Our History

A national system of education in Ireland was first established in 1831. It was primarily a political response to the difficulties the British empire had in controlling its closest colony and was envisaged as a means to socialize the Irish populace and strengthen Ireland’s links with the Empire.

The first known school in the area was the Manor school in Granstown. It was opened in 1864 by its benefactor Lord Castletown and was initially established to provide education for the children of employees on his estate. It was open to all religious persuasions and was originally a two-teacher school but at some stages increased to three but by 1940 only one, Mr. Hunt, remained and the school finally closed upon his retirement in 1946. Mr. Hunt had cultivated a friendly and welcoming atmosphere with many novel and innovative methods, indeed in the 1920s he gained recognition for teaching rural science and had a much cared for school garden.

The first school in Ballacolla village opened in 1879 in the present St Patrick’s hall. There were two teachers and upwards of 80 pupils. It consisted of two rooms divided by a partition and heated with an open fire. As in the Manor school, education was carried out very successfully here for many years but in the late 1950’s as numbers continued to rise and the conditions became more outdated and cramped a decision was made to build a new and more modern school for the village.

In 1960 on a new site which was a parish field known locally as the Hawthorn, the new school opened. It was named St Pius X in deference to the recently canonized pope of the early part of the century. There were 87 pupils and three teachers and the first principal was a Tipperary man, Paddy Maher, and it remains the centre of education in the village to the present day.

The design and layout of the school followed a familiar pattern and can be attributed to the architect  Basil Boyd-Barret who was the chief schools' architect with the OPW throughout the 1940s and 50s and whose influence on school design in rural Ireland can still be seen to this day. Whilst no two schools had the same plan, they were all built in accordance with a specified type. Some of these features included a water tower to provide running water and proper toilet facilities and two covered open shelters at either end of the site. (The water tower operated successfully until 1968 when Ballacolla group water scheme was established.)

Once again, the pupils thrived and prospered in the new surroundings with a more spacious and safer site for play and numbers continued to grow. The school, along with the fellow parish school in Clough, was to provide the back bone of the local and very successful GAA club, Clough-Ballacolla.

By the early 1990s, after over thirty years of wear and with numbers once again almost reaching 100, it became apparent that a larger and more modern facility was needed and so under the guidance of the then principal Jimmy Kells and the parish priest Canon James Carrigan a concerted and determined approach was made to the Dept of Education to seek the go ahead for a major upgrade. After many trips to the Dept Headquarters and after much persuasion, permission was finally approved for a new extension. This was to involve the demolition of the old water tower and the two outside shelters to facilitate the addition of two extra classrooms, one at either end, and the conversion of an existing classroom to a staff room. The further upgrade of all desks, chairs, flooring and an upgraded heating system have created a wonderfully safe, comfortable and modern facility on par with any throughout the entire country.

From the beginning St Pius X has been under the patronage of the Diocese of Ossory with the patron being the current Bishop of Ossory and since 1975 has been overseen by a Board of Management under the chair of the sitting parish priest. Since 2019, for the first time in the school's history, a lay person now chairs the Board. Under the guidance of current Principal Pádraig Kiely the school continues to uphold the long-standing tradition of an innovative and holistic approach to learning and whilst numbers have ebbed and flowed through the years the core values remain.