The Great 1930s Scheme
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is the bottom pictures you have taken not just a convent?? I was always under the impression that it was, St. Colombus house or something like that… The third school on armagh road is in off behind the redbrick school It can barely be seen from the road. Ive been at many a feis in that school! There’s a 4th school then around the corner on captains road. I was nearly sure that building was a convent, but I could be wrong. ill check it out.
Scoil Colm which you also have pictures of is a lovely building, but Ive often looked at those columns and I still reckon there’s something missing from the tops of them, they’re just not finished or something…. look at them.
Anyway Scoil Colm is the Christian Brothers boys school, and on the opposite side of the road are the girls schools. Ive heard many many stories about those schools, but one in particular comes to mind when you mention the windows of the building.. It was that of a young boy in communion class, who was being taught the ‘old fashioned way’, this unfortunately proved too much for him and he jumped out the top floor window and broke both of his legs.
One of the schools (not sure which) wasn’t built until the mid to late 40’s, due to building supplies shortages during the war. The village end of Armagh road from the schools up to the church was orinally planned just like the rest of crumlin, but in 1939 when the war broke out, Watchorn & Company (one of the main building companies in crumlin, and a very old family from the village) had to stop work due to the shortages. It was only after the war that building resumed with houses of a more modern style on that road.
Another interesting point about Crumlin is that it also had 2 other schools in its day. There was the National school on St. Agnes Road, which was where the ‘country children’ from Crumlin, in the days before the 1930’s scheme all went to school. Much later on Greenhills college was based in the old school in Crumlin for a couple of months until the building of what is now greenhills college was finished. This was only ever a temporary thing though.
Gawd I could waffle for hours about Crumlin……but I wont! Hope the above is of some interest to somebody, and please do correct me on any points, as all the above is learned from word of mouth, Im still only 17 and remember not a lot about the area personally!
No Dave you’re probably right about the convent – I’ve always just assumed it was a school, but it’d make sense for it to be a convent, not least beacuse it looks like one, but also as there’d hardly be three primary schools clustered right beside each other. It seems the one behind on Captain’s Road is the post-war school – it has a later air to it. Yes I too have heard stories of what went on the the CBS on Armagh Road – apparently you could hear the roaring of brothers from passing outside on the street :eek:. Its columns are not unfinished though – they’re just modernist in style.
Where was the school on St. Agnes Park do you know? On the site of the row of shops perhaps? This road has always fascinated me, because as you say you can see very clearly the interrruption of the War in terms of the style of house built. The transition from an essentially Edwardian design to much more modern house styles is clearly evident.
That Scoil Colm is quite impressive. Would possibly deserve to be a Protected Structure. The facade anyway.
It’s a good piece alright. The red brick girls school across the road is also an attractive collection of buildings – needless to say the girls, as usual, got the dressed, sensitive treatment, with a bombastic monolith reserved for boys…
Looking down from the schools is the delightful St. Agnes Park, the main avenue leading down to the village and church (bizarrely built off-axis). Essentially it links the Crumlin Scheme to the existing old village.
No doubt its trademark c.1950 concrete lampposts will get the chop before long 🙁
The original National school in Crumlin was on St. Agnes’ Road, not St. Agnes’ Park. Up until the corporation schemes, St. Agnes Park was virtually non-existant. For a small stretch it ran out of the village opposite where the church is now, and turned a sharp right and down towards the modern stannaway. This was the Captains Lane. This is pretty much what St. Agnes’ Park follows today up until it reaches armagh road.
Another thing to remember is that Captains Lane was there long before the church. St. Agnes’ church as we know it today was not built until 1935, which is why it probably explains why the road leading up to it is not directly opposite. The road was there before the church. However I have seen pictures looking towards the church before it opened while it was all being built, and it would indicate that the church is directly in front of the road.
The Original St. Agnes’ Chapel was down towards the Ashleaf end of the village, right beside the old National School which I referred to earlier. The national school still stands today and I think its used by fás. As far as Im aware though the chapel is gone. Ill go on another photo taking expidition later on today for you all.
Looking down from the schools is the delightful St. Agnes Park, the main avenue leading down to the village and church (bizarrely built off-axis). Essentially it links the Crumlin Scheme to the existing old village.
