School History

Ballymurray is situated in a rural area three miles south of Roscommon town. It was built in 1886 on a site where a church once stood. It replaced two other buildings then run by the National Board of Education. There were two entrances to the school then, one for girls and one for boys. There was a communicating door between the two rooms but this was only used by the teachers. There was a small playground at the back of the school and this was used by the girls. The boys went across the road to play football.

The first headmaster was Walter Watson and his assistant was Mrs. Kenny. There was no running water or electric light until 1956. Prior to that, a bucket of water was got from Mr. John Fayne’s tank across the road.

A major reconstruction job was carried out in 1956. All windows and doors were replaced and the entrance was changed from the south wall to the north wall. A separate shed for turf and two play sheds for bad weather use were built.

Further renovations were carried out in 1987. A prefab was built to cater for an increase in the number of pupils. Toilets and classrooms were modernised and a staff room was built. Central heating was also installed. A second prefab was erected in 2007. A major extension was completed and opened in 2012. This consisted of two new classrooms and a cloakroom.

The school underwent another major expansion in 2015. All prefabs were removed and in their place, two brand new, state of the art classrooms were constructed along with a store room and accessible toilet. The school now compromises of four modern classrooms, two SET rooms, staff room, principal's office and a number of storage rooms.