Records and reports of Co.Sligo schools
The earliest records of schools in County Sligo are the County Sligo Extracts of the Educational Reports 1813/1814. There are also reports for 1857/1858 which help us follow the story of schools in Sligo.
In one parish, Skreen and Dromard, there are records for 12 schools. There was also the Skreen Church of Ireland School, which was established in 1855.
All of the schools had both Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland pupils. In 1850, there were approximately 700 pupils in these schools.
There are now two schools in Skreen and Dromard. One school, High Park School, has 80 pupils and Ballinlig has 44 pupils.
Up to the 1960s, all children walked to school so there was the need for very local schools. Now, many pupils are bussed to larger schools. High Park School has many pupils who come to school by bus every day.
What has changed?The population of Skreen and Dromard dropped from 6,500 in 1841 to 1,000 in 1999.
[ Statistics Source: www.cso.ie ]
Change in growth of population
Between 1901 and 1971, the population of Ireland decreased at every Census.
In the Census of 1971, the total population figure started to increase and in the latest Census of 2006 the number of people living in Ireland has reached the highest level since 1856.
This happened even though families began to have far fewer children. So, even though the population is increasing, the number of children attending school is decreasing.
Might smaller families be causing some smaller schools to close?
Looking at the census
A census was taken in April 2006.
The results of the census show changes in population in Ireland since the last census in 2002.
Look at the table and see of the changes that have taken place in the areas of Skreen and Dromard Co. Sligo since 2002.
Population changes in Skreen and Dromard 2002-2006
Is the population falling or increasing in this part of CountySligo?
Would you think that there might be more children of school age in these two places now compared to 2002?