Just a very minor note on the above; The old village was not down the end where the church is today, It was at the other end, up where we turn out as if to head to the hospital today. On that corner (there was only a right turn, no left) was, and still is today, the old protestant church, St. Marys. Right beside that is another old school, naturally known as ‘the protestant school’, while ‘the catholic school’ was at the other end of the village as Ive just mentioned.
Opposite St. Marys church used to lie the old police barricks, but that was demoloshed to make way for the turn onto what is today ‘Bunting Road’.
It’s all very hard to imagine, but ill try and throw together a small drawing to show what i mean with the various locations of buildings, and how much the 1930’s scheme changed a lot of things around Crumlin with regard to schools, churches and convents. (there’s a lot more than you think – 6 schools, 3 churches and 2 convents!!)
Indeed! Thanks for the clarifications and info. Of course now I remember the National School on St. Agnes Road – it’s an imposing stock brick affair with red brick dressings, dated 1916 or 1918, can’t remember which.
Apologies for mixing up Road and Park – spend my life getting corrected on it :o. So do you mean that the church was actually built to align with the former Captain’s Lane, and not in fact St. Agnes Park which didn’t even exist at the time? As far as I know, its early red brick houses are post-war, c.1947-50, which would tie in with your thesis.Yes isn’t the old village of Crumlin just wonderful. It’s amazing the country character it still has. The part closest to the church is as you say the ‘modern’ village, essentially purpose-built roundabout 1950. Sounds like the residents of the Crumlin Scheme had to suffer with no facilities, just like today, for over a decade.
Lovely crisp, simple lines.
While the old village merges directly into it.
As for St. Mary’s Church, as far as I know it’s protected and is probably the finest – and most bizarre – building in the area 🙂
It’s textbook ‘English’ 1930s isn’t it – you could tell it was a Protestant church a mile off.
What a gem. Unfortunately some ugly boundary wall issues have emerged since these pictures were taken two years ago – they don’t look promising.
The old, seemingly 18th century, St. Marys? next door is equally fascinating.
And very sinister…
😮
It’s wonderful that this layered, more organic built history survives beneath the processed development – now in itself of historical note – of the 1930’s Scheme.
Ah it’s a while since I’ve been on here! A search on Richmond Barricks (part of my research into how the council houses came about in Inchicore in 1929) showed up the fantastic thread on Collins Barricks just below.
Just a couple of interesting points on the above..
The ‘new’ st mary’s church just above was the last building to be built from ‘Dolphin Brick’ which came out of the quarry at Dolphins Barn. Thus it was one of the few building projects which ran on through the war in Crumlin (the war put a stop to the 1930’s scheme as mentioned above). I dont know a whole lot about Dolphin brick but I know that its hard to come by now and it can fetch nice proces when buildings are dismantled that contain it.
The old St Mary’s church is also very interesting… there was a fás programme a few years ago which did some restoration work on the building. Not sure what exactly went on, but that front door was put in, and up on top of the steeple you can see the modern section was constructed…. i still can’t see why this was put up other than as a training excerise.
Maybe somebody else from the area might know??
As for the quarries around Crumlin, there were lots of them! In more recent years there were lots of problems constructing the Manortown community centre (just east of the Crumlin Cross). It took something like 3 or 4 go’s to get a solid enough foundation on what we know as the 8 acres park (dont know the real name). This was due to the fact that all that land is just filled in quarries, and is very vrey soft ground, and very liable to flooding. St. Damians school had similar problems much earlier.
Just an update on the amazing work on The Bru at the bottom of the village. I don’t pass it too often I cut through captains road etc, but I was amazed when i did the other day! It’s looking well!
Not exactly the 1930’s scheme, but the scheme had HUGE effects on this building as a school in the 1930’s.
Crumlin Hall on Cashel Road got a facejob recently (hideous in my opinion). What it was before is in another post above.
Hi folks,
I’m trying to get my hands on something very specific, and I’m not sure if this is the right place but I’ll chance it!
I’m looking for a cast iron fireplace surround to match those of the front room of the 1929 batch of council houses (Marino & Inchicore). They were slightly wider than the bedroom fireplace surrounds, and the the back room had a bigger surround and arch with a range. So I’m being quite specific!
They’re a cast iron fireplace surround with the 3 flowers across the top under the mantle.
Anyone who can point me in the right direction please pm me asap.
Regards,
DJA
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