A story of true community

A superb example of cross-faith and community coming together has resulted in the pupils of a small national school being able to stay together during a year when their original school location will be an intensive building site, writes Brian Byrne.

This came about because Brannoxtown NS received a Department of Education devolved grant in November 2009 to replace the pre-fab buildings which had formed the main classrooms for decades. Planning permission came through at the beginning of this summer, for four brand new classrooms.

"But while the building work was going to be under way here, we were going to be homeless," says teacher Nora Halpin. "We had just over two months to find a new temporary location for the school."


The school’s Principal Esther Reddy (right), who moved on recently to become Principal of St Brigid's NS in Ballysax, recalls that they looked at several potential locations in Kilcullen, and received offers of help from a number of clubs located on the Kilcullen Community Complex.

"I have to say that the generosity with which we were met in Kilcullen was amazing. The new Boxing Club premises, the Soccer Club, and the Scout Den were all offered to us to use during the day as classrooms. They would have been quite suitable, and included easy parking."

But at a meeting with parents of the Brannoxtown children, it became clear that the unanimous preference was to keep the pupils close to their home village, if at all possible.

As a result, contact was made with John Sandal of the Baptist Community, whose church, car park and cemetery are less than 100 metres from the original school.

"They embraced the whole idea from the beginning," says Esther. "They offered us the use of their community hall, an old prefab. But when we investigated, we found that we wouldn't be able to bring it up to the standard required."

The next stage was to look at the possibility of hiring new prefabs for the duration, locating them on the Baptist site. It was at the time believed that the old prefabs at the school were going to be taken back by the Department of Education.

"But then we found that they didn't want them," says Nora Halpin. "In fact, as far as they were concerned, we were going to have to dispose of them at our own expense. So we had another meeting with the parents, who knew far more about construction than we did."

It was agreed with the Baptist community that their old prefab would be replaced with the much better condition buildings from the school, and they could be used afterwards as a new community hall.

"The parents believed it could be done, and I have to say I didn't," says Nora. "But over the course of the summer, Parents Committee chairman John Kennedy and Esther organised the moving of the buildings to the Baptist site."

"Although we started out with the parents doiung the work, we found that we really needed to bring in a contractor," Esther says. "So we hired John Dunne, and one of our parents, Martin Sully, took on the role of project manager on our behalf. He did wonderful work all summer."

Because of the awkward access to the site, this required cooperation from the school's close neighbours, the Mackey family, who immediately gave permission for machinery to be operated from their yard. The school prefabs were dismantled into sections, and with the help of a crane and a tractor were transferred to the Baptist yard, on which a brand new permanent foundation had been prepared.



Just before the school was due to reopen, the school parents organised a 'meitheal' to give the project the final push to the finish line. Along with neighbours, some of whom didn't even have children in the school, they got together to tranport all the books, equipment, fittings and furniture to the new location.

"So by the first of September we were back in our original prefabs, on the new location," says Nora. "And they were in even better nick, because in the moving process any problems were repaired. The children are just so happy now down in the Baptist yard, and I think it is a lovely story of what neighbours can do for each other."

And in one of those lovely closings of a circle, the whole story goes back to the school's beginnings. Brannoxtown NS was originally established in 1885 as a Baptist School by John La Touche, a convert to that faith. The lore says he demolished an old castle on the site and used the stone to build the school. It subsequently was given by the Baptists to be a Catholic National School.

The new school buildings will be ready for occupation next September.

This article was first published on the Kilcullen page of the Kildare Nationalist.


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