Carlane School National Schools Register (1900)

The opening of Carlane School, with a separate “Boys End” and “Girls End”, on Monday 9th July 1900, is recorded on the first page of the National Schools Register for the girls class. Several names are legible, including their age at the time and attendance record.

The first name listed is Sarah Lizzie Murray, born on the 11th January, 1893, the daughter of a fishing family from Annaghmore. Educational opportunities and conditions in the townland of Gallagh on the outskirts of Toome village had been poor in the past. In 1898 two pupils at the Gallagh National School died during an outbreak of diphtheria and three more were in a critical condition, and the old school building had been abandoned as absenteeism and illness spread throughout its pupils.