In our grandparents’ time and our parents’ time school was a lot different.
The books that were used were a lot different from what we use now.

The main subjects done were Irish, Maths, English and some Geography and Science. There were lots of books to be bought but older brothers or sisters handed down to younger members of the family.

Our parents said they wrote for a few years with slate and chalk and after a while they wrote on copies. Our parents said they wrote with pen, pencil or ink. Sometimes they learned to write in joined writing even when they were in junior infants. There was a different Irish alphabet to the one we use now.

Religion was a major part of school. Confirmation and Communion were so important that you had to pass a test! The children had to memorise lots of questions about God and then the bishop would ask you a handful of them. If you didn’t pass the test you would be given another chance before Confirmation. If they failed again they had to wait for another three years to make their confirmation.

In Maths they used an abacus to help work out sums. Here is a sample question they used to do: An army consisting of a number of men, one third of said army being killed, then one quarter taken and a thousand ran away. Give the number of men the army consisted of?

Homework was a lot more difficult. The children had to learn off whole paragraphs from memory.

When they were in sixth class they had to do something that was like a leaving cert. It was done because most children years ago did not go to secondary school. And this is what school was like in our parents and grandparents time.