Newry News and Irish Fun
My parents lived in a small two-up/two-down terrace house in Peter’s Place. It was not as it is today – mostly refurbished and surrounded by desirable residential properties. Then there was no bathroom and water was supplied by means of a water tap in the back yard. The terrace though did then back on to houses of the local ‘gentry’ which had huge back gardens. My aunts always referred to my mother’s house as the ‘Neuk’.
Each year we had a school Retreat. For three days we had nothing but religion and prayer. The whole time we were sworn to total silence, even after we went home. There were great efforts made by our brothers to force us to talk but most of us persisted nevertheless.
There was a camogie team in the school but the only association I had with a caman was when one of my friends, trying to knock down some apples, threw it too far into the air and it ended up flying through the window of the headmistress’s study.
At last the great day arrived and, kitted out from head to toe, we presented ourselves to the headmistress. I was so glad that many of my classmates from the primary school were there. We seemed so small among the great big pupils. Suddenly from being the big girls in Primary, we became the wee girls in our new school.
When the ordeal of The Qualifying exam had to be faced, it was not for us the familiar surroundings of our own classroom with our own teacher. That was 1949 and we had to travel over to the new
From Second Standard (now P2) we were expected to learn how to sew and to make a hand-sewn garment. This entailed cutting out a newspaper pattern of the article to be sewn from a pattern supplied by the teacher. My first garment was an apron with a huge pocket across the front like a kangaroo’s pouch.
During my primary school days there were periodic visits from the school doctor or nurse. These visits were designed to ensure the health and welfare of school children at a time when visits to a doctor cost money that the parents of the poor could not afford. Each child was given a full medical and any deficiencies were noted for further action at the local hospital or clinic. The trouble was that away from the protection of concerned parents, the inspection – and especially the results of it – was less than solicitous of the patient and nuns and classmates often seemed anxious to advertise individual pupils’ deficiencies!
In each class pen/wiper and ink monitors were appointed. These pupils were made responsible for ensuring that inkwells were filled and for distributing pens. If you were popular with the ink monitor you got a good nib. If not, you made blots galore and earned the side of the ruler from the teacher for ‘dirty work’.