Buildings associated with schools
An example of a 19th Century classroom.
This 19th Century classroom is interesting and shows lots of visual evidence about classrooms and schools around this era. What kind of charts do you see?
Image courtesy of Slovene School Museum Ljubljana.An example of a 19th Century classroom.
Image courtesy of Slovene School Museum Ljubljana.
Image courtesy of Slovene School Museum Ljubljana.
An example of a 19th Century classroom.
This 19th Century classroom is interesting and shows lots of visual evidence about classrooms and schools around this era. What kind of charts do you see?
Image courtesy of Slovene School Museum Ljubljana.
Many of the first national schools were built to look like large houses instead of the modern school buildings we see nowadays. The size of school varied but they were usually one-roomed or two-roomed buildings. This meant that many different classes might be in the same classroom. The first national schools in cities and towns were usually bigger.
Schools in the nineteeth century were usually single-storey buildings. Some had very decorative window-sills which were sometimes made of marble. The schools then were usually quite plain inside and often had Georgian-style windows. Some buildings used local stone to build them. Many schools had decorated roofs and had a type of plaster or cement on the outside walls. In this section we will see evidence from inside and outside school buildings from periods in the past.
View the old and modern school sections in our 'My School Geography'. Just click here.
View the old and modern school sections in our 'My School Geography'. Just click here.
School 1 : Ballydown National School, Co. Down.
Ballydown School , Co. Down
Courtesy of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.
Courtesy of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.
The design of a school building can give many clues about the age of a school building. The style of windows in this school tells us that it is an older building, typical of those designed in and around the 1850's. Ballydown school was built in 1865. The National Board of Education provided a grant of £170 (old money) to build it. It cost £255 in total.
Old money explained
Old money's value calculated.
Records show that about 100 pupils were attending this national school in 1866.The school closed down in 1939 and in the 1970's it was re-erected in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra. This is an example of how a school building can be saved from destruction so that in the future adults and children can see a real example of an old school building.
School 2: Letterfinish National School, Co. Kerry
Letterfinish National School
Photo taken by Geraldine O' Connor.
Photo taken by Geraldine O' Connor.
Letterfinish National School, near Sneem in Co. Kerry (pictured above) is no longer in use but there are many clues about its past. Although there is a lot of weather damage some of the original features are still in tact and external evidence tells us that the school was set up in 1872.
Generally, when a school is sold and is renovated by new owners some changes are made. At the rear of the school
, you can see a dividing wall. This usually seperated the girls and boys play areas. It also seperated the toilets
as there were boys' toilets on one side of the yard and girls' toilets on the other. The walled area that you see in the picture leads to what remains of the toilets.
Letterfinish National School at the rear.
In this photograph we can see the dividing wall. This is where the boys and girls were separated during play-time.
Photo taken by Geraldine O' Connor 2006.
Letterfinish School Toilets.
This shows us the wall surrounding the outdoor toilets. There were different toilets for boys and girls.
Photo taken by Geraldine O' Connor 2006.
Differences Between Ballydown and Letterfinish
Differences Between Ballydown and Letterfinish