'Moneyrea' National School

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A symmetrical single-storey national school, re-built c.1840 on the site of an earlier church school; located east of Church Road in Moneyreagh Village. Rectangular plan with projecting porch to front and off-shot to rear.

Hipped natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and a rendered chimneystack having a single terracotta pot. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods. Walling is roughcast render. Windows are round-headed replacement uPVC.

The principal elevation faces west comprising central entrance porch opening to north and south, flanked by two windows to either side. West elevation of porch has a window and a masonry plaque with painted lettering reading “Moneyrea National School”. Round-headed door surround to north and south with pilasters, moulded frieze and infilled transom light with scotia moulded archivolt and carved lion head keyblock; timber sheeted door to south elevation; north elevation is infilled.

The north gable is blank; abutted to far left by a small lean-to with timber-sheeted door opening to west.

The east (rear) elevation has two windows to right; to left is the slated off-shot with timber casement window to east elevation and timber-sheeted door to north elevation.

The south gable is blank; abutted at right by a small rendered extension which is attached to a rendered garage to south.

Setting:

Set north of the non-subscribing Presbyterian manse (HB25/02/006) and church (HB25/02/003) in the centre of Moneyreagh. Bounded to road to west by original wrought-iron railings and gates and a low roughcast rendered wall. Bounded to fields to rear by mature hedgerow.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Roughcast render
Windows:uPVC replacements
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The present building, constructed c1840, is one in a series of school houses to be built in Moneyreagh, the first dating from the 1700s.

The minister of 'Moneyrea' Non-subscribing Church from 1809 to 1857, Fletcher Blakely, was an ardent supporter of national education. Blakely persuaded his congregation to build its own school and parliamentary accounts show that a grant of £73.16s.11d was made to build a school house at 'Moneyrea' in 1822, which was completed by 1824. Boys could obtain a classical and mercantile education and a ‘needlework school’ for girls was established shortly afterwards. In 1839 the two schools were amalgamated, and it appears that a new school building was constructed at around this time. The school sought recognition under the National Board which came in 1842. (McMillan)

The early school house, shown on the first edition OS map of 1833, was replaced by the current national school c1840 and this building was in its turn superseded by the neighbouring Richard Lyttle Memorial School which opened in 1908 to designs by Hobart & Heron. (www.dia.ie) Finally the present-day 'Moneyrea' Primary School was opened further to the north in 1961. (www.moneyreaprimary.ik.org)

A ‘School House’ is captioned on the first edition OS map of 1833 and is listed in the Townland Valuation (1828-40) as ‘School houses, male and female’ valued at £6. The school is said to be ‘congregational’ and is situated close to 'Moneyrea' non-subscribing Presbyterian church. By the time of Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) this school house has been replaced by a new National School and yard, valued at £4 and built on land leased from Viscount Dungannon, later Lord Hill Trevor. The Education Commissioners reported in 1854 that there were 108 pupils on the rolls, 68 boys and 40 girls, this number rising in the summer to 126. The average daily attendance was around 60. The schoolhouse has fallen into disuse in recent years but remains in the ownership of the nearby church.

References:

Primary Sources

1.PRONI OS/6/3/10/1 – First Edition OS Map 1833
2.PRONI OS/6/3/10/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858
3.PRONI OS/6/3/10/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1901-2
4.PRONI OS/6/3/10/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-21
5.PRONI OS/6/3/10/7 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1948-50
6.PRONI VAL/12/B/20/7A-F – Annual Revisions (1864-1930)
7.PRONI VAL/12/F/4/93 – Annual Revisions (1930-35)
8.Accounts and Papers Session 5 February to 27 August 1839, House of Commons, 1839
9.Reports from Commissioners, National Education (Ireland) Session 31 January – 12th August 1854, Vol XXX – Part 1, Dublin: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1854

Secondary Sources

1.McMillan, Rev William “A history of Moneyreagh Congregation 1719-1969” 1969
2.www.dia.ie
3.www.moneyreaprimary.ik.org

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A symmetrical single-storey national school, re-built c.1840 on the site of an earlier church school; located east of Church Road in Moneyreagh village. There is group value with the nearby non-subscribing church (HB25/02/003) and manse (HB25/02/006), and the school is of local and social interest mainly due to its historic importance as an early surviving example of a rural church school in the area. The school was adopted under the National Schools system introduced in 1831 and rebuilt to their standard design c.1840. For the non-subscribing Presbyterian church themselves the school represents their early commitment to education, notably built before the neighbouring manse (HB25/02/006). Though of local interest, its architectural interest has been reduced by the introduction of uPVC windows, and its plan form has been lost.