Ita McClelland

As children we all attended Lislea Primary school which was situated about two miles from our house, on the Ballyards road. The quickest way to get there was by taking a shortcut through a nearby farm, Nicholsons, which had an existing lane from the Keady road to the Ballyards road, from for the farm traffic and machinery.  We called this lane ‘The Loanin’ and its back were strewn with wild roses and honeysuckle. In summer the walk to and from school was great, the lane wound its way across a defunct railway bridge. I never recall any trains on the line, I don’t know if they were still running when my older brothers started school. We used to find wild strawberries and gooseberries along the banks and eat them on our way home. The wintertime was different however, as the ‘Loanin’ was quite muddy so we wore wellies and changed into our shoes when we reached the school.

The school consisted of two buildings, an older domineering structure built of stone and a newer, more modern building made of blocks with larger windows. I can’t recall how the new building was heated but I remember a large black stove straddling two rooms in the older building where the older classes we taught.  Some boys who did not pass  the 11+ had to stay on at the school until they were 15 when they could leave to go to the Tech, as there was no secondary school for boys at that time. My brother Patsy was one of them.

An outdoor activity which I recall happening quite regularly was weeding the rockery when all classes would be ushered out to carry out the task. I don’t think that’s on todays curriculum. A special treat we got each year was a half day on the day of the Farmacaffley Point to Point races. This was only about a mile from the school and as children we were to this event every year. This is still an annual local event.

I remember one day at the school when I was in one classroom of the old building and Patsy was in the other a great din broke out outside and the teacher and the bigger boys ran out to see what was happening. It transpired that my father who had come to collect us from school was making his ceile in Gordon’s house across from the school and a local lady who suffered from mental illness was shouting at him and had broken the aerial off his car and was hitting him over the head with it.  When Patsy saw this he ran out of the school yard to defend my father but the lady ran at him and hurled a milk bottle from the crate that was sitting at the school gate after him.  Luckily for everyone it missed and went smashing across the playground.  As I said the lady wasn’t well and after becoming a psychiatric nurse I could understand that she must have been having a psychotic episode. That was definitely a memorable schoolday.