Clara: 'A town of saints and scholars'

Pictured above: An old photo of St Francis Boys National School, Clara.

Following on from their successful 'Dead Interesting' guided tour of graveyards and cemeteries last year, the Clara Heritage Committee are once again participating in National Heritage Week.

Heritage Week runs until next Sunday, August 23 and the Clara group's theme is 'Heritage and Education: Learning from our Heritage'.

This year the committee has researched and charted almost two hundred years of education provision within the town. Given the number of Saints - Brigid (Bhríde), Francis (Proinsias) and Kieran (Ciaráin) - and the number of schools identified, perhaps Clara could be referred to as 'A town of saints and scholars'.

A history of the Diocese of Meath indicates that within the wider parish of Clara, there was a school in existence in 1682-85. The Education Report of 1825 records a total of ten "hedge schools" operating in Clara prior to the establishment of the religious orders.

These informal ad-hoc schools were located in a myriad of buildings across the town and surrounding townlands and were described in less than glowing terms as "a wretched room in a ruinous house", "a miserable cabin", "a common cabin" and "a wretched cabin". Others fared somewhat better and were listed as "a good house of stone and lime", and "a good cabin built of stone".

Following the establishment of the Franciscan Monastery (1821) and Convent of Mercy (1862) significant progress was made with regard to the provision of primary school education within the town. This resulted in the building of the Monastery School (1852) and Convent School (1887). Due to increased numbers the Monastery school built a second school closer to the town in 1874 (currently the assembly hall of Scoil Phroinsias).

In addition to religious teaching, there were a number of secular teachers, most notably Mrs Anne Jellicoe - originally from Mountmellick, but who travelled to Clara with her husband to set up a milling business. Inspired by the Mountmellick School of Embroidery where local women and girls were taught lacemaking skills as a means of earning their own pay, Jellicoe set up a similar school in Clara, but faced stiff opposition from the local priest. Sadly, the school closed down following her move to Dublin where she continued her pioneering ways and established Alexandra College.

As an industrial town, Clara required many mill hands and offered a steady wage. As a result many children sought work in the various mills and did not complete their education. Attempts to address this issue were made with the establishment of the Technical School which offered evening classes mainly to the mill workers. In 1920, during a Black and Tan raid on the town, the school, situated in the Parochial Hall, was set alight but, thanks to the quick action of the local mill hands and residents, the fire was contained and minimal damage was done.

In the 1930s a nationwide initiative to capture local folklore through national schools was undertaken, with both the Convent and Church of Ireland schools participating. The various accounts written by the children are a compendium of local folklore, riddles, stories of local families, saints, leprechauns and landlords.

The 1950s saw the race to provide second level education in Clara where competing schools - Offaly Vocational School and the Franciscan Brothers - strove to be the first second level school in the town, only for them to be amalgamated a short time later.

As part of Heritage Week, Clara Heritage Group will showcase their research via their Facebook page "Clara Heritage Group" where further information will be available to view.