Swinging sixties celebration planned for national school in Offaly

In early June, the children, staff and parents of Ballinamere National School along with past pupils, past staff members and the wider community will celebrate a significant milestone in the history of the school.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the building of the original Ballinamere school and also marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Autism Centre in the new building which replaced it, one of the first schools in the entire country to embrace such a facility within a mainstream setting.

The school and local community will celebrate this landmark occasion with a concert in the school on Thursday, June 11th followed by a monster Golf Classic the next day in nearby Esker Hills golf course.

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There is a rich history of education in the Ballinamere area dating back some 200 years when a Master Dunne was known to have taught the classics to 40 children in a hedge school described as a ‘poor cabin’ close to the site of the present-day modern school structure. The first official state-run school in the area was Ballycowan School on the banks of the Grand Canal between Ballycowan Bridge and Ballycowan Castle.

The ‘Master’ was a Mr. Nealon who lived in Tullamore and who walked to school along the canal every school day. The original Ballycowan school still remains intact and is now the tastefully restored residence of Gordon Meacle and family, himself a past-pupil of Ballinamere School.

In 1910, a new school for the area was constructed in Ballykilmurry. This new 2 classroom school had an enrolment of almost 50 children with separate playgrounds for boys and girls. The principal was a local woman, Rose Horan, assisted by Miss Killeavy. Mrs Horan and Miss Killeavy were held in high regard by the locals primarily because of the fact that they protected the children in the school during a firefight between Black and Tans and two local Republican volunteers during the War of Independence.

These freedom fighters, Pat McDonald and Frank Horan had been spotted crossing Galvin’s Field (now Ballinamere GAA field) and they had taken refuge in the school coal bunker to escape their pursuers.

Countless shots were exchanged with bullets striking the school walls, chimney stacks and windows. The principal and her assistant calmly succeeded in keeping the children safe and out of harms’ way by ensuring they lay flat on the classroom floor during the violent exchanges of gunfire. Mrs Horan and Miss Killeavy remained in the school for many years and Mrs Horan was succeeded as Principal by Mr. Donal Brady in 1952. She went on to live to a ripe old age.

The original Ballykilmurry school building still remains and has been assimilated into the newly refurbished facilities of Ballinamere GAA Club.

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The upcoming 60-year celebration commemorates the opening of the brand new 3 classroom Ballinamere National School which replaced Ballykilmurry School in 1966 and also honours the magnificent 8 classroom present day structure which opened its doors in 2005. The site was originally donated free of charge to the local community by the O’ Brien family, a family that has been synonymous with the Ballinamere area for many years and remains so to the present day.

Ballinamere School has cultivated a reputation for educational excellence in the intervening 60 years under the leadership of visionary principals such as Donal Brady and his wife, Mary, Larry Fleming, Margaret Brady, Deirdre Cusack and Tracy Meade, the current incumbent. Extraordinarily talented and dedicated past and current staff members have been central to ensuring this reputation and legacy endures.

Many past pupils have gone on to excel in various high-profile areas of work and innovation as well as in sports and in the arts.

Many have represented their country, county and clubs with distinction in a variety of sports such as Rules football, athletics, boxing, golf and Gaelic Games while others have reached the very pinnacle of their chosen professions.

Perhaps the most critical and inclusive educational decision made by the then school Board of Management under the chairmanship of the dynamic Declan McDonnell was to put itself forward as a forerunner in a new initiative championed in the 1998 Education Act which envisioned special classes being placed in mainstream settings. Ballinamere became one of the first schools nationwide to accept and spearhead this seismic culture change in education at a time when litigation was the prime determinant of the level of service a family could expect.

The design of the Esker Autism Centre in Ballinamere School resulted from a collaborative process which involved the Board of Management, the school staff, the architectural team led by Denis Duggan and the construction team of Monaghan and Carroll.

The innovative design which emerged from this process was used as a template by the Department of Education for many years when putting facilities in place for autistic children in other schools throughout the country. Next month’s celebration acknowledges the 25 years the Esker Centre has been in situ and the wonderful process of integration that has evolved as a result of the work of the dedicated and skilled special support team.

The Centre now consists of three classes and boasts additional physical and sensory resources required to provide the appropriate interventions to autistic learners. The Esker Centre continues to operate as a shining beacon and flagbearer for interventions for children a quarter of a century later. The facility continues to provide a lifeline to families grappling with the dearth of supports currently available to children with additional needs.

In recognition of the great service to the community provided by Ballinamere school over the last 60 years, the children from the school will present a celebration concert on Thursday June 11th appropriately featuring songs from the sixties, the decade in which the first Ballinamere school was built.

It is expected that many past pupils, parents and former staff members will attend to relive the freedom and new-found expression of the ‘swinging sixties’ when the Primary Cert was a state exam and the majority of children walked to school. The golf classic on the following day, June 12th, is being held to raise additional funding for the Esker Centre in the school and is a joint venture between the school and it’s very active Parents Association.

It is hoped that as many of the past pupils from the school who were present on that day at Easter time 1966 when the school opened will reunite at the club house for the prize giving ceremony and monster raffle. Already, time sheets are filling up fast and it is advisable to book a slot with Esker Hills without delay if you are considering supporting the event through entering a team.

You can also lend support by sponsoring a tee box or making an online donation. Tee Times are still available by calling Esker Hills Golf Club at 0579355999 or contacting the school via [email protected]. Keep an eye on the school’s Instagram page @ballinamerensgolfclassic for more details of the Back To The 60s concert and news of the monster raffle.

Tickets for the raffle can be purchased online here.

The school show has already proved so popular that an extra matinee performance has been scheduled at 1pm to complement the evening show at 7pm.