Irish Palatine Students in Adare National School

Adare National School - Parish of St. Nicholas
The classrooms are housed in the former refectory of the old Augustinian Abbey, situated to the left about half a mile from the centre of Adare on the Limerick road, in the direction of Patrickswell. They are reached via a long stone stairway on the south side of the building. The school is still attended today, with classes of about the same numbers and Palatine names continue to be recorded - albeit fewer in number. Irish remains an important subject in the curriculum as a means of retaining a cohesive social and cultural identity in an increasingly Anglicized world. Apart from the rich agricultural environment and the warm, communal spirit of the people who dwell today in this prosperous region, very little remains to speak of the influence of the immigrants from the Rhineland Palatinate since the early 18th century.
The picture below shows the teaching staff and pupils of the Adare National School in about 1912. The headmaster, Mr McBratney is on the left with the rector, Canon Orpen. Mrs McBratney, who also taught at the school, is on the right of the picture. The three younger of the seven children of William Henry Barkman and Margaret Jane Barkman (née Shier) of Firgrove House are amongst the children present - Lily, Esther Florence and Billie, alongside his cousin Eric, son of Fred and Charlotte Barkman of Rose Cottage, Adare.

Photograph generously donated by Diana Mitchell, daughter of Esther Florence Wagstaffe (née Barkman), of Firgrove House, Adare.

The lists of 206 children include all the names recorded between the dates 1869-1899 of both Rhenish Palatine and Anglo-Irish families and are of particular interest to those seeking their ancestral origins in this singular community, born of a (benevolent, if ineptly handled) British colonization venture in the early 18th century. Where other vital information is sorely lacking (i.e. official census data, electoral rolls and civil registration records), these lists provide much background detail that helps to bridge the gap between christening cups and cemetery headstones. Two registers were kept - one for Boys and one for Girls. The information sought from parents was considerable; in these valuable source documents, the column headings were as follows:

a) Date of entrance
b) Registration number*
c) Pupil's names (usually surname first)
d) Age last birthday
e) Religious denomination**
f) Residence
g) Occupation or means of making a living of parents

*Registration numbers were initially allocated on a strictly sequential basis, shared amongst boys and girls; occasionally, however, the same numbers were given to both - almost surely by accident, but this practice appears to have occurred more and more frequently over time. The confusion arising from such numbers should therefore deflect us from any reliance upon them as any kind of chronological guide, where dates are not always sufficient.

**In January 1890, the designation E.C. (Church of England) suddenly changed to I.C. (Church of Ireland). The initials P.D. probably represented Protestant Dissenter and appeared to cover all 'divergent' faiths, particularly Methodism, although 'Pres.' for Presbyterian was clearly not regarded as in any way extraordinary or deviant.

Infants Admission Register (1869-1899) from the Adare National School - Parish of St. Nicholas, Co. Limerick.

This information has been compiled in 2001 by Terry Pyper. He acknowledges the help given by St. Nicholas National School, Adare.

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