History
The Old School
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Abbeyleix South National School was built in 1843 by Lord de Vesci to serve the Church of Ireland population in the area. The school is a co-educational school under the patronage of the Church of Ireland Bishop of Ossory and Leighlin Diocese. The town of Abbeyleix is sited on a carboniferous limestone basin, therefore the school is built with limestone. It is situated adjacent to the parish church in the southern outskirts of the town.
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As the population grew, the one classroom building of 1843 was extended in 1893. During the 1950’s the layout of the school was slightly changed again. As a building of architectural merit it makes a valuable contribution to the town which has been designated as an Architectural Heritage Centre by the E.U.
We are fortunate to have in our possession some old roll books dating back to the early 1960’s and 1970’s which document how many children were in each class on each day. Each roll book is in Irish and highlights the day to day running of a school at the time. School roll is still taken to this day.
The New School
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In 16th February 2010 we were given the go ahead by the Department of Education and Science to proceed to stage 2b Tender and Construction of the New Abbeyleix South National School. The plan includes 4 classrooms with WC in each room, a General Purpose Room, Teachers and Staff Room, Admin/General Office, Resource Room, Library, Multi-purpose Room / servery, a Universal Access W.C and Shower and P.E. store.
The school has, in the past, participated in many environment projects run by Laois County Council’s Environment Awareness Office.We have now been designated a litter free school in The tidy Primary Schools’ Competition. The pupils of the school are aware of their responsibility to care for and keep their part of the local environment litter free.
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“On September 1st 2011, we unexpectedly moved into our fabulous new school, two months ahead of schedule!”
On Monday, 30th April, 2012 Bishop Michael Burrows officially opened The New Abbeyleix South National School.
