The History of Castlerock National School - Scoil Bharbara Naofa

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Castlerock N.S is situated in the Parish of Kilmactigue close by Lough Talt and the Ox Mountains; it was named after a companion of St. Attracta called Barbara. St. Attracta's Holy Well is in the nearby village of Gleenavoo.

Records show that the school existed in Castlerock in the mid 1840's and possibly as early as the 1830's. It was a two-roomed structure with a slated roof, whitewashed inner walls and out-offices. One room was Castlerock Male National School and the other was Castlerock Female National School. There were over 100 children on the rolls.

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On 1 October 1909, it became co-educational when the two schools

amalgamated. An additional room was added to the north gable in 1933. It then became a 3 teacher school with 115 pupils. It continued to be upgraded and renovated down through the years. In the mid 1950's Largan National School at Lough Talt was closed and amalgamated with Castlerock.

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During the early 1960's the school got its first face lift, the yard at the back of the school was concreted, outside toilets, septic-tank and shelters were built, the water supply was connected to the mains. The open fires were replaced by stoves, the wall along the road was built, the boundary fence along the play yard was put in place and the school got two teak outside doors.

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In April 1998, the old windows were replaced by new PVC windows, but still maintained the old window design. New indoor toilets and a cloakroom were installed which led to the loss of one of the classrooms. Electric heaters were also fitted at this time.

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In 2003 Castlerock N.S. reverted to a 3-teacher school and a portacabin provided accommodation for the third classroom during this time.

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In 2008 the Department of Education sanctioned the building of a new school, but unfortunately the existing site was not large enough to meet the planning requirements. A suitable site was successfully secured in 2009 and in April 2010 the Board of Management received planning permission from Sligo County Council to build a new school building. Site work commenced early May 2010.

 

Staff & students moved to the brand new Castlerock N.S. on the 15th of April 2011 with the official opening of the new school on Friday the 24th of June 2011.

 

Castlerock National School is a modern, state of the art 3 classroom school on a 2-acre site with an office, GP room, multi-purpose room, staff room and kitchen with a large yard, basketball court and playing field.