Eyon National School, Eyon townland, Co. Limerick
(dated 1800 – 1840)
NGR:172416, 150696
Eyon National School is situated in the rolling rural landscape of northeast Limerick, just east of Brittas Bridge on the southern side of the R505. The surrounding countryside is sparsely populated today. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage dates this school house to between 1800 and 1840. However, it does not appear on the First Edition OS sheet for the area. The building is indicated on the Second Edition Ordnance Survey sheet dating to the early years of the 20th century:
Although now in a poor state of preservation, this former school house retains its original form. Its modest design is enlivened by the use of varied material in its construction with the limestone walls contrasting with the brickwork of the window surrounds and chimneystacks. The use of these materials adds textural variation to the appearance of the building. As was common in the early nineteenth-century school buildings, there was separate entrance for girls and boys and these still remain visible today.
The building itself comprises a detached three-bay single-storey former school with entrance posts to east and west gable elevations. It has a pitched slate roof with red brick chimneystacks and cast-iron rainwater goods. The walls are of rubble limestone with dressed quoins. The windows are square-headed openings, now blocked, having red brick block-and-start surrounds and limestone sills. The central window of the front elevation retains it’s original internal wooden shutters:
If you or someone you know attended this national school, please do get in touch and share any stories, anecdotes, photographs, or any other memories you may have.
Disused School Houses - Home Page 
Thank you for posting these photos, my father and his mother, and aunts and uncles, went to this school. My daughters pass it twice daily on their way to their secondary school. I often wonder what ‘school’ was like in this school, all those years ago.
LikeLike
That’s lovely Liz, though sadly Eyon is in poor condition today. It’s great that you took the time to have a look at the Blog and I hope to have some over-arching text relating to National Schools, their architecture, and their place in the cognitive landscape in the near future.
LikeLike
Hi Enda,
My father went to school here and his father before him. He has lots of anecdotes from his school days. He would love to share these stories if you would like to get in touch.
Kind regards,
Eimear
LikeLike