Jean, You told me a couple of months ago if I posted the information on the Holdens you would help me work on it. Well I finally got it posted today and any help from you would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much. Gail Bales ---- "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> wrote: > SNIPPET: "Killavoggy school (Dromahair, Co. Leitrim) stood on a hill above > my Uncle Bernie's and dominated the lovely Leitrim vista that it overlooked. > Within its walls, everything that shaped our lives was carefully nurtured by > strict but kind teachers. In my time, those teachers were Mrs. Margaret > FALLON, wife of the local Councillor, and Sean WHITE, my own father. Years > before that, the Juniors' teacher was the adored Maimee HANLEY. She is still > spoken of with great respect and affection by those who considered > themselves privileged to have been taught by her. I had an even greater > privilege. She was mother to myself and nine siblings. > > My earliest memory of school was the needlework class. My introduction to > the intricacies of knit one, purl one was painful. I dropped more stitches > than I knitted while sitting on the hob of the big open fire. Today I can > knit an Aran sweater while watching TV. > > And the religious exam. Not alone did we know the 10 Commandments backwards > I liked to think that they formed the foundation of which we built our code > of life, irrespective of religion. Bible history was a favourite. I loved > the story of Lot's wife, and how Sampson toppled the Temple, and how David > killed Goliath. The religious examiner came once a year. He gave > certificates of merit to the best in each class. My brother, Sean, usually > came first. > > Doing sums - My downfall was compounded by the fact that I would steal the > keys of the school off the hook where father kept them. Then I'd sneak into > the room, get the answer book and copy the answers into my exercise book All > went fine until Father got suspicious at my never getting my sums wrong. He > asked to see my work and the game was up. I have struggled ever since with > mathematics. > > Summer was magic. On May Eve, we were allowed out to gather Mayflowers on > KELLY's hill. We spread them on the ground of all doors at school and home > to make a mat for Our Lady to walk on and enter our homes with a blessing. > We were also allowed to go bare-footed, and the weather, I remember, was > always favourable During this time, the window sills were adorned with jam > jars of fresh, wild flowers." > > -- Excerpt, Dympna McNamara, journalist. > > > Check out the Ireland GenWeb website at: http://www.irelandgenweb.com/ > > Great place to get help with your family research. > > Help wanted: County Coordinators > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRELANDGENWEB-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message