In 1864, the House of Commons (in London) did a Return of Name and Locality of Convent and Monastic Schools in connection with Commissions of National Education in Ireland for 1863.
Millstreet Presentation National School is listed on page 5 of the report, which lists the lay teachers and monitors how much they were paid, how much the school was paid, and the number of pupils and attendance. Interestingly attendance rate was at 45%, and while it seems low, it was actually quite high for a rural school of the time (I doubt they’d get get away with that these days!!!). What is also interesting is that the lay teachers are all names that are still in Millstreet. Here are the details:
Roll #: 2,278 / Parish: Drishane / School: Millstreet – female / Order: Presentation Nuns
Amount Paid to School – Premiums & Gratitudes 1963: £6
Amount Paid to School – On account of average attendance 1963: £42 10s
# Pupils on Roll: 446 (all Roman Catholic)
# Average attendance: 201 (45%)
| Employee Name | Role | Religion | Pay for 1963 |
| Catherine Cashman | Industrial Teacher | RC | £10 |
| Mary O’Sullivan | Monitor | RC | £9 13s 4d |
| Mary Dennehy | Monitor | RC | £7 3s 4d |
| Ellen Sullivan | Monitor | RC | £7 3s 4d |
| Maria Crowley | Monitor | RC | £6 13s 4d |
The full return document can be found at:
So teachers were poorly paid even back then? Plus ça change, plus ça même chose.
hard to say the teachers then were poorly paid unless you can compare it to other employment opportunities of the time … but i can’t imagine the British were paying top dollar to the irish at that time