The Road To School
“The Road To School”
It all started for me back m the early sixties. In those days, everybody walked to school. We lived in Ballinagran, about a distance of one mile from Prizon school, so from four and a half years of age a daily round trip of two miles had to be undertaken. I was undaunted by starting school, as my sister had been there for three years before me. The old route from Tavanagh across the bog to Prizon is no longer in use, as much of it is grown over with bushes.
In the mornings, we would walk as far as the boreen, which started between Duffy's and Maloney's houses. The boreen started with a very steep hill, which was only in use for children walking to school. At the bottom of the hill there was a river, which divided Tavanagh and Ballinagran from Prizon. There was a bridge across the never, which took us on to Prizon bog.
Over the years, we met many people on our route to school. Many of these were men on their way to work on the sheds with McEllins. During the summer, many people worked in the bog, cutting, spreading, scattering and footing the turf. Any time we encountered adults we were expected to have some news.
Further on past the bog were the houses of Mike and Jim Reilly. They would always be out waiting for us to see if we had any news or just to knock talk out of us. (This is where the Regans now reside). When we reached the Prizon road we came to the house of Ned Reilly. I remember on one occasion, when I was very young, having fallen and cut my knee, Ned Reilly brought me into his house and washed and dressed my wound.
Many families crossed the bog to school down through the years, and in my time, there were the Jennings, the Murphy’s, and the Fahys as well as ourselves and countless others who went before. When I went to school for the first time, Miss Glynn and Miss Jeffers (later Mrs. Duggan) were the teachers there. One of the big occasions of my early school days was the day when Miss Jeffers got married and she did not forget her pupils on that day as she had a special reception for us in McKenna’s Hotel in Balla.
There were a number of other people who taught in Prizon during my years there, and of those Mrs Finan spent the longest time there.
By the time the school closed in the early seventies, Prizon was a one teacher school with Mrs. Duggan on her own. If we were to retrace the footsteps of our school days now we would find that many things have changed forever. The roadway is gone, but many of the old faces are still around even if there is an odd wrinkle or a greying hair, but the memories of Prizon school and the times spent walking there will live with all of us who are still around to reminisce.
