History
There is no specific record of any Anglican Schooling in Tralee prior to the early 19th century but it can be taken that some form of schooling and educational facilities did exist. The schooling facilities for the children of the aristocracy or landlords would have been provided by private tutors.
At a meeting of the Select Vestry held on June 2nd 1814 it was 'Agreed upon at said Vestry that the sum of £20 be assessed, levied and collected of the said parish and town of Tralee by the said Overseers for the maintenance and education of poor deserted infants left and exposed in the said Parish, pursant of the Statutes of 13th and 14th of George 3rd, Chapter 24'. Similar provisions were made by the Vestry in subsequent years.
On April 13th 1819, Mr. Robert Supple, described as a Schoolmaster was appointed Vestry Clerk at a salary of £4 per annum. This indicated that a school existed at that time.
A copy of a Lease relating to the grant of buildings and a plot of land exists and is dated December 13th 1826 from Sir Edward Denny to the Rectors and Church Wardens at Tralee 'for promoting the education of the poor in ireland' . The grant of the lease to them 'was forever at a yearly rent of five shillings'. The lease contained the proviso that if the buildings on this plot ceased to be a school, the plot and the buildings thereon should revert to Sir Edward Denny or his heirs on they paying the Church of Ireland the sum of £64.12s.4d. When the schools closed down in 1958, the Church Body paid £100 to clear the title with Mr. Harry Clements Finnerty (who was located after a prolonged search in France) and who was then the successor in title to the property.
At a meeting of the Select Vestry held on June 2nd 1814 it was 'Agreed upon at said Vestry that the sum of £20 be assessed, levied and collected of the said parish and town of Tralee by the said Overseers for the maintenance and education of poor deserted infants left and exposed in the said Parish, pursant of the Statutes of 13th and 14th of George 3rd, Chapter 24'. Similar provisions were made by the Vestry in subsequent years.
On April 13th 1819, Mr. Robert Supple, described as a Schoolmaster was appointed Vestry Clerk at a salary of £4 per annum. This indicated that a school existed at that time.
A copy of a Lease relating to the grant of buildings and a plot of land exists and is dated December 13th 1826 from Sir Edward Denny to the Rectors and Church Wardens at Tralee 'for promoting the education of the poor in ireland' . The grant of the lease to them 'was forever at a yearly rent of five shillings'. The lease contained the proviso that if the buildings on this plot ceased to be a school, the plot and the buildings thereon should revert to Sir Edward Denny or his heirs on they paying the Church of Ireland the sum of £64.12s.4d. When the schools closed down in 1958, the Church Body paid £100 to clear the title with Mr. Harry Clements Finnerty (who was located after a prolonged search in France) and who was then the successor in title to the property.
Tralee Parochial School 1931
Names from Left to Right:
Back Row: Edward Stamp, Dorothea Fitzgerald, Robert Fitzgerald, Gladys Peet, Stanley Cook, Lilian Waterstone
2nd Row from Back: Nora Fitzgerald, Bertie Blennerhassett, Jesse Foster, Pearl Peet, Jimmy Fitzgerald, Gordon Rickerby, Des Cook
3rd Row from Back: (zig-zag!) John Gleasure, Roger Martin, Demo Fitzell, James Connor, Annie Hoffman, Jack Pollard, Billy Vine, Donald McDonald, Victor Groves, Joe O'Neill (partly hidden), Cecil Hawkins, Mr. Robert B. Crighton (Headmaster)
4th Row from Back: Tom Pollard, Joe Jones, Jackie O'Neill, John Cook, Kit O'Neill, Fanny Foster, Margaret McDonald, Lizzie Connor, Olive Blennerhassett
Joint Front Two Rows: Patty Connor, behind Cissie Fitzell, Mary Stamp, behind Albert Waterstone, Maud Foster, behind Alice Fitzgerald, Dorothy Boothby, Robin Wilson, Nigel Waddle, Joyce Blennerhassett, Harry Wilson, Bertie Wilson, Harold Boothby, Lettie Fitzgerald, George Downer.
On Ground in Front: Norman McDonald and George Fitzgerald.
This photograph presented in 1997 by Robert Fitzgerald (at the school January 1927 to July 1933).
