Enjoying looking at some old photographs at St Mary’s Primary School, Brookeboro are Catherine Rooney, Ciara Maguire, Dermott Finlay (School Principal), Patrick Lavey, Conall McDonagh and Conor McQuaid.
ST MARY’S Primary school Brookeborough is celebrating its 75th year on the present site opposite the chapel with a reunion and book launch planned for Sunday, 5th October.
The celebrations begin with a special concelebrated Mass at 2pm in the nearby St Mary’s Church, followed by further celebrations and the launch of, ‘Our School On The Hill’, the anniversary book, to take place in a marquee on the school premises.
The book is a 200-plus page publication that includes memories and stories of approximately 60 former pupils, plus some teachers, and a large collection of photographs.
It also chronicles the progress of primary education in Aghavea Parish for the last 200 years.
A section pays tribute to the contribution the school played in promoting sport and music, and there are acknowledgements on the various parish priests over the decades who managed the school buildings.
The book lists all of the teachers at St Mary’s over the past 75 years, plus photographs.
Other important milestone events are also covered, including the introduction of a taxi service in 1949 for children in outlying areas which was then followed by the first school bus in the area, run by the Fermanagh Education Authority in 1954.
The book charts the closure of Coonian and Mullanvaum rural schools and its pupils who transferred to Brookeborough and, around the same time, it recalls the major extension of two extra classrooms and a kitchen and dinning hall.
A school register section covers all pupils from shortly after the establishment of Brookeborough No 1 National School in 1855 until the present day.
Tickets are still available for the after Mass event in the school, up to Saturday 27th September. Those with tickets are then asked to ring, if they intend attending, before Tuesday 30 th September in order to help with catering arrangements.
The contact numbers are – (school) 028895 31824 or Tom 07850380436 or Roisin 07817035630.
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