Maisie McNailly

I remember the day war was declared in September 1939. It was on a Sunday at 11 a.m. There had been very heavy rain causing the river Bann banks to overflow. The flood was rising in one of my father’s fields. My father tried to get as much help as possible to pull the corn, which was in stokes, into higher ground. We children were helping. A man living next door to us wouldn’t allow his family to help because it was Sunday.

I went to school when I was 4 yrs old, to Clonduff P.E.S. There would have been 30 to 40 pupils and two teachers: one lady who taught junior pupils up to third class and a male teacher who taught 4^th, 5^th and 6^th and 7^th class for pupils who stayed on at school. The lady teacher, Mrs. Conn, was a very motherly figure. She was the junior teacher. She was very kind and approachable, made our drinks for lunch. When I went to school I knew the alphabet and could count numbers. Mrs. Conn had different aids to learn counting.  She started with letters, words, used books with pictures and words, nursery books for young children. At times senior pupils would come from the senior class and assist her. By the time we were ready to go to senior class, we would all have been able to read and write also to count. Unbelievable to me that children leave school now unable to read or write. Mrs. Conn also taught simple cookery to girls from the senior class. At this time a senior student took the junior pupils.  I can remember I was delighted to be picked.

I had a senior teacher for a year when I moved to 4^th class, a Mr. Thompson. He was very well qualified, trained in Dublin. In my opinion he was not a good teacher. He was due to retire in a years time, had no interest in the pupils, was just putting in time until his retirement. He had a cane which he used very often, especially on the boys, on their hands and sometimes made them turn over and attacked their bottoms.  The poor boys could hardly sit.  He seemed to get delight using his stick. I was never at his mercy. I felt very sorry for the boys. He wouldn’t last long in the present day.

We had a Mr. McIlwaine for a year. He was a only short time after being at Stranmillis. He was a very good teacher with a lot of new ideas and methods of teaching. I believe he understood the poor teaching we had.  He aimed to bring us to the grade we should be at.

I was the only girl in the 6^th and 7^th classes with 7 or 8 boys.  One of the boys was very clever.  I tried hard to keep up with him.  Not always able to.

My best friend at P.E.S. was Doris Dickson.  Unfortunately, she left school to go to her aunt’s school to make up numbers.  I had a best friend at Rathfriland School.  We still meet up.

I don’t know why, we had another change of teacher, but Mr. Linton was my final teacher at P.E.S.  He was also recently qualified from Stranmillis. He was an excellent teacher, very interested in all his students. At one stage, he spoke to me privately, asked me what I wanted to do when I left school. I told him I would like to be a nurse. He was pleased to hear that and said, “I think you will make a good nurse”. He took special interest in me after that: “We must see that you get the qualifications necessary.” I stayed at school until I was near sixteen. I got the school leaving certification before leaving school. That was unheard of at Clonduff.