Our Community Centre by Third Class This old school building is now the Community Centre. It is being renovated at the moment. The Community Centre hosts meetings and parties. We have parties here after our First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Santa Claus comes here to the children of Ballindine every year at Christmas. Volunteers are trying to build a playground outside the Community Centre. They are also builkding a gym inside the Centre. We are very lucky to have a lot of volunteers to raise funds to help build the community centre. There was a fundraiser recently and they raised lots of money. We have a great community centre in Ballindine.

History of Ballindine Old School

The old school was built in 1842 by Lord Oranmore and Browne of Castlemacgarrett.
It cost £130 ( €165 ).

The pupils of that school endured the famine, witnessed the Fenian Rising and some met Michael Davitt. Many of its pupils fought for Ireland's freedom and now in the 21st Century it has finally retired. In 1842 the old school began as two classrooms and two teachers, one upstairs for the girls and one downstairs for the boys. In fact, it was considered as two schools with two distinct roll numbers until they were both amalgamated in 1969 under one roll number (the original boys school number) and it became co-ed.

The children had to bring two sods of turf to school each morning and Miss Kelly's pupils from the 1920's tell us that she kept a watchful eye right inside the door where you placed your turf in a basket before climbing the stairs. If you came without the turf, you got caned.
The floorboards were well worn by then and when the girls swept the floor, the dust fell down on the boys' heads underneath. The teachers in the Boy's School in the '20s were James P. Griffith (1917-1961) and Mrs. Gertrude Godfrey nee Smyth. Sometimes a child's foot went through the floorboards. The children hoped Miss Kelly would do the same but she always escaped.The Rev. Thomas Morris P.P. took over management of the school in 1922 when we got our own Government and the teaching of Irish was introduced.

We are proud to have been to school in that historic building, but our New School building is far more comfortable and healthier for us.

Read more about the History of the Old School