BY JAMES DURNEY
Summarised from the ‘Schools of Kildare & Leighlin AD 1775-1835,’ by Rev Martin Brenan
A COMMISSION of Inquiry into the State of Irish Education produced some remarkable information on the schools in Naas in 1824. Father Gerald Doyle, PP 1814-1858, probably supplied this information.
Richard O’Kane, a Roman Catholic, had a pay school, for boys, in the town, which produced an income of about £30. The schoolhouse was built of lime and stone, with a slated roof.
The average attendance in the summer of 1824 was 15 – Established Church eight, Roman Catholics seven. The school was not connected with any society.
The scriptures read were the Authorized Version, and the school had only one copy. Benjamin Power, a Roman Catholic, ran a pay school. His income was about £70.
The schoolhouse was composed of lime and stone, with a thatched roof and cost about £40 to build. The average attendance in the summer of 1824 was 65 males and 25 females – Roman Catholics 79, Established Church 11. The school was not connected with any society. The scriptures read were the Douay Version.
Margaret Allen, a Roman Catholic, had a pay school with an income of from 4s 4d to 7s 6d per quarter.
The schoolhouse was built of lime and stone, and had a slated roof. The average attendance in the summer of 1824 was 13 males and 27 females – Roman Catholics 37, Established Church three. The school was not connected with any society.
The scriptures read were the Douay Version, and the school possessed one copy. James Leonard, a Roman Catholic, ran a pay school, with an income of 2s 2d to 6s 6d a quarter.
The schoolhouse was built of lime and stone, and had a slated roof. It cost about £25 to build.
The average attendance in the summer of 1824 was 20 males and eight females – Roman Catholics 20, Established Church eight. The school was not connected with any society and the only scriptures read were the Authorised Version.
Bryan Quinn, a Roman Catholic, ran a pay school, which produced an income of 2d to 4d per week. The schoolhouse had a slated roof and was built of lime and stone.
The average attendance in the summer of 1824 was 20 males, and 16 females – Roman Catholics 35, Established Church one. The school was not connected with any society and no scriptures were read.
Roman Catholics Patrick Murphy and Julia Thornton ran a free school. The income – paid by subscription – was divided, with the Master receiving £22 15s, and the Mistress £20.
The schoolhouse was built of lime and stone, and had a slated roof. It was built by subscriptions from the Parish Priest and Roman Catholic Parishioners and cost about £150 to build.
The average attendance in the summer of 1824 was 185 Roman Catholics – 95 males, 90 females. The school was connected with the Kildare Place Society. The scriptures read were the Douay Version.
Alicia O’Connor, a Roman Catholic, ran a pay school, on the Dublin Road, which produced an income of 2d to 3d per week.
The schoolhouse was built of lime and stone, and had a thatched roof. The average attendance in the summer of 1824 was 11 males, and nine females – Roman Catholics 19.
Established Church one. The school was not connected with any society. The scriptures read were the Authorised Version, of which the school possessed one copy.
Protestant Schools Protestants Thomas Lapier and Amelia Moorehead ran a free school in the Naas Jail.
Their income was £15 each, paid from the County. The school was held in the Jail and was built at the expense of the County. The average attendance in the summer of 1824 was 28 males, and 5 females – Roman Catholics 31, Established Church two. The scriptures read were the B Version.
Jane Richardson, a Protestant, ran a pay school, which had an income of 3s to 5s a quarter. The schoolhouse was built of lime and stone and cost about £25 to build. The average attendance in the summer of 1824 was two males and eight females – Established Church five, Roman Catholics five. The school was not connected with any society. The scriptures read were the Authorised Version.
Joseph Ivers, a Protestant, ran a pay school, which produced an income of 2s 6d to 4s 4d per quarter. The schoolhouse was built of lime and stone, and had a slated roof. It cost about £100 to build.
The average attendance in the summer of 1824 was 33 males, and nine females – Established Church 39, Roman Catholics three. It was not connected with any society and the scriptures read were the Authorised Version.
Rev John Harrison, a Protestant, ran a pay school. It was a Diocesan School and he received a salary of £60 from the Bishop of Kildare. The income from the scholars was uncertain.
The schoolhouse was built of lime and stone, and had a slated roof. The average attendance in the summer of 1824 was 20 males – Established Church 18, Roman Catholics two. The scriptures read were the Authorised Version.
This was the system of education in the town until the religious orders began to organise education and take over from the one-two teacher schools, culminating in the arrival of the Mercy Sisters in 1839 and the Christian Brothers in 1871.