‘All we have left is the graveyard’

ROLL CALL Pupils, past-pupils, members of the Community Council and staff of Glenisland NS gather to mark the final day of the school’s long tenure in the parish. Pic: Glenisland Newsflash

Áine Ryan

IT is yet another nail in the coffin of another rural parish. Almost 150 years after it was opened with 140 pupils, Glenisland NS closed its doors on Friday last (July 1) with a roll of just four.
Planning restrictions, which precluded people from building on their own land in the area, as well as a failure by the last Government to create jobs in the nearby county town of Castlebar helped exacerbate the situation, according to one county councillor who spoke to The Mayo News yesterday.  
While the population of the local area has not collapsed to the level indicated by the low school numbers, there are four other national schools in the rural parish of Islandeady-Glenisland and, moreover, some parents have chosen to bring their children to schools in nearby county town, Castlebar, for convenience, said Cllr Martin McLoughlin.
“The school just ran out of pupils and this building now stands empty. There are children in the area, but they are being brought to other schools, particularly in Castlebar, for convenience. It was just a sad day for the whole community. The original stone structure was still part of the state-of-the-art building, which has all the facilities of a modern school,” Cllr McLoughlin said.  
He said that some €300,000 had been invested in upgrading the school in recent years.
The recently co-opted county councillor is from Derrycoosh, the home parish of Taoiseach Enda Kenny and, indeed, the parish where his father, Henry Kenny taught for a time in Leitir NS. Along with Leitir NS, the parish has three other schools, Cogaula NS, Clagganagh NS and Cornanool NS. Situated near the centre of the county, Glenisland is 10km northwest of Castlebar and 10km east of Newport.
“From once the garda station was closed it has been a race to the bottom and is typical of the neglect of rural Ireland. At least this Government, facilitated by Fianna FΡil, has stopped the closure of national schools unless the consent of parents is given,” he continued.
“In the poignant words of one local woman, who attended last Friday’s closure: ‘At first it was the barracks, then it was the Post Office and now it is the school. All we have left is the graveyard’.”    
 
Lack of employment
“IF the jobs that were promised for Castlebar had materialised, the hinterland would be more vibrant. What has happened in Glenisland is only an example of what is being replicated all over rural Ireland.
A town is only as good as the hinterland it serves and vice versa.
This is basically all about a lack of imagination in creating jobs,” Mr McLoughlin added.
Principal of the now-closed Glenisland NS, Tanya McLoughlin, told The Mayo News yesterday: “It is just very sad for the community.
I was the principal since last October, and we really tried to promote the school in the hope we could keep it open.”

History
Glenisland National School was opened in 1870, following a letter to the National Board of Education in 1865 indicating that there was an expected enrolment of 140. Since then there have been many changes and additions, but the original building is still in use. The school is home to the old roll books from Beltra NS and Glenisland NS, which were recovered in order to preserve them as insightful and interesting historical documents. In 1908, the boys and girls amalgamated. The door cost £5.
From 1924 onwards, the children’s names were to be written in Irish in the roll books.
Beltra NS amalgamated with Glenisland NS in 1970.
In 1975, the wall in the yard was removed to open up the entire yard to all the children.
In 1997, an extension was added to the school giving it a new entrance and toilets.
In 2004, the school was extended to include a spacious General Purpose room, a Learning Support room and an office. The school play area and the car park were developed during the summer of 2010.

(Source: www.glenislandns.com)