Meencarrigach National School

This simple but well-proportioned former national school building, of mid nineteenth-century date, retains its early form and character, despite being no longer in use. It is robustly-constructed in good quality local squared stone masonry, while the good quality dressed, bush-hammered quoins to the corners, and the raised cut stone coping to the gable-fronted breakfront are of a quality not regularly encountered in small rural national schools of its date. Its visual expression and integrity is enhanced by the retention of the national slate roof that adds a satisfying patina, although the loss of the original fittings to the window openings is regrettable. The original date and name plaque over the door adds further interest. Its T-shaped plan and layout is characteristic of the great many two classroom national schools built throughout Ireland in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to standardised designs prepared by the Board of Works/Office of Public Works. However, this school at Meencargagh may have been built or its construction partially funded by a local landlord, perhaps Lord Lifford of nearby Meenglass Castle (demolished). National schools of this type are a feature of the isolated rural landscapes of County Donegal, adding a layer of social history to the physical environment, and are indicative of significant local population in a period when transport was more difficult. Its form also suggests that it was originally built as a two classroom national school, possibly with separate classrooms for girls and boys, which was a common feature of many national schools built in Ireland during the nineteenth century, reflecting the strict social thinking of the time. There were 70 students here in 1859, 2 Protestants and 68 Catholics, 33 on the school rolls in 1905-6, and 58 on the school rolls in 1910 (National Education Reports). This building is of social importance to the local area as an early surviving example of a national school where generations of local children were taught, and is an addition to the built heritage of the local area.