Longford's Latin School Heritage Centre "a special project"

This Heritage Centre tells a very unique story of education in this area covering a period in excess of two hundred years. This dates back to The Hedge Schools of The Penal Law times when schools were forced to move from one location to another, continuing in temporary shelters and barns until finally it acquired a permanent home here in 1897.

Many of the students who attended the school proceeded to study for the priesthood where latin was a very important subject as all church ceremonies were conducted in latin prior to the Second Vatican Council in 1962. For this reason there was special emphasis placed on the learning of this language in the school and so it became known as ‘The Latin school’.

The statistics are truly astounding in that over the lifetime of the school which spanned a period from the late 1700s until 1974 in excess of 560 students were subsequently ordained to the priesthood. Being situated in north Longford on the borders of Leitrim and Cavan it catered for students from three provinces, Leinster, Connacht and Ulster. The catchment area also spanned the two dioceses of Ardagh and Clonmacnois and Kilmore. Many of these students travelled long distances to get to the school and as this was in the era before Free Education and Free Transport they endured many hardships in pursuit of an education.

The parish of Dromard where the school was situated produced 171 priests and its neighbouring parish of Colmcille produced a very healthy number of 104. There were also instances of families where numerous brothers pursued vocations to the priesthood like the O’Reilly family of Moyne where four brothers became priests. Six former students were ordained bishops including one Anglican bishop, Rt. Rev. William Henry Moorhead from Crealaughta, in the parish of Drumlish. This reflects the ecumenical dimension of the school which pertained right up until 1974.

Students of other religions were always welcomed in The Latin school and there was a cohort of Church of Ireland students in the school down through the years. The peak year for ordinations was in 1878 when eleven former students were ordained. This must be seen in the context of the total number of ordinations from Maynooth College last year where there were eight, at least two of whom were from abroad.

Most of the students who left Moyne to study for the priesthood went to seminaries in Ireland but many travelled abroad to cities such as Rome, Genoa, Paris, Louvain and many other far-flung cities. When ordained the vast majority of these priests served in dioceses across the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Trinidad, as well as in many dioceses across England and Wales. A smaller proportion of these priests ministered in Ireland.
Each of these 560 priests and six bishops made a significant contribution to life where they ministered and left a very rich legacy in the parishes and dioceses in which they served throughout the world. A study of each individual contribution will make for interesting work in the future.

Some that come to mind are Bishop Higgins from Drumlish who studied in the Hedge School. After his ordination he was a renowned scholar who subsequently became bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, St Mel’s Cathedral in Longford still stands as a testament to his dedication, hard work and commitment to his people.

Bishop Gibney who hailed from Killeshandra was another former pupil of The Latin School. He served as a priest in Australia and on one occasion he travelled to the colonies on the East coast. As he travelled between Benalla and Albury he arrived at Glenrowan where he heard that there had been a siege. He left the train on which he had travelled to tend to Ned Kelly’s injuries, hear his Confession and give him The Last Rights. Along with his bravery on that day he is also renowned for the great work that he did in establishing the Beagle Bay Aboriginal Community.

While The Latin School is renowned for the number of priests that it produced there is another dimension to the school as not all the students who attended the school progressed to the priesthood. The school provided access to education for many in the era before Free Secondary Education became a reality in 1967. Without the school many youngsters would have been forced out of education after Primary School. All the students who studied here will attest to the formative influence that it had on their lives.

Many of them progressed to further education and others went on to pursue careers in banking, agriculture, the Civil Service and many other areas.