Engagement Posts

Maggie’s Birthday Bus Growing up in a rural area on the Westmeath/Meath border, I was no stranger to a school bus. The bus acted as the bookends to my day, and was the social highlight of every schooling stage from four to eighteen. The very political hierarchy of seat selection, the sharing of snacks, the … Read more

Journey to School My father, who was never quite sure of dates, always being far too busy, told me I started school in September 1952. Because of that I’ve always believed that in January 1955 – when a most important event in my life occurred – I was in first class at the Brothers, taught … Read more

Growing up in mid-Cork, we were lucky to live close to Kilmurry National School which was about a mile away. It was a four roomed school with four teachers. Two for boys and two for girls. Blackboards and chalk were the only learning tools and for the first few years I used a pen and … Read more

My first walks were to and from Crane Infant School and Crane Junior School, Norman Avenue, Hanworth, Middlesex 1957- 1963. I must have started at Crane Infant School in 1957, but I don’t remember my exact age.I have no memory of the walk to school when I was an infant. Any memories I have about … Read more

To School through the Fields Going and coming from school was so varied, interesting and often challenging that it made school itself almost fade into the background. I did not venture on that school journey until I was seven years old, as the safari across a dozen fields of hills and hollows was deemed to … Read more

My most memorable journey to school was when I was six years of age. Walking to Stanhope Street primary school I  encountered herds of cattle! It wasn’t a rural area, Stanhope Street is in Stoneybatter near Dublin’s city centre.  The reason why was because of the cattle market in Prussia Street, which was on my … Read more

I was born in a small Korean town WangQing in China 1981, all my family are Korean by blood but we were born and raised in China.  The school was located about 2 km from our home, a small house with many neighbors and none of us locked the door. It was a very safe … Read more

I never thought I would say it but I miss my school days when the only thing you had to worry about was not missing Dallas on the telly because ’Who shot JR?’ I tell my children that I was walking a full mile and a bit to school on my own from the age … Read more

I can confirm that the distance from our home to Kiltullagh NS is exactly three miles. I know this because I have travelled that road thousands of times, and as an adventurous child I couldn’t wait to make that journey by whatever means possible. My first attempt now forms part of our family’s history. It … Read more

I grew up in Limerick and am the eldest of four. When I was 7 years old, I went to Mary Queen of Ireland primary school in Caherdavin, a suburb in Limerick. Walks were only 10-15 minutes to and from school, and initially my mom walked me to school until I was old enough to … Read more

Endless rows of houses with glowing hallway lights pass us by as the sun has not yet risen over Dublin. As I look up into the black and purple sky, I can see the heavy rain clouds are swirling and the wind makes a fuss and tries to push us back the way we came. … Read more

Austin Comerton was born in Ballinasloe Co. Galway in 1953: After completing secondary school, he worked at the Bank of Ireland before going into business in his mid twenties. He emigrated to Canada in 1988 with his wife and two daughters.He worked in the Office Furniture industry for a number of years before moving to … Read more

Ag dul chun scoile ar an mbus i mBaile Átha Cliath sna 1960í Bhí mé 14 bliain d’aois nuair a d’athraigh mo mhodh taistil chun scoile ó rothar go bus. Chuir an turas bus laethúil ó Chluain Dolcáin go Baile Átha Cliath ar bhealach mo leasa agus m’aimhleasa in éineacht mé. Bhí deis agam gach … Read more

Cycling to school in Clondalkin in the 1960s, and a Garda warning I was ten when I became the proud owner of the bike of my dreams. The fact that it was secondhand didn’t matter, its gleaming red frame and mudguards made a perfect birthday present. The short slope in the back garden of our … Read more

I was born in Halifax, Yorkshire in 1956. Our house was across the road from the city graveyard, surrounded by high stone walls. On the other side of the graveyard was our primary school, Caddy Field.​I was strongly gender non-conforming from a very early age. I refused to grow my hair or wear girls’ clothes. … Read more

At eight a.m. I could hear my mother shouting my name up the stairs to the third floor where I lay in bed fast asleep. The call would be for my brothers Paddy and Seamus as well, and of course my sisters Breda and Bernie, who were on a lower floor. Everyone would move before … Read more

