End of an era as Currane NS closes

End of an era as Currane NS closes


Anton McNulty

AT eleven o’clock on Wednesday morning the door of Currane National School in Achill will close for the summer but for the first time in over 100 years will not be reopening in September.
Dwindling pupil numbers in recent years have meant that the school has struggled to keep its doors open for the last number of years and tomorrow will officially be the last day for the Gaeltacht school.
To mark the closure of Currane NS, a special end of year Mass will take place today at 12 noon with refreshments served afterwards in the Glór na dTonn Community Centre afterwards.
There are currently only two pupils in sixth class and they will be the last pupils to leave the school which first opened in 1913. Only two years ago there was great celebrations in the community as the school celebrated its centenary with many past pupils travelling home for the celebrations.
Last year there was more reminiscing of better times for the school when former members of the victorious 1964 Corn Acla team met in a reunion to celebrate the school’s famous victory.
In 2010, there were 15 pupils enrolled in the school with six mainstream classes and two mainstream teachers. However, following the retirement of the principal, Anne Chambers, the school was reduced to a one-teacher school with MΡire Lineen appointed as principal.
As the numbers continued to fall, many parents in the catchment area of the school made the difficult decision to send their children to nearby schools which accelerated the decline in numbers.
The closure of Currane NS means that there are eight national schools in the Achill parish with The Valley NS currently the only one-teacher school.

Shop closure
Meanwhile, there was a further blow to services on the island following the confirmation that Gielty’s shop in Dooagh is to close from June 28. The shop has been run by Diarmuid and Catherine Gielty for the last ten years and they thanked all their customers for their support but decided to close due to personal circumstances and it was a decision not taken lightly by them. The shop is currently on the market and there is hope that it will be taken over with some interest believed to be already shown in the business which is located close to Keem Bay.