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A Brief History
Tarmon N.S is situated 4km North-East of Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. It is a Roman Catholic School under the patronage of the Bishop of Elphin. Our school promotes the Catholic ethos and values while respecting the rights of every person regardless of their denomination. In Tarmon we strive to develop each pupil spiritually, socially and academically recognising each child as an individual with different interests, talents and capabilities. Tarmon N.S provides a safe (community) environment within which each child is cherished and encouraged to achieve his/her potential. The original school was built in 1890 though there is evidence of a school existing in Tarmon during the 1860’s. Over the past one hundred and fifty years the past pupils and staff have created a wonderful legacy of social, academic and sporting achievements of which we are all proud. The School Reports in The National Archives at the Four Courts records three separate schools, all built in succession on or near the site of Tarmon National School as we know it today. Tarmon N.S celebrated its centenary in 1990. Research carried out at the time revealed that the school on the present site was probably formed in the early 1860’s. There is further evidence of a number of other schools in the area dating back to the 1800’s. One such school was established in Tarmon in 1824 by the London Hibernian Society. A new school was built in 1828. It was a gift to the people from Major Balfe of Southpark House and was not on chapel ground. Combined moral and literary education of Protestants and Catholics was carried out for four days of the week, Monday to Thursday. On Friday there was separate Religious Education for Roman Catholics and on Saturday for Protestants. Should no Protestant attend on a Saturday the ordinary business of education was carried out. There is evidence of the existence of another school in the Tarmon area in 1865. The teacher was Mary Egan aged 20 and there was no monitor or monitoress. The other teacher was John Gaffney. From 1889 to 1904 the school was listed as follows: Parish of Kilteevean, Post town of Castlerea, Town land of Ballinphoil, Corresponded Very Rev. P. Hanly, P.P. V.F., Castlerea. The school was taken into connexion by the Board of Education on 4th of June 1889. The present school was built in 1890. It cost £304 and a grant of £202 was paid. ********************************************************************************** The O’Rourke family (Roscommon) has been closely involved with our school over the years. Dan O’Rourke, former Principal of the school and T.D, trained the Roscommon GAA team that won the All-Ireland in 1943 and ’44. The team included a number of players from the Tarmon Football Team, then County Champions. Dan went on to be President of the GAA and was succeeded in Tarmon by his son Brian. Other famous footballers who attended Tarmon N.S were former All-Stars Harry Keegan and Tom Heneghan, Eamon Boland, The Heneghan Brothers and Nigel Dineen. Miss Reba Walker owner of the adjoining land in a gesture of enormous generosity kindly donated 5000m2 of a sports field to the school in 2009. This has been fenced off for use as a playground. Reba passed away in 2011. May her gentle soul rest in peace. Subsequently we built on this donated land and we bought another piece of land from her estate at a very reasonable price after her death. The O’Rourke Family also donated a similar substantial plot of land to the school in 2016. This was an extremely generous gesture on their behalf and without it we would not be able to provide an area for recreation for our pupils. The Astro Turf pitch and our nature trail are located on this land. ********************************************************************************** At the time of the centenary celebrations in 1990, the Principal was Mr. Jimmy Fahy and the Assistant Teacher was the late Mrs. Cora Fitzmaurice R.I.P. In 1993 Mrs. Marie Baggott replaced Mrs. Fitzmaurice and in 1995 Mr. Kieran Dowd replaced Mr. Fahy. ********************************************************************************** Other teachers have worked in Tarmon for shorter periods