My journey to primary school was an interesting one that often started long before the 9am school time. Both my parents worked and so I was dropped at a neighbours house at 7am and waited there until we went to school at 9am. Although this was back in the 1980s my resounding memory is how … Read more

As a young girl in secondary school, I used to walk for 30 minutes every morning at 7am to school, and another 30 minute walk back home at 4pm. It never felt like a 30 minute walk because many other children in my neighbourhood also attended the same school. We would all wait for each … Read more

Across the Greens of a Concrete Suburb Walking to and from school as a child in the late 1980s and early 1990s was always about a succession of shortcuts. This journey began by crossing the park behind Super Valu in Deansgrange, a place of spring chestnut trees, winter frost, and autumn swallows. Then, up Kill … Read more

My earliest memory of my journey to school involved catching the bus – usually an 11 or a 16 – on Drumcondra Road to get to the Dominican Convent in Eccles Street, now long demolished and replaced with much of the Mater Hospital. In those days there was a stable yard close to the back … Read more

I got a lift to and from school everyday with my mam.On the way to school we would chat and listen to 98fm (I loved Dermot & Dave). On the way home my friend Tadhg would come with us because his house was on the way. Tadhg and I used to ramble on about whatever … Read more

Going to School in Ballaghaderreen the ‘Back Way.’ I don’t remember my first day at school but photographic evidence exists. Pat O’Connor, the local pharmacist, who was also a photographer took a picture of myself and Edward Hiney. I don’t know who owned the schoolbag but we seem to have had just one, that we … Read more

Cycling, I can do it as long as I can remember. First a small bike, with two support wheels to help me balance. I can’t remember how long it took me to learn how to cycle, but in real terms it can’t have been very long. Maybe a few weeks. Then came primary school, Bloemcampschool … Read more

Downtown Cork city is like being centre stage in a West End musical. It’s an animated warren of shops and arcades, inhabited by every class of shopkeeper, hawker and market trader you could imagine. It’s a city of characters and chancers, and a wander through the streets is an education in itself. It’s true to … Read more

My earliest memories as a child going to junior school was that we lived in the town, and my father used to drop us down in the morning. We had a Ford Escort van.   I come from a Mincéir / Irish Traveller Family, and my father was a Tinsmith who made and mended pots and … Read more

1974. I’m six and I walk to school alone, like all the other kids in the estate. P1s are allowed to be walked there by their mummies, but they’re only babies. P2s and over would die of shame. There’s a boy in P4 and he lets his mummy walk with him and hold his hand. … Read more

As I got older, I didn’t mind walking to or from school. I lived in Ennis town in County Clare and getting from place to place by foot wasn’t difficult, the only thing that could make it less enjoyable was the harsh winter weather. Once I got past the front of our house, the route … Read more

I started school, aged four, a month or so before my fifth birthday. It must have been after Easter as the blossoms were on the few trees that dotted Ayres Road Old Trafford. I walked to school from that day until the day I finished at my catholic Grammar school age 18. Each walk to … Read more

The Secondary School Years 2010-2016. The secondary school years. 6:45am, my dad knocks on the door and comes into my room as another day begins. He utters a friendly yet firm good morning greeting as I slowly regain awareness of my existence. Dad walks over to my bedside radio and turns on Today FM as … Read more

“We never knew when daddy would come to pick us up from school with the horse and sulky cart but when he did there was fierce excitement for the journey home.  I remember getting to the gates of the school and looking to spot the big blue HiAce van and trying to identify if it … Read more

Cycling to School through Droves of Cattle and Sheep As the first son of William and Maura McDonald, I grew up in Glenmore Road, a little cul-de-sac between Old Cabra Road and Blackhorse Avenue in what came to be known as Dublin 7. The house had been built in 1948, the year of my parents’ … Read more

Three o’clock and school was over. We slid out from behind our old wooden desks, the ones with the sloping desktop and the old inkwell holders, and darted out the door, making a beeline for the old shed where our bikes were stored.  It was early June and at 10 years old I was in … Read more

St Wolstan’s, Cill Droichid, Co Cill Dara, 1990s. A Herdman Tionscadal “Taisteal chun na Scoile” le Robert Burns. Tá áthas orainn ag Músaem na hÓige Éireann ár dtionscadal is nuaí a chur i láthair. Is é an feachtas nua spreagúil seo ná coincheap Robert Burns. Is innealtóir sibhialta agus stiúrthóir é Robert ar Chomhairle Contae … Read more

