Mayo Library preserves historical records from Errew schools

Historical Roll books for the three schools at Errew, Castlebar, have been kindly donated to the Mayo County Library in June 2022 by Errew National School and its wider community. They include records from Errew Monastery Boys’ School, which closed in 1975; Errew Girls’ School, which moved to the new premises in 1961; and the present Errew national school up to 2019.

Jim O’Connor, Local Studies Librarian at Mayo County Library, visited Errew Community Centre recently to talk to Errew NS pupils about the successful preservation process of all the books and accompanied the pupils on a visit to the former Errew Monastery Boys’ School. The collection comprises a record of the attendance at the schools from 1884 to 2019, with a few records lost or incomplete. Included too are Daily Report books, Student registers, for boys’ and girls’ schools and a visitors’ book. This book is a record of visitors to the girls’ school from 1937 to 1975. 

The record of the visits shows they were mostly for religious instruction on the sacraments, prayers, the story of Knock and the lives of the saints. The daily report books contain interesting information on the workings of the monastery from earliest times, particularly salaries, income and expenditure, with occasional notes in the margins offering a great insight into understanding the history of the place.

Pictured are Errew NS pupils, staff and Jim O'Connor outside Errew Community Centre.

Included too is a selection of miscellaneous documents and letters associated with the three schools, correspondence with the Department of Education, book suppliers and an exam roll from 1899, which contains many local names. The Roll books and papers were slowly dried out and carefully cleaned, recorded and assessed, then included in the schedule of the library digitisation programme. Funding and assistance from University College Galway enabled scanning of all documents on site and has ensured the preservation of this historical information for future generations.

Jim brought a selection of newly covered Roll books, photographs and old newspaper articles of interest to show the pupils. He discussed school life in the former Errew boys’ and girls’ schools and the rich history of the Errew and Frenchill area. The glorious sunny, Spring day was perfect for a stroll along the avenue and up to the hidden Errew Monastery, following the footsteps of many of the children’s grandfathers and grand uncles.

Errew NS pupils visited the former monastery boys’ old school classroom, the adjacent roofless thresher barn and bell tower and Errew cemetery where 22 Fransician Brothers are buried, including Errew monastery founders Br. Bernard Garry and Br Paul O’Donnell and also Br Sylvester Lynch who has a cross monument erected in his memory at Frenchill crossroads. Pupils also spotted the ‘crow’s foot’ sapper benchmark carved into the corner of the barn as part of the 1846 ordinance survey mapping of Ireland.

Acting Principal Ciara Walsh and Acting Deputy Principal Kate Tiernan extended huge thanks to Jim O’Connor for his time and sharing his vast knowledge about the area and also to Janine Hoban for facilitating the talk and tour of the monastery with kind permission from the Veale family.

Errew NS looks forward to collaborating with Mayo County Library again in the future. Mayo library celebrates its centenary this year with many events planned in celebration of their 100th birthday. Entries for the ‘Design a Bookmark’ competition remain open until April 17.

The Errew Roll books are currently archived at Mayo County Library Headquarters in Castlebar. All the available school records (those permitted under GDPR) have been published online by Ancestry and can be accessed through ancestry.com. The collection dating from 1884 is a valuable resource for genealogical research or those interested in social history.

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