of time, as resource teachers, substitute teachers etc. Some of those from the distant past are listed below: Principal Teachers: Patrick K. McGovern 1980-1911 Daniel O’Rourke 1911-1952 Brian O’Rourke 1952-1953 James Fahy 1953-1995 Assistant Teachers: Miss Mai Forde 1911-1951 Miss. Mary Mannion 1951-1964 Miss Cora Fitzmaurice 1964-1993 Trained Teachers who acted as substitute for Dan O’Rourke while he was a member of the Dáil and Seanad: Seamus Duffy (Monaghan) 1920 John Duignan (Ballaghaderreen) 1930’s Matt Gibbon (Newbridge) 1932 George Butler (Kilkelly) 1937-1940 Other permanent staff who have worked in the school in recent years are: Teachers: Deirdre Dennedy R.I.P 1998-2003 Noreen Tiernan 1999-2006 Mary Monaghan 2003-2006 Eileen McGuire 2008-2020 Michelle Leetch 2015-2019 SNAs: Anne Beirne 2015-2020 All of the above left their own unique mark on the school community and played key roles in the development of Tarmon N.S. The Finan family, led by Annette and Tommy have efficiently and enthusiastically looked after the cleaning and maintenance of the school for over 30 years. ********************************************************************************* 2020/2021: The present classes and staffing in the school consists of the following: Principal: Kieran Dowd Deputy Principal: Marie Baggott Junior Infants Teacher: Emer Regan Senior Infants Teacher: Áine Gallagher / Sharon Feeley 1st Class Teacher: Louise Redington 2nd Class Teacher: Adrian Collins 3rd & 4th Class: Áine Roddy / Michelle Hazell 5th Class: Lorraine Connolly / Emma Kirrane 6th Class: Greg Kelly ASD Teacher: Siobhan Carroll ASD Teacher: Cathy Dervan ASD Teacher: Éibhlín Mc Kenna ASD Teacher: Imelda Glynn ASD Teacher: Éilís Gannon SET: Aisling Macken SET: Emer Fahy SET: Michelle Flannery Shared SET: Liam Conneally Supply Panel: Diane Kenny Supply Panel: Joseph Henry SET: Liam Conneally SNA: Mary McElroy SNA: Emer Ryan SNA: Emer Towey SNA: Joe Connaughton SNA: Tina Regan SNA: Samantha Mantell SNA: Sinéad Ryan SNA: Michelle Cox SNA: Stephanie Collins SNA: Cathrina Fahy SNA: Kathleen Regan SNA: Ann-Marie Ryan SNA: Melissa Moran SNA: Lisa Dillion Secretaries: Mary Ryan & Aileen McGreal Stephanie Dillon (2 days p/w) Maintenance & Cleaning Staff: The Finan Family We are deeply indebted to the members of the Boards of Management, the parents and friends of our school who had the foresight and energy to plan and develop the facilities that are in Tarmon N.S today. Chairpersons of the Boards of Management: Canon Seán Kelly 1988-1996 Canon Joseph Fitzgerald 1996-2016 Fr. John McManus 2016-2019 Ms. Mary Colleary 2019-Present While the history of Tarmon continues to be written by its pupils, past and present, the contributions of the people listed above and others who are not mentioned will not be forgotten. ********************************************************************************** Extensions to Tarmon N.S. In 1998 the Board of Management together with the office of Public Works built a new Infant classroom and staffroom as well as converting the old infant room into internal toilets. Since then other developments have been funded by the Department of Education. In October 2003 we officially opened a new classroom, a resource room, a staff room and a multi-purpose room at the cost of €550,000.00 approx. In 2009 we officially opened our new school gym and classroom, a staff room, a Resource room and a refurbished computer room. The government gave us a grant of €484,000.00 originally and later added €64,000.00 to help complete the project. Thanks to the generosity of the community in Castlerea and Tarmon a further contribution of €15,000.00 was also raised. December 2018 saw us open classes for children with autism and another mainstream classroom. This building consists of 3 autism classrooms with changing areas, quiet areas etc. a sensory room, a central activities area, a staffroom, a mainstream classroom, and a meeting room. The overall cost was in excess of €1.2 million. Plans are now in progress, in 2020 to build 2 more Autism classrooms and 2 mainstream classrooms with ancillary services. ********************************************************************************** |
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