Classical School in Tulla, 1858 - ?

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Sduddy
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Classical School in Tulla, 1858 - ?

Post by Sduddy » Wed Feb 24, 2021 12:17 pm

Clare Journal, Mon 18 Jan 1858:
Advertisement: The Tulla Classical School, conducted by Mr. Patt Lynch, is deserving of special notice; and, though yet only in its infancy, bids fair to rank among those Educational Establishments which may be regarded as the greatest advantages to our county, and which, as such, we have ever considered it our duty as public journalists to sustain. Those who visited the Seminary, previous to the Christmas recess, were astonished at the accuracy and ease with which some of the Pupils, not twelve months at Classics, had translated, and otherwise accounted for certain passages of the advanced Authors. The zeal and attention bestowed by the Principal on the moral as well as intellectual training of those entrusted to his care will, it is hoped, induce the inhabitants of the locality to give him that encouragement and support to which he is so eminently entitled. Business was resumed on the 7th inst.
Clare Journal, Mon 8 Jul 1858:
The pupils of the Tulla Classical School, under the care and superintendence of Mr. P. Lynch, principal, have been lately submitted to the list of public examination, in the course of which the relative duties of master and pupils were strictly investigated by gentlemen distinguished for classical knowledge and literary acquirements. The examiners, consisting of the Rev. Mr. Fitzgerald, Doctor Nihill, Mr. Thomas McGrath and Mr. Michael McGrath, Kilbarron, and Mr. P. White, were much pleased with the progress and proficiency of the pupils, and expressed their unqualified approbation of the course of instruction pursued in this establishment. Business will be resumed, (D. V.), the 15th inst
Clare Journal, Mon 3 Jan 1859:
On the 20th ultimo, the half-yearly examinations of the Tulla Classical School, Mr. P. Lynch, Principal, were carried on as usual by some of the neighbouring Clergy and Gentry, who were unanimous in pronouncing the proficiency of the pupils to be such as to reflect the greatest credit on the zeal and efficiency of the teacher. We have before taken an opportunity of directing the attention of our readers to this seminary as a fit preparatory educational establishment, and are now happy to find that the character then given in our columns of its probable usefulness and advantage to the locality has been so fully realized on this occasion. At the termination of the proceedings a dejeuner was given by the hospitable proprietor, and it was arranged that business is to be resumed on the 10th instant.
Clare Journal, Thur 16 Aug 1866:
Ball at Tulla. A well attended ball took place in the Court House, Tulla, on Monday evening last. It was given by the pupils of Mr Foley, as a token of the high esteem in which that gentleman’s services were held during his temporary stay amongst them. The Tulla Amateur Band was in attendance, and played an admirable selection of popular airs. From a Correspondent.
It’s not clear if Mr. Foley taught at the classical school, or if the classical school was still in existence in 1866.

Sheila

smcarberry
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Re: Classical School in Tulla, 1858 - ?

Post by smcarberry » Thu Feb 25, 2021 12:24 pm

This is the first mention of a classical school in Tulla, so far as my notes show. In East Clare, the school of Jeremiah Tuohy in Killaloe has been well known for that type of study. Since the 1800s had several men in East Clare named Jeremiah (Darby) Tuohy, let me note the two most prominent ones: the classical teacher who died 1880 and the parish priest of O'Callaghan's Mills Parish who died 1840. Men at that level of East Clare society typically had relatives living in Limerick city. My news items for the teacher Jeremiah sometimes refer to his brother Dr. Tuohy in Limerick.

I have some thoughts on who P. Lynch, the principal, may have been, at least in terms of his birth family. In terms of something specific, what I can offer is an attendee/donor listed for a dinner party given by Fr. Patrick Quaid on 17 Sep 1854 when he was soliciting funds to finish the new chapel at OCM. At least 32 of the area's gentry attended, including "P. Lynch, Esq." in one news account and "Patrick Lynch, Limerick" in another news story. So, the Limerick archives website may have additional mentions of a Patrick Lynch capable of teaching the classics.

Another likely resource are the periodic school reports incorporated in appendices of education surveys preserved in various Parliamentary Papers. I have a reference to one covering East Clare dated 1856 on Google Books, for which the shorthand title is "Reports from Commissioners - Volume 27, Part 1" by Parliament, House of Lords. The fuller reference for the commissioners is "Commissioners of Irish Education" and reports over the years also appear as produced for the House of Commons.

Sduddy
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Re: Classical School in Tulla, 1858 - ?

Post by Sduddy » Fri Feb 26, 2021 11:24 am

Hi Sharon

Thank you for your feedback on P. Lynch. I’ve found the civil record of his death (registered in Tulla, but under Galway online): 17 Feb 1873, in Tulla Workhouse, Patrick Lynch, widower, aged 69, Schoolmaster. I don't think I will try to find out more about Patrick. He died in Tulla, but may not have come from there originally. He was born about 1804, and probably married and had his children in pre-famine times. I think it would be impossible to trace the story of his life now, but, from the little we do know, it sounds as if the classical school closed after a few years, and that Patrick had not made a fortune by it.

Sheila

Sduddy
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Re: Classical School in Tulla, 1858 - ?

Post by Sduddy » Thu Jan 27, 2022 10:27 am

This 2008 posting by Paddy Casey describes another Patrick Lynch, who was learned in the Classics:
http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=305. He was born in 1857, and probably died in Dublin. I wonder if the younger Patrick was related to him.

Sheila

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