Old school attendance book sheds much light on Glenville's past
Wednesday, October 5, saw a celebration of Glenville’s history as an old school attendance book, dating from 1870-1904, was handed over to Brian Magee, Cork County Council’s senior archivist. While Glenville school first opened in 1821, it is understood that this attendance book is the first official register for the school in the village. The book was originally kept in the school up until around the 1950s and was then removed by a former principal, who entrusted the book to local historian, Norma Buckley, around 30 years ago. “I had to sign that I would keep it in my care in front of the man who gave it to me and in front of the priest,” Norma said. The book is now being handed over to the archives department of Cork County Council, with two copies being made before the ceremony, one of which will be kept in Glenville NS, the other to allow for community access. “Well I’m not going to be around forever and I want to make sure it is kept in posterity and that local people can access it. I was thrilled that there is an archive in Cork now, not to have to be going to Dublin,” Norma told The Avondhu.
The attendance book, which is still in its original cover, according to Mrs Buckley, is in relatively good condition with only minor fading and staining.
It is also largely still intact with only one page missing, page seven and eight, and slight fraying on the ends, believed to have been caused by rodents.
SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS
Glenville Community Council member, Mossy Keane carried out an analysis on the book.
“Under the Archives Act it actually is a historical document. As such, it has to be stored safely and securely,” he said.
“When we went looking for what the natural home for it was, for it to be stored safely, the one thing that we were very conscious of was that people would have access to it,” he said.
Mr Keane also shared some of the more significant findings in the attendance book with The Avondhu.
Glenville school was located in the village centre at the time, in a building which is now operating as a childcare centre. The school was an all-boys school, with pupils attending primarily from seven townlands, Glenville, Ballinaglough, Graigue, Bridestown, Ballybrack, Keame and Doon.
The book logs a total of 470 children over a 34 year time period, according to Mr Keane, with a maximum of up to 30 children attending the school at any one time.
The current Glenville NS principal, Oisin Dunne, noted that there are 181 children in the school at present.
“Obviously we’re a mixed school now, but we had over 200 pupils a few years ago, so there is a big population difference,” Mr Dunne said.
While the attendance book is a record of the main school in the village of Glenville, it does not account for Chimneyfield or Killuntin schools, which amalgamated with Glenville school in 1953, or the various hedge schools in operation at the time.
The attendance book also keeps track of which students were paying for their education and which weren’t, as at the time, all students were expected to pay.
“If they decided they wanted a better education, they were actually paying and the basis of the payment was the number of days attended,” Mr Keane said.
It was also found that most children only attended school for up to a total of 12 months, with analysis of the document finding that as late as 1870, only 36% of the school-going population attended school regularly, largely due to the difficult financial circumstances of the country.
“Poverty also meant that a lot of children were taken out of the school. Another contributor was that children just didn’t survive. Disease would have accounted for a lot of fatalities especially in the 1870s to 1890s,” Mr Keane added.
A list of subjects taught was also uncovered in the book, which recorded the core subjects of reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, along with the hand written additions of agriculture and bookkeeping. Agriculture and bookkeeping were possibly added to the curriculum due to the nature of the Glenville townlands and its thriving agricultural sector.
MIGRANT POPULATION
One of the key findings in the book, according to Mr Keane, was the listing of each child’s father’s occupation.
“What the school book revealed was that the occupations of the parents of everybody were really linked to just two things, one was local agriculture, but the second and most importantly, was the manor in the village.
“What you’ll find is that the occupations mostly included was gamekeepers, snappers, land stewards and gardeners,” he said.
Mrs Norma Buckley commented on the difference in professions listed in the attendance book at the time and the changes evident in Glenville to the present day, noting, “In the village that time, we had a tailor and a shoemaker.”
Mr Keane added: “A whole load of professions that no longer exist really. It’s social commentary really on that period of time, and here we are 150 years later and all of those professions are gone.”
Due to the sheer amount of fathers listed as labourers, it is possible that a far larger migrant community existed in Glenville and its surrounds.
“There was a huge amount of movement, that they moved from one school to the other because parents were looking for work. There was a far more migrant population than we have now, particularly labourers, they took their children with them and followed the work,” Mr Keane added.
Despite the population taking a dip, significantly, the families haven’t changed much.
“One of the big things is that the same family names still exist in the same townlands today,” Mr Keane added.
It was found that family names recorded in the ancient book are still predominantly the same families living in Glenville today, with the names Buckley and Sheehan standing out in particular. Fifteen of the 18 most common surnames recorded in the book in this period are still residing in the same townlands or in the parish.
Cork City and County senior archivist, Brian McGee noted the importance of the school register, citing it as an invaluable resource for those researching their geneology and tracing family members.
He also acknowledged the importance of the social history reflected in the records, which sheds light on occupations, eduction and emigration levels through the years 1870-1904.
“Thankfully, this pupil register has been carefully maintained and kept safely for almost 120 years and it now finds a place in the collection of the Cork City and County Archives Service, where it will be properly preserved and made available for research,” he added.
A significant piece of rural history will thankfully now be preserved, with locals able to access records of times past well into the future.