in 1952 with the
building of a new Technical/ Vocational school on College Street, a new era of
educational opportunity gradually opened up, with technical and academic
subjects to Leaving Certificate level, and with computerisation and commercial
courses to equip students for a fast changing world. New opportunities also
opened up for access to 3rd Level and all this was made possible by
the pioneers who laid the foundations a century ago in the old school on the
Mall. James
O'Neill died on 12th July 1951 at his residence in College Street
opposite the Vocational school. He is buried with his wife Ellen in
Abbey Assaroe in his adopted Ballyshannon.
Ballyshannon Vocational/Technical
School has left a lasting legacy in the local community through its involvement
with the establishment of Magh Ene College in Bundoran and with the
amalgamation of the three post-primary schools in Ballyshannon to form Coláiste
Cholmcille in 2000. The Technical School building in College Street Ballyshannon
still provides for the changing needs of the local community and is now renamed
The Adult Education and Training Centre. County Donegal V.E.C. has taken on a
broader role and today is called Donegal Education and Training Board guided by
current C.E.O Mr. Shaun Purcell. Today there are fifteen schools in the county
with seven Adult Education and Training Centres, Gartan Outdoor Education
Centre and many resources and facilities to meet the ever changing needs in the
county. Errigal College is a continuation of Letterkenny Technical School
founded alongside Ballyshannon in 1914 and celebrates
a century of continuous second
level education in 2014/2015. The school will be marking its centenary
with a
commemorative book and Ballyshannon Vocational/ Technical School
published a book prior to the amalgamation of the three schools in
Ballyshannon.
Major changes
and developments have occurred in the past one hundred years since the
foundations
of technical education were laid in County Donegal, by that great
educational
pioneer, James O’Neill and his team in Ballyshannon 1914. For further
information on the history of the Ballyshannon area log on to
ballyshannonmusing.blogspot.com
A Local History Book suitable for those at Home and Away
"Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" reveals newly
researched history and genealogy of the town, extending as far as the
Rossnowlagh, Cashelard, Corlea, Clyhore, Higginstown and Finner areas.
Includes the parishes of Kilbarron and Magh Ene. It contains the full story of The Green Lady which was recently performed in Ballyshannon to great acclaim. The
genealogy material provides detailed guidelines for anyone tracing
their roots in the area or anywhere in County Donegal or Ireland. The
book contains 500 pages and is richly illustrated with stunning colour,
aerial photography, original illustrations and rare photographs of the
area not seen before.
Also available from Anthony Begley for postal enquiries email anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com
.jpg)
