Seanachai - Irish American News

Page 8SeanachaiIrish HistoryFor the next few months these columns will be dedicated to appreciating Dr. MacMahon’s autobiography, "The Master".We will learn something of education in Ireland from a man who has left "the track of his teeth on a parish for threegenerations".The wretched school building in Listowel started its life in 1836. It was still in use in 1909 when Bryan MacMahon wasborn, and during the years when he was a student there. He began his teaching career there in 1931.Ten years after the school opened, the famine carts went out to the local workhouse every morning to collect the dead forburial. There were few improvements over the century. A large pool of stagnant water lay in the yard.Beyond this was a four cubicle toilet, one cubicle for the teachers and three damp and enormously soiled ones for thestudents. Every afternoon the poorer boys had to shovel and flush the material. The rats in the building were brazen.Little heat came from the damp turf fires.Bryan MacMahon was born on September 29, 1909. Irish history was eventful during his boyhood. The First World Warcame in 1914, and the Easter Uprising occurred in 1916.The treaty ending the War of Independence was followed by theIrish Civil War in 1922.One day when MacMahon was about eight, a stranger knocked on the classroom door. He and the teacher chatted, andthen the teacher withdrew. The stranger's greeting to the class "Dia is Muire daoibh" (God and Mary to you all) was metwith silence. Finally Bryan piped up with "Dia is Muire duit is Padraig" (God and Mary and Patrick to you). The strangerwent on to tell of the Celts in Europe, their history, skills and culture. "Neither your teacher nor I is allowed to teach theirlanguage - and yours - in this classroom. If we do, I may again be arrested. Your teacher could be sacked. But if youwould like to come after school to the library at five o'clock, I shall have a class for boys of your age." The stranger wasTomas O' Donnchu, "the bicycle man". He was later arrested and the library was burned. Incidents and people like thisinspired MacMahon into and during his teaching life.MacMahon attended St. Patrick's Teacher Training College in Dumcondra, Dublin. He qualified as a teacher and taughtfor a term in the Dublin Liberties. He expected to continue teaching in Dublin, to go to the university, and hopedeventually to help India to its independence.Bryan's mother had other plans for him. In the first scene described in "The Master", MacMahon bursts into the study ofthe canon of the parish. He has come to recapture a ferret that he had loosed to chase rats from the presbytery. He caughtthe ferret, but found that he had interrupted a conversation between his mother and the canon. She had just persuaded thepriest to appoint Bryan to a teaching position in the school. Bryan resisted, but she finally wore him down. He started hisListowel teaching career in 1931.Frank Carroll : CProinsias@aol.comHarvest DayChairwoman Nancy Murphy would like to thank all those who made our Harvest Day Festival another terrific event!,Committee Members: Caroline Castro, Karen Finn, Loriann McCarthy, Elaine Browning, Dana Byrne, Pat Byrne, TomByrne, Jason Davis, Aidan Fallon, Becky Fallon, Ean Fallon, Erica Frisch, Eric Gilliland, Lori Lapinskas, JeffMcGowan, Molly McSweeney, Beth Motika, Christina Motika, Kelly Murphy, Mike Murphy, Sandy Murphy, MeganReal, Mike Redmond and the Clann na nGael judges and all who donated cakes and chili cook off participants!