The School Collection
Our National School Records Collection from County Mayo and County Sligo in Ireland include roll books, registers, exam results and supplementary rolls dated from 1852 to 1928. The records up to 1924 are in English, while those created afterwards may be in the Irish language. In respect to privacy and data protection, school records beyond 1928 have not been included.
Explore these unique records today
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Atlantic Ireland Gold Members
Understanding our family history and Irish heritage is about more than names on a page—it is steeped in the vibrant and rich stories of our ancestors. Our Atlantic Ireland membership offers those researching their authentic history, expert advice and professional research, with legal services and visitor resources for those looking to journey to Ireland or even relocate here and connect with their Irish community.
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Atlantic Ireland School Members
As part of the National School Records Collection project in partnership with Ancestry, participating schools are offered complimentary access to Ancestry Institution, giving free access to over 60 billion historical records worldwide — including the registers and roll books from your own school. This free access is our way of thanking schools for their help in preserving and sharing the history of Irish education.
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Ancestry.com Members
This collection comes from a collaboration between Ancestry and Dr. Liam Alex Heffron. The original school records are held in the respective schools across Mayo and Sligo, private or public collections. When combined with Ancestry's existing collection of school registers sourced from The National Archives of Ireland, Ancestry is able to offer the largest online collection of historical Irish School Registers.
schoolrecords.ie
National School Records Collection
Using this collection
This collection offers a wealth of information for students in Mayo and Sligo, including the following:
Name
Age
Date of birth
Names of parents (including mother’s maiden name)
Occupation of parent
Place and date of residence
Religion
Entry date into school
Name of school
Parish
County
Disasters like the 1922 Four Courts Fire in Dublin destroyed many Irish records of genealogical value, making this collection invaluable if you have Irish ancestors who attended school in Mayo or Sligo. Some information about school staff is also included, such as their occupation and address.
The school registers within this collection contain the most genealogical value about a pupil but this collection also includes roll books noting daily attendance and exam rolls that marked if a child passed various topics, such as reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, agriculture, and needlework. Keep in mind that the starting class in the Irish school system is called “infants” (for ages 4-6), followed by classes 1-6 (called First Class, Second Class, etc.). Although school was free, you may not find your ancestor attending class if they were needed for work at home or on the farm, as was the case for many Irish families.
Collection in context
This collection arises from a collaboration between Ancestry, Dr. Liam Alex Heffron and participating primary schools with Mayo County Library. The original school records are held in the respective schools across Mayo and Sligo or in public and private collections. When combined with Ancestry's existing collection of school registers sourced from The National Archives of Ireland, they offer the largest online collection of historical Irish School Registers.
The Commissioners for National Education was first established in 1831 to administer funds for educating the poor in Ireland. By 1845 the Commissioners were empowered to build new schools, pay and train teachers, and provide educational equipment. School records were created not only to document children’s attendance but to also provide statistics for grant applications to the commissioners. The duties of the commissioners were taken over by the Minister of Education in 1922, whose position oversees the school systems in Ireland today.
The Irish Education Act of 1892 attempted to make school attendance compulsory, but included caveats which allowed a child to stay home. These included the necessity for the child to undertake domestic duties and the gathering of crops, resulting in the Education Act being more effective for increasing attendance in schools in urban areas such as Dublin, than rural areas such as Mayo and Sligo.
