Two Meath Schools participate in Decade of Centenaries Project

The award-winning children’s writer, Brian Gallagher, is working with two Meath primary schools to increase pupils understanding of the revolutionary period.

The project is an initiative of the Meath County Council Decade of Centenaries programme and is managed by the county library service.

Brian Gallagher is also one of the featured writers in a new publication produced by Meath County Council Library service ‘Class Novels: A Guide for Primary School Teachers’. The 68-page guide highlights the best of juvenile fiction, including many titles which deal with the period 1912-1923.

A full-time writer whose plays and short stories have been produced in Ireland, Britain and Canada, Brian has worked extensively in radio and television, writing many dramas and documentaries.

He is working with Boyerstown NS, Navan and St Patrick’s NS, Slane over a two-month period, to help the children explore the history of the revolutionary period in their local areas.

Boyerstown NS has been selected as it is located close to the scene of the ‘Battle of Curraghtown’, the major event in Meath during the Civil War.

Launching the new publication, Cllr Sean Drew, Cathaoirleach of Meath County Council said “We’re delighted to be able to offer this new resource to teachers to support them in their very important work in the classroom”.

Jackie Maguire, Chief Executive, Meath County Council welcoming the new residency added “It is wonderful to see young people engaging with history through fiction. Children can escape, be nourished and develop an understanding of other people’s lives as well as their own”.

The printed guide has been distributed to all primary schools across the county and is also available on www.meath.ie.