Back Row: Edward Stamp, Dorothea Fitzgerald, Robert Fitzgerald, Gladys Peet, Stanley Cook, Lilian Waterstone
2nd Row from Back: Nora Fitzgerald, Bertie Blennerhassett, Jesse Foster, Pearl Peet, Jimmy Fitzgerald, Gordon Rickerby, Des Cook
3rd Row from Back: (zig-zag!) John Gleasure, Roger Martin, Demo Fitzell, James Connor, Annie Hoffman, Jack Pollard, Billy Vine, Donald McDonald, Victor Groves, Joe O'Neill (partly hidden), Cecil Hawkins, Mr. Robert B. Crighton (Headmaster)
4th Row from Back: Tom Pollard, Joe Jones, Jackie O'Neill, John Cook, Kit O'Neill, Fanny Foster, Margaret McDonald, Lizzie Connor, Olive Blennerhassett
Joint Front Two Rows: Patty Connor, behind Cissie Fitzell, Mary Stamp, behind Albert Waterstone, Maud Foster, behind Alice Fitzgerald, Dorothy Boothby, Robin Wilson, Nigel Waddle, Joyce Blennerhassett, Harry Wilson, Bertie Wilson, Harold Boothby, Lettie Fitzgerald, George Downer.
On Ground in Front: Norman McDonald and George Fitzgerald.
This photograph presented in 1997 by Robert Fitzgerald (at the school January 1927 to July 1933).
The building in question was used as a Church of Ireland parish school from 1826 onwards and in its early years was divided into schools for 'Boys' and 'Girls'. In its later years it was a mixed school. It was located where the Old Market Bar section of the Ashe Hotel (formally the Abbeygate Hotel) stands today.
The 'Parochial Schools' sign (engraved in stone) of the old school was transferred from the old school and incorporated into the wall of the new Parochial Church of Ireland school.
Affairs between the teachers of the school and the Church Authorities did not always run smoothly. At an obvious heated meeting of the Select Vestry on May 9th 1873 it was 'Resolved that the chairman be requested to convey the disapprobation of the Select Vestry to the Teachers of the Parochial female and infant schools for their reprehensible conduct after a recent visit to those schools of two of the Select Vestry, as well as for the neglected state in which those schools were found'
There was no reply to this demand and at a Vestry meeting in the following month it was 'Resolved to request the teachers of those schools to make an ample apology for the presumptous content of the Select Vestry, and the Chairman is requested to communicate to Miss E Chute on the subject'. Miss Chute and her fellow teachers must have made the required apology as there was no follow-up to the dispute.
In November 1988, a scheme was approved of by the Select Vestry to set-up an 'Intermediate School' in Tralee. It was also decided that £20 of the interest of Dr. Crumpe's bequest should be paid to the curate of Tralee so long as he continues to act as Master of the School.
A school also existed in Blennerville for a number if years until about 1888 when the Select Vestry ' approved that the schoolhouse at Blennerville be let to the Constabulary at a rent of thirty shillings per month for the first six months and for twenty-five shillings per month thereafter, and the school be insured for the sum of £200'.
In 1912, The Methodist school amalgated with the Church of Ireland school and following a debate which lasted for a few years, management of the school was retained by the Church of Ireland. Electric light was installed in the old schools in 1931 at a cost of £18.
Following ongoing appeals by the school management, the National Schools Inspector condemned the condition of the school in 1954 and recommended the erection of a new one. It was decided to erect the new school in the rear half of the Rectory garden, on a half-acre site. A School Building Committee was appointed to raise funds equivalent to one-fifth of the total cost. The Department of Education undertook to pay the remainder. The members of the committee were: Messrs, J.H. Havercroft; T.A Blennerhassett; E. Hanbidge; J. Parkins and M.V Howe. The contract for the building of the new school was allocated to Messrs T. O'Mahony and Company and the total cost of the project was £6,000.00.
Following the closure of the old parochial school, the premises were advertised and sold by public auction on Januray 2nd, 1960 to Lee Strand Co-Operative Creamery for the sum of £1,760. They were demolished years later to make way for the new Abbey Gate Hotel (now know as The Ashe Hotel).
On Sunday 31st August, 1958, the new school was officially opened by Mr. O'Conaill, Deputy Chief Inspector, Department of Education and it was blessed by Bishop Evelyn Charles Hodges, of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, following a service of Thanksgiving and Dedication in St. John's Church. The Service was conducted by the Rector - Ven. Arch Deacon C.W. Griffin. Other clergy present were Canon R.H. Thompson and Revd. J.M. Wallace and Revd. C.J. Fox. The Presbyterian and Methodist Churches were also represented. When the school was officially opened by Mr. O'Conaill, Bishop Hodges recited the prayers of Blessing. In the course of his sermon, the Bishop congratulated the people of the parish in constructing such a dignified and beautiful school. He thanked the Government Departments who had helped out and appealed to the children to do their best in and for the new school. The very large crowd present were afterwards entertained to tea and refreshments in the nearby Kerry Protestant Hall.
The new school, consisted of one large classroom which could be divided into two by means of a folding partition. It was fitted with toilets and a washroom. It soon be evident that and extension to the school was inevitable and two further classrooms and additional facilities were added. This construction and refurbishment work was carried out by Pembroke Construction Ltd. of Tralee in 1997.
