Michael Heritage Trust staged an exhibition about education in Kirk Michael at the Ebenezer Hall.

It included recordings of residents’ memories of the school, collected by committee member Carole Lillywhite, as part of the trust’s Oral History Project.

’Michael School moved from the old school to the oldest part of the current premises in November 1894, so November will be the 125th anniversary of the move,’ she said.

’We thought that we would celebrate that event, and tell the story of other local schools as well.’

It was the 23rd exhibition arranged by the trust.

Michael parish once had day schools at Barregarrow, Bishopscourt, Tower House and Whitehouse as well as the parochial school.

Bishopscourt even had a theological college from 1889 to 1943, when the college closed. Sunday Schools had a significant influence.

The 1872 Education Act brought in a new era, with Barregarrow and Michael schools coming under a new elected school committee in the years following, with Michael Board School being opened in 1875.

It marked the retirement of Patrick Kelly, who had been headmaster of the parochial school for 54 years. The school log book tells of children living in dreadful conditions, diseases and child labour.

The old school itself was far too small, with up to 100 pupils being taught in cramped conditions, at times by one adult and a pupil teacher.

Meanwhile, Michael Heritage Trust has published a book titled ’Whitehouse - a Michael gem’ by Mike Clague and Doug Bolton. It is available in most bookshops, Michael Post Office, Dovecote Tearoom, and the Manx Museum.