The Old School House

At the foothills of the Maamturk mountains lies the Old School in Kilmilkin, Maam, Co. Galway.

Built in 1884, this beautifully restored home was the local primary school until 1963. In 1978, a first floor was added, and the school was turned into an upside-down house. The kitchen/dining and living room are upstairs and there are three bedrooms and two bathrooms downstairs.

Major improvements by the current owners over the last quarter century include installation of double-glazed windows; double insulation in attic and insulated walls on the first floor. A modern oil-fired burner; roof solar tubes, and a log-burning stove (with back boiler) provide ample heating and hot water. A glass lean-to at the gable of the house is a warm haven for all-year gardening and relaxing outside even on a cold but sunny day. This is a comfortable home all year round.

The views from the house are wonderful and one can revel in the surrounding mountainscape. There is a lovely stream beside one boundary, and a mature garden with year-round colour. There are fruit-bearing trees and bushes a plenty, some herbs and abundant shrubs.

The touristic village of Leenane and the village of Maam are both 5 mins by car. Please contact us for further information or to arrange a viewing.

Accommodation

Ground floor

Bedroom #1:                                      2.73m x 3.35m

Hall:                                                       1.86m x 7.25m

Bathroom (with

shower,  w.c.):                               3.35m x 1.98m

Bedroom #2:                                      4.83m x 3.2m

Bedroom #3/office:                         4.08m x 2.1m

Shower room (with w.c):               2.65m x 0.96m

Upstairs

Living room (with stove):              5.46m x 5.69m

Kitchen/dining room:      3.59m x 5.53m

Kilmilkin National School History

The Kilmilkin National School was built in 1884, with the O’Malley family donating the land to build on for a 900-year lease at 1 penny per year. The original name stone is now incorporated into the wall at the gateway. Locals remember that in the 1950s over 40 children attended the school, aged between 6 to 13 years, with just 1 teacher.

Younger children used chalks and slates and old pupils used scratchy steel nib pens and ink, with paper. Bread and jam were provided, with some children bringing their own lunch and water was taken from the stream beside. Children brought 2 sods of turf each for the fire. Often older children would miss a day at school if they were required by their family to carry out important work such as saving hay or cutting turf.

The boys and girls were separated in the yard by a wall that ran down the middle. The wall soon fell down, with a bit of help from the children, so that they could play together. There were separate toilets for the boys and girls which still exist today, converted into workshops and storage space. The building was in use as a school until 1963.

Distances from:

Maam Village 5 mins

Leenane 5 mins

Oughterard 25 mins

Clifden 45 mins

Galway 50 mins

Services

Water: Mains

Waste: Septic Tank

Power: Mains

Directions

Eir Code H91 YF2H

Coming from Galway, leave via N59 towards Clifden. At Maam Cross take a right at R345. Continue until Maam Bridge village, at T-junction (Keane’s bar). Turn left towards Leenane along R336; The Old School is about 2.5 miles on the right-hand side.

Coming from Clifden go north on N58 towards Westport. At Leenane take a right along R336

towards Maam; The Old School is about 5 miles on the left-hand side.