Martha Randall and Acton Schoolhouse

The discovery, in a second-hand book auction in Sydney, Australia, of a Bible with the inscription 'Martha Randall, Acton National School, 1853', has led to efforts to gather some details about Acton National School and to attempt to discover who this 'Martha Randall' was.

The first Acton School was in the building that later served, until 1988, as Acton Orange Hall. It is currently used for Gospel meetings. 'The Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education' of 1826 states that the schoolhouse was originally built by 'the manor of Acton' and rated the building as 'good' and valued at between £60 and £100. The teacher in 1826 was David McConnel, a Catholic, and there were 30 children, 18 boys and 12 girls, on roll. Their religious denominations were, 12 Church of Ireland, 7 Presbyterians and 11 Catholics. The school was run in association with The Kildare Place Society.

According to the 'Ordnance Survey Memoirs' compiled by Lieutenant Bennett in 1835, the school had been established in 1819. In 1835 there were 69 pupils on roll, of whom 35 were Protestants and 34 were Catholics. There were 35 males and 34 females attending. Colonel Close was said to support the school to the sum of £5 per annum 'and the scholars pay also'.

When, exactly, Acton School achieved 'National school' status is not known. Acton resident Terry Murray remembers the date '1843' inscribed over the door of the new schoolhouse. As the new schoolhouse dates from 1869 it seems likely that the date '1843' may have referred to the year that Acton School became Acton 'National' School.

'The Report of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland' in 1853 gives some details of Acton National School. For the half-year ending March 31st 1853 the number of children on roll was 74 and the average daily attendance was 45. For the next half-year, to September 30th enrolment had risen to 96 and average attendance to 50. In the era before compulsory education this wide discrepancy between enrolment and attendance was the norm, as in many cases children only attended school when there was nothing better to do, particularly on days when there was a lull in farm work. There was one teacher, a female, employed in the school and she received the sum of £17-10-0 from the National Schools Board. The school had received 13s-5d worth of 'requisites at reduced price' in the 1852-53 school year and there were local subscriptions amounting to £15-0-0. In the Commissioners' 1855 'Report' the details are largely similar as regards enrolment and attendance. There was still one female teacher as before (although not necessarily the same person) with the added information that the teacher belonged to the Established Church and that she was provided with free residence.

In the second half of the century there was a drastic fall in population in the area. This fall in population can be illustrated by figures for three townlands adjacent to Acton village and from which Acton National School probably drew many of its pupils. These are the townlands of Ballynagreagh, Ballyreagh and Glassdrummond. In 1841 the populations of these three townlands were 78, 230 and 29 respectively, the total population of the three townlands being 337 persons living in 65 households. By 1911 the population figures for the same townlands were 15, 72 and 11 respectively, a total population of just 98, a mere 29% of the 1841 figure. There were 27 households in the three townlands in 1911.
As the number of schoolchildren fell proportionately this led to the school's closure before the end of the nineteenth century. Former pupils at the school now walked the mile to Poyntzpass or to Ballyargan National School roughly the same distance away. Having lain empty for some years the schoolhouse became firstly a carpenter's workshop and then a dwelling. It is now the home of the Liggett family. 

But who was 'Martha Randall'? So far it has not been possible to trace her. The name 'Randall' was extremely rare in Ireland in the 19th century. A Randall family in Dromore, Co Down is recorded in the tithe records for 1835 but no mention of 'Martha'. In 1864 the only Randall family in the province of Ulster listed in the Griffith's valuation lived in Co. Antrim. The oldest residents of Acton cannot recall ever having heard of anyone of the name 'Randall' in the area and, unfortunately, records of Acton National School do not appear to have survived.

The best guess seems to be that Martha Randall may well have been the female teacher referred to in 1853 - rather than a pupil attending the school. As a teacher she would probably not have been from the locality and thus her surname would not occur locally. The Bible may have been part of the 'requisites' of the school or more likely her own private property, or she may even have received the Bible as a parting memento. While it is also possible, that she married in the locality and thus her surname would not have been remembered, the discovery of her Bible in Sydney strongly suggests that she, or some of her immediate descendants, must have emigrated to Australia.

John Quinn 'The Acton Poet', some of whose works are still well known locally, was a pupil at the school around the period of interest. It is a local tradition that 'a lady teacher in Acton school took an interest in him' and encouraged him to write. Some manuscripts of his poems have survived. One long poem entitled 'The Rustick's Trip To The Dublin Exhibition in October 1853' is actually written in a National School Copy Book certainly from Acton National School. Another which bears the title 'The Poetical works of John Quin...First edition' Both are written in a flowing mature hand and have obviously been written out for him, perhaps by the teacher. Could she have been Martha Randall?
John Quin's best known poem begins with the lines,
'Acton Street beneath my feet
Where the grass does proudly grow!
Sure my heart and will are in Acton still.
No matter where I go.' 

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