A COUNTY Limerick school will celebrate 200 years of education with a week-long programme of events.
Ahane National School is celebrating the milestone having been founded by Sir Richard Bourke in 1823.
The celebration will commence when Mayor of Limerick City and County councillor Gerald Mitchell visits the school to plant an oak tree and a time capsule in the grounds of the school on Monday, October 23.
The school hall will be the scene of a community celebration on Thursday (October 26) when memories of Ahane National School throughout the years will be shared along with storytelling and curated historical images.
An exhibition celebrating the life and legacy in Ireland and Australia of Richard Bourke, founder of the original Ahane School, former Governor of Australia, and founder of the city of Melbourne will also be open to the local community on the evening.
Sir Richard Bourke was the philanthropist who paid for and built the original Ahane School before the famine occurred and prior to the repeal of the penal laws in Ireland.
Prior to the 1820s, the children of Ahane were tutored by a hedge school master named Patty Collins who taught the children each evening after finishing work.
Ahane National School principal Siobhán Kennedy said: “Education has a proud history in Ahane from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day.”
“While our present building was opened in 1933, we’re delighted to commemorate the bicentenary of the first Ahane National School on the Thornfield estate just across from St Patrick’s Church in Ahane.
“The children will learn about early school life in Ahane 200 years ago and it’s also an opportunity for them to get involved in the commemorations through the local history aspect of the school curriculum,” she explained.
200 years on, there are currently over 130 pupils at Ahane NS, compared to the 79 that were enrolled 200 years ago.
