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Ballykerrigan School
Old Ballykerrigan School was built in 1885. Mr James Meehan
was the first principal there. He spent nearly 30 years in
the school and was replaced by his son who was also called
James. Apparently the young James Meehan was very involved
in the Irish Volunteers and later in the Civil War and must
have regarded himself as being in danger as on many occasions
he had guns in the school and was known even to have sent
children back to his house for his gun. Kitty Houston from
Mullaghan or Cloghanmore was his assistant teacher.
In 1922 Miss Annie Boyle from Rutland Island Burtonport replaced
James Meehan. Annie married the local postman Michael Hannigan
from Moneen and she died after giving birth to her son James
in 1928. James was the first child to be baptised in the then
new Parish Church of Glenfin. His mother was the first funeral
there and James later went on to become the Most Rev. Dr.
James Hannigan, Bishop of Menevia in Wales in 1983.
After the death of Mrs Annie Hannigan in 1928, Eileen Mc
Mahon from Meenagrave, whose mother was a nurse, became principal.
Also in 1928 Briget Mc Ginty, the assistant in Ardlaghan School
died and Kitty Houston was transferred to replace her. Due
to a fall in the pupil numbers Miss Houston was not replaced.
Eilen Mc Mahon only stayed in Ballykerrigan until July 1931
and in September of that year Miss Kathleen Sweeney from Meenacross,
Dungloe replaced her as principal. In 1933 Kathleen married
Peter Mc Ginty and she remained Principal in Ballykerrigan
until 1975.
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| Ballykerrigan New School |
Miss Mary Mc Devitt taught as an assistant in the school
during the mid 1940's. In 1946 Miss Peggy Dorrian, a daughter
of the contractor who built Letterbrick School in 1937, was
appointed as an assistant to Mrs Mc Ginty and also in that
year, work began on building a new school in Ballykerrigan.
The new school was opened in 1948.
In September 1951 Annie Mc Garvey from Gweedore replaced
Miss Dorrian who moved to teach in a school near Mountcharles.
Annie only spent one year at the school. Annie Mc Garvey (now
Annie Gallagher) resides today in her native Gweedore and
she is the mother of Mrs Maeve Scully the Vice-Principal of
St. Columba's College Stranorlar.
In September 1952 Mrs Mary Kathleen Kirke who had been teaching
in Croaghs School became the new assistant to Mrs Mc Ginty
in Ballykerrigan and she stayed there until she replaced Master
Mc Geehan as principal in Brockagh N.S. in 1957.
Miss Noreen Gilfeather from Sligo (Noreen Marley) replaced
Mrs Kirke in Ballykerrigan in 1959.
When Mrs Mc Ginty retired in 1975 the upper Letterbrick School
was amalgamated with Teevogue School and Mr Patrick Brennan
who had been principal in Letterbrick became principal in
Ballykerrigan until his retirement in 1977.
When Mr Brennan retired in 1977 Mrs Marley was appointed
principal, a position she held until her retirement in 1998.
In 1981 there was a rise in pupil numbers and Miss Susan
Houston (Susan Doherty) from Ballybofey was appointed assistant
to Mrs Marley. When numbers fell again in 1988 Mrs Doherty
was transferred to Teevogue School which was experiencing
an increase in pupil numbers at the time.
The student population in the Ballykerrigan catchment area
kept falling until it reached a point where the school was
no longer viable. In June 1998 pupils attended class in Ballykerrigan
for the last time.
NB: Ballykerrigan New School is now
used by FÁS for training purposes, including Computer
Training.
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