Little evidence remains of the clachans which were within and close to the town of Ballycastle. They have been incorporated into housing estates as the town has expanded. However the children of St. Patrick’s and St. Brigid’s PS were able to study what the town was like in the Victorian period and even earlier.
The landlord:
Most people were tenants and therefore did not own the land they farmed or even the house in which they lived. The ‘landlord’ was a very important person and owned sizeable areas of land. They were instrumental in starting and controlling industries and employment.
The children had become aware of the industries which the landlord, Hugh Boyd, had brought to the town of Ballycastle:
“We learned about Hugh Boyd who made Ballycastle very rich when he was alive. He owned a glass factory, a brewery, a tannery, a soap factory, a coalmine and an hotel called The Boyd Arms.” These would have given employment to people who lived in outlying clachans.
They studied old photographs of Ballycastle and noted the changes over time.
They found that even some of the street names related directly to the Boyd family;
“Ann Street was named after his loving wife.
Clare Road and Mary Street were named after his daughters.”
They used a time-line to show what was going on in the wider world throughout the Victorian area. There were lots of inventions as it was an era of industrial growth.
They used the 1870 Street Directory to look at the occupations of the business people and found some which sound rather strange to us eg. ‘Cess Collector’, bonnetmaker, cooper. They made graphs of the numbers of each occupation. There were 21 grocers and 14 spirit-dealers but only one cooper and surgeon.
The children found that there was a lot of poverty in Ballycastle and many people ended up in the local workhouse. The children wrote about this:
“There are many children in the workhouse who have lost their parents. I cannot say this place is unhygienic as we have had our hair cropped to save us having lice and we were given fresh clean clothes. I am woken at six and given stirabout and buttermilk. My brother William is five; he has taken sick and is poorly now. He has caught cholera and is near death;, he will die and I will be alone.” ( Maeve)
Across the Curriculum
Geography
Map Reading Skills;
The project affords the opportunity to study maps from 1830 to the present day. The growth of a clachan and its changes can be followed through the maps.
In Glenann PS., using a map of the wider area, children were able to identify local landmarks and give co-ordinates and calculate distances from these to the clachan using the measurement key.
There is also an opportunity to discuss the standard OS symbols in common usage.
Value for money?
Few children realise that the coins in common usage were only introduced in 1971. There is an opportunity for children to collect and work out the comparative values of pre and post-decimalisation money and perhaps compare the prices of a few staple foodstuff over a longer period of time.
Graphs and databases have been used by schools who undertook the project.
Art and Craft
Much work has been engendered by the project and the children produced a variety of work to a very good standard.
Reading and Writing
Children accessed a quantity of different types of reading material from a wide range of sources including the internet. There were ample opportunities for children to write both factually and imaginatively for a variety of purposes.
Talking and Listening
Again the project proved a very motivating instrument to get children talking and listening to each other as well as to adults and visitors to the school. They were able to interview people and process the information they received, to debate, theorise and empathise with others.