School: Tara Hill (roll number 13689)

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1. Home Life (continued)

   

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   The School :
   The first school I ever heard tell of was below at Pat Murphy's cottage at Tara Hill beside the School. I am not sure of his name - I think it was Doran - and it was a "hedge" School.
   You can still see the dashing on the ditch and that is the only trace of it that is left. After that Master Cullen taught at Byrne's, Kilcaven, Gorey and the cowhouse was the school. The scholars had to clean out the droppings of the Goats before school began every morning.

   He taught Reading, Writing and elementry Arithmetic
   Master Cullen's writing was copperplate. My father went to School to him and his Arithmetic copybooks were here for years. Master Browne got the copybooks and maybe has them yet. They would last a lifetime because the covers were made from skin.

   The spaces for the sums were always made with a pen and were not rectangular in shape as they are now. They were wider at the bottom than at the top thus :-

   **diagram of shape**

   My father could write a good flourishing hand + he could read anything (in English). My mother was a good scholar and taught me my first lessons before I went to School at age of 6 or 7. I was never in the infants class.
   The scholars sat on stones by the walls

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Language

   English

   Informant

   Bryan Maguire

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Cronellard, Co. Wexford