Kathleen retires after 44 years in Scoil Mhuire
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A WOMAN whose passion for education began when she was a primary school pupil in Clondalkin is now preparing to retire from teaching in the very same school that she attended as a child, after spending her entire 44-year-long teaching career in Scoil Mhuire.
Kathleen Currivan (65) grew up the in Fox and Geese area of Clondalkin and began attending Scoil Mhuire when she was four-years-old and later went on to secondary education in Colaiste Bride, before earning a teaching degree, and started teaching in Scoil Mhuire in 1974.
Kathleen as a pupil in Scoil Mhuire (left) and Kathleen today (right)
Ms Currivan told The Echo: “Teaching was something that I always wanted to do, I was very interested in most subjects in school, especially history and Irish.
“When I got the job in Scoil Mhuire I was thrilled, I was over the moon.”
When Ms Currivan began teaching there were no mobile phones or whiteboards, and there was also no internet, and a number of housing estates in Clondalkin, such as Neilstown and Bawnogue, hadn’t yet been built.
Ms Currivan explained: “There has been colossal change in Clondalkin. When I started teaching there was no Neilstown, no Johnstown and no Cherrywood.
Very fulfilling
“And the class sizes are much smaller now, the reduction in class sizes is just marvellous.”
The mother-of-one said the most fulfilling aspect of her job was “seeing someone who was struggling then going on to succeed. All in all, teaching is very fulfilling”.
Ms Currivan’s last day as a teacher was on Friday, June 29, and she is looking forward to her retirement, where she hopes to go swimming more often and do some gardening, while she is also considering walking the Camino de Santiago.