A “Travel to School” project by Robert Burns and the Museum of Childhood Ireland We are thrilled to introduce our newest project. This new and exciting campaign is the concept of Robert Burns. Robert is a civil engineer and director of Fingal County Council. He grew up in the Monaghan countryside in the 70s and … Read more

Childhood Around the World is a new three part series compiled by Edgar Debel as part of a recent internship. We will be posting the three parts of this series here in the coming weeks. In this instalment, Edgar speaks with his roommate from Brazil, about his experiences growing up in the city of Cascavel. … Read more

Childhood Around the World is a three part series compiled by EdgarDebel as part of a recent internship. Click here to read part one! In this instalment, Edgar speaks with his friend Sophie, from Germany. “Our second childhood story comes from a person I know really well, my best friend Sophie. Sophie, as me, comes … Read more

Childhood Around the World is a three part series compiled by Edgar Debel as part of a recent internship. Click to read parts one and two! In this final instalment, Edgar speaks with his roommate Maribelle, from the Netherlands. “My final interview I had was with Maribelle, who was born in the Netherlands in 1999, … Read more

Christmas at the Museum of Childhood Ireland It’s beginning to look a lot like…… Christmas! Only fifteen days until the big day. Christmas is a wintry holiday celebrated by many in Ireland, and it brings with it fond memories and waves of nostalgia, reminiscing about Christmases past, and indeed the year that has just gone … Read more

This week, we’ve had a fantastic story sent in by one of our followers about growing up in Donnycarney in the 1940s and 1950s. Read the full excerpt below! “We were all poor in Donnycarney so there was little competition to wear the latest fashions. It was a wonderful place to be reared, there was … Read more

Marie Farrell has sent us her stories from her schooldays in Newtown/Dunlecky NS in Carlow, and a miniature of the school that she attended which has been made by her nephew Thomas Murray Miniatures. Thank you Marie, for reaching out! “My schooldays in Newtown/ Dunleckney NS back in the late 1950s and the early 1960s … Read more

Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble… It is October, and that can mean only one thing – Halloween is right around the corner. It is a time that holds great memories for so many of us – an excuse to dress up in costume, and knock on stranger’s doors only to … Read more

This month we’ve been asking you about your memories of school and schooldays – in the spirit of September’s topic “Back to School at the Museum of Childhood Ireland.” Today we share a post sent in to us by Bernie Carroll who fondly remembers her time at National and Secondary school in the 60’s and … Read more

It’s almost time to pack up your pencil cases and return once more to school… Our entire childhoods are bookended by the years we spend in schooling. From four to sixteen, eighteen, and indeed into our twenties should we attend university, school is a hugely integral part of daily life. For some, our schooldays are … Read more

History now! The Museum of Childhood Ireland meets history head-on with our Memory Boxes, aiming to offer a glimpse into how we here in Ireland navigated the Pandemic for future generations.  We began to collect ‘Covid-19 Pandemic time’ related artefact suggestions from Irish children from March 12th 2020 onwards when our government announced the closure … Read more

The Museum of Childhood Ireland were invited to the Harold’s Cross Village Community Council’s Age Well initiative and Festival. Their neighbourhood ( in collaboration with several Residents Associations and Dublin City Council) hosted an Age Well programme of activities for people who are older, who may have been particularly impacted by COVID, but also who … Read more

Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales. Dear grandparents, parents, children, Aunties, Uncles, neighbours, everyone! Our MoCI colleague Ruthanne Baxter (Edinburgh University Museum) has developed this wonderful intergenerational initiative for you. We hope you’ll find it an interesting resource to help you stay connected both during the pandemic and afterwards. It’s a really great, simple, fun, community project … Read more

You are invited around to our’s for tea, cake and tales around the fireside, about play and growing up in Dublin City and suburbs. The games played, rhymes rhymed, bobbin tanks and ‘gats’ made, ‘pinkeens’ fished for, orchards robbed, the ‘scutting’, the going for ‘messages’ for mammy, and battles to be first in line for … Read more