School register is a real treasure trove shining light on area’s past
John Arnold’s old school at Bartlemy.
Looking back across the two decades that have elapsed since it seems like only yesterday. The words of Joe Lynch’s lovely ballad ‘ ’ are apt;
Ah yes, I am a bit of a dreamer and that reunion weekend was truly a dream come true in so many ways. Looking back now at the pictures of so many happy, laughing groups - sadly many are since gone to their eternal reward, it takes me back down the boreens of time.
We had past pupils born in the 1920s and their memories were so precious. We produced a book for the event and it’s truly a treasure-trove of recollections, anecdotes, poems, songs and nostalgia. We had an absolutely wonderful committee who had one guiding principle ‘Many hands make light work’ - and they did!
In conjunction with the physical gathering of people we also initiated a gathering of photographs and documents which are preserved as an archive. Luckily we had access to the original school registers going back as far as the 1890’s. The originals are still kept but we photocopied them as well – they are a great source of information for people looking for family information.
The register is a great source of information. It gives the pupils date of birth, school starting date, address, occupation or means of living of parents and also if they have attended any other school previously. One register, the boys one, covers the years 1897 until 1986 with girls ‘book’ commencing in 1898. There are several examples of three generations of the family on the same register - including my own family.
Bartlemy is a rural area so the parents occupations of farmer and labourer dominate. Parishes like ours always had a degree of self sufficiency and this is reflected in the register. The occupations of smith and carpenter are repeated regularly.
In 1903 one page carries a very diverse list. Nora Lee was daughter of a stone-mason, Katie O Keeffe was a farmer’s daughter, Lizzie Walsh’s father was a blacksmith whilst Nora and Hannah Woods were shopkeeper’s daughters.
Before the ‘new’ school was built in 1904 pupils had attended Monanig school which opened its doors on October 1 1847 or Black ‘47 as it was called because of the potato famine.
On May 7 1900 nine year old Bridget Walsh from the townland of Knockeen was registered for school. Her father is listed as a jockey and Bridget had already been in school in Co Kildare!
Around the turn of the century Knockeen had a large horse-training yard with extensive stabling. Dublin born Peter Sherwin was the trainer there and obviously young Bridget Walsh’s father was working for Sherwin. The Carroll family followed on in the same place as horse trainers in the 1920’s.
Other trades which often appear on the register include carpenter, shoemaker, tailor and harness-maker. In the 1930’s the occupation of ‘Fordworker’ appears reflecting the employment given by Henry Ford & Co in Cork city.
A pupil named Aubrey O Callaghan was eleven years of age when he came to Bartlemy NS in 1911, having already attended school in Cork. Aubrey’s father is listed in the Register as ‘Resident Gentleman’! Aubrey was son of Aubrey Evans O Callaghan (son of an Army Surgeon Major) and Esther Marion Buckley - her father was a shipbuilder.
In 1917 two O Brien brothers Earnest and James and their sister Maureen joined the ranks of Bartlemy school after already spending a term in Lisgoold NS. Their father is listed as ‘Showman’. He was apparently part of a travelling ‘fit-up’ drama group which travelled around the Cork area at that time. There was no hall locally then so the travelling troubadours would usually ‘fit up’ the local school or a suitable shed and put on their productions.
Looking through the registers it’s interesting that nearly half a century later, in the 1960’s, the Fit Ups were still coming to this area. A fine hall had been built so ‘twas somewhat easier for the ‘wandering minstrels’ to stage their plays and concerts. Having a stage complete with curtains was a huge improvement on hanging up sheets and using tilly lamps for lighting.
In March 1965 the Heffernan family and their ensemble arrived in Bartlemy after a term spent in Kilworth. Twin Heffernan boys Dave and Gerald and their older brother Anthony signed up to continue with their primary education while other family members were ‘treading the boards’ in the ‘new’ hall. We can neither under or over estimate the value of their schooling here but they went on to do well. The twins Dave and Gerald still work on production and presentation in RTÉ and have been vital cogs in the making of dozens of television and radio programmes over the last 30 years.
The numbers of pupils whose parents occupation is listed as ‘farmer’ has declined rapidly. With this decline the trend of parents working in Fermoy, Cork, Midleton and Carrigtwohill has increased. That’s life, nothing stays the same.
Then a few years back in a throwback to the ‘days of old’ drama lover Geoff Gould saw an opportunity to revive the fit ups in the Blackwater Valley. Covid caused a hiccup but the show is now well back on the road. The national school here which closed in 1986 still stands but now is a modern furniture and fitted kitchen outlet. The ‘New’ Hall of the 1960’s has had a modern lighting system installed and more improvements are in the pipeline.
Next Wednesday is unique day - Ash Wednesday, Valentine’s Day and Final Fit Up night in Bartlemy for the 2024 season. Strange how things change and still somehow stay the same isn’t it? Looking through the faded pages of the School Register I see the date February 12, 1923 when four year old Richard Barry started in the school. Later in life Richard would be better known as Dick Barry. Thirty years after he began his schooling in Bartlemy Dick was elected as a TD and he stayed in the Oireachtas until 1981. When he first sat in Dail Eireann in 1953 Sean Moylan was already there for twenty-one years. They knew each other well, Moylan died at the age of 67 in 1957. The Fit Up Show in Bartlemy, the birthplace of Dick Barry, next Wednesday night is ‘Sean Moylan, Irish Revolutionary’!
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