A Gaeltacht community in Joyce Country is offering a large house rent-free for a year to a family with children of primary school age who are willing to relocate – in a desperate effort to boost enrolment.

Scoil Naomh Pádraig in An Chloch Bhreac (Cloghbrack) outside of An Fhairce (Clonbur) needs to recruit several more pupils for the 2023/2024 academic year in order to retain its teaching staff.

The Gaelscoil currently has two teachers – a teaching principal plus one other teacher – and a learning support teacher.

But unless it has more than twelve pupils enrolled next September, it will lose one teacher for the following year, which is an existential threat.

It’s offering a five-bedroom home, rent free, to a family with children who can relocate and enrol in the school to maintain pupil numbers above twelve.

“If we lose a teacher, that’s the start of closing down eventually,” explained the national school’s principal Geraldine Feerick.

The rent-free house is located around two minutes’ drive or ten minutes’ walk from the rural school.

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