History of Our School
Shountrade, in Irish Sean tSráid, is translated as the “Old Street”. Today, no trace of the street which gave the town land of Shountrade its name remains.
The first mention of a school in Shountrade, under the National Board of Education is in 1852 'a small thatched one roomed building'. This was not much better than a hedge school. There were 100 pupils on roll.
In 1855, the manager, Rev. T.S. O Grady secured a more suitable building in a field owned by the O’Neill’s beside Currabridge. Lord Dunraven agreed to supply the necessary furniture.
In 1865 the school is listed as being in the town land of Tuogh. Lord Dunraven provided a slated teacher residence and an acre of land for use as a playground.
The old school was destroyed by fire in 1936 and was replaced the following year by an entirely new building on a site purchased from Mr. Kinevane.
Shountrade National School was built as a two teacher school but growth in numbers from thirty students to 157 meant that this accommodation had become inadequate. This growth and development is a marvellous and exciting story due to the dedicated work of past principals, teachers, members of the Boards of Management, parents and by no means least, students.
This unprecedented student explosion was due to the excellent reputation of the Principal Mrs. Kathleen Kennedy and her successor Mrs. Margaret O'Brien. Both ladies taught side by side in Shountrade N.S. for many years and were the best of friends and an excellent team.
Mrs. Kennedy was, and still is, renowned for her love of teaching and learning and more importantly for her passion for hurling. She promoted and instilled a 'grá 'for our native hurling in every student and to this day follows their careers with great interest.
Mrs. O'Brien, her successor was faced with the challenge of providing accommodation for more than 150 students.
Three school extensions took place in the next twelve years. Mrs. O'Brien led these projects. Mrs O'Brien, an excellent negotiator, succeeded in securing a beautiful G.P.room for the school. She was outstanding in organising Boards of Management, fund raising and completing projects and our students and teachers now enjoy a beautiful, modern learning environment.
A unique feature of Shountrade was the generosity of the Kinevane family, who have long association with the school and, who, on both occasions, donated land to accommodate these developments.
We are all partners in education: pupils, teachers, parents and the wider community. Shountrade NS is an example of a progressive, positive working partnership between the Department of Education and our school community. Shountrade is now a modern school well equipped with facilities and the technology necessary to meet the demands of the twenty first century.
Our school mottos is : Fás agus foghlaim!