In 1961, a new piano was purchased for the school at a cost of £100.
The 'Parochial Schools' sign (engraved in stone) of the old school was transferred from the old school and incorporated into the wall of the new Parochial Church of Ireland school.
Affairs between the teachers of the school and the Church Authorities did not always run smoothly. At an obvious heated meeting of the Select Vestry on May 9th 1873 it was 'Resolved that the chairman be requested to convey the disapprobation of the Select Vestry to the Teachers of the Parochial female and infant schools for their reprehensible conduct after a recent visit to those schools of two of the Select Vestry, as well as for the neglected state in which those schools were found'
There was no reply to this demand and at a Vestry meeting in the following month it was 'Resolved to request the teachers of those schools to make an ample apology for the presumptous content of the Select Vestry, and the Chairman is requested to communicate to Miss E Chute on the subject'. Miss Chute and her fellow teachers must have made the required apology as there was no follow-up to the dispute.
In November 1988, a scheme was approved of by the Select Vestry to set-up an 'Intermediate School' in Tralee. It was also decided that £20 of the interest of Dr. Crumpe's bequest should be paid to the curate of Tralee so long as he continues to act as Master of the School.
A school also existed in Blennerville for a number if years until about 1888 when the Select Vestry ' approved that the schoolhouse at Blennerville be let to the Constabulary at a rent of thirty shillings per month for the first six months and for twenty-five shillings per month thereafter, and the school be insured for the sum of £200'.
In 1912, The Methodist school amalgated with the Church of Ireland school and following a debate which lasted for a few years, management of the school was retained by the Church of Ireland. Electric light was installed in the old schools in 1931 at a cost of £18.
Following ongoing appeals by the school management, the National Schools Inspector condemned the condition of the school in 1954 and recommended the erection of a new one. It was decided to erect the new school in the rear half of the Rectory garden, on a half-acre site. A School Building Committee was appointed to raise funds equivalent to one-fifth of the total cost. The Department of Education undertook to pay the remainder. The members of the committee were: Messrs, J.H. Havercroft; T.A Blennerhassett; E. Hanbidge; J. Parkins and M.V Howe. The contract for the building of the new school was allocated to Messrs T. O'Mahony and Company and the total cost of the project was £6,000.00.
Following the closure of the old parochial school, the premises were advertised and sold by public auction on Januray 2nd, 1960 to Lee Strand Co-Operative Creamery for the sum of £1,760. They were demolished years later to make way for the new Abbey Gate Hotel (now know as The Ashe Hotel).
On Sunday 31st August, 1958, the new school was officially opened by Mr. O'Conaill, Deputy Chief Inspector, Department of Education and it was blessed by Bishop Evelyn Charles Hodges, of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, following a service of Thanksgiving and Dedication in St. John's Church. The Service was conducted by the Rector - Ven. Arch Deacon C.W. Griffin. Other clergy present were Canon R.H. Thompson and Revd. J.M. Wallace and Revd. C.J. Fox. The Presbyterian and Methodist Churches were also represented. When the school was officially opened by Mr. O'Conaill, Bishop Hodges recited the prayers of Blessing. In the course of his sermon, the Bishop congratulated the people of the parish in constructing such a dignified and beautiful school. He thanked the Government Departments who had helped out and appealed to the children to do their best in and for the new school. The very large crowd present were afterwards entertained to tea and refreshments in the nearby Kerry Protestant Hall.
The new school, consisted of one large classroom which could be divided into two by means of a folding partition. It was fitted with toilets and a washroom. It soon be evident that and extension to the school was inevitable and two further classrooms and additional facilities were added. This construction and refurbishment work was carried out by Pembroke Construction Ltd. of Tralee in 1997.
In 1961, a new piano was purchased for the school at a cost of £100.
The Parochial School
In 1971 the one-teacher school in Ballymacelliggott was closed and amalgamated with Tralee. The folding partition was opened thus creating two small classrooms. In 1975 a new classroom was built to alleviate the lack of space. By 1983 the numbers had grown and a third teacher was appointed. The partition was once again opened to cater for the third teacher. By the mid-90's it was evident that the building did not adequately provide for the staff and pupils in terms of space and facilities. Approval for construction for a further classroom and major refurbishment was sought from Dept. of Education and in Sept. 1997 Mr. P. O'Donovan, Schools Inspector, officially opened the new building, which was equipped to the highest standard.
The school now caters for up to 76 pupils under the Principalship of Mr. Michael O'Toole and it is under the patronage and management of the Church of Ireland but children of all faiths and none are welcomed and respected.
The school now caters for up to 76 pupils under the Principalship of Mr. Michael O'Toole and it is under the patronage and management of the Church of Ireland but children of all faiths and none are welcomed and respected.