MAEVE FINEGAN (née TUOMEY), NOBBER, BORN 1934

Maeve Tuomey was born in Roscommon, where her father, Denis Tuomey, was stationed as a member of the Garda Siochána. He was originally from Abbeydorney, Co. Kerry, where he served in the RIC in his earlier days. Maeve had always had a desire to become a teacher and, following her schooling, she began her study at Carysfort Training College in Dublin. She was then appointed to Clonmellon, outside Kells in 1955. She taught there for two years and then taught in a rural school near Nobber for almost forty years. She speaks about teaching methods, discipline, the curriculum, the staff and the changes in teaching during her long career. She remarks on the enormous changes in the classroom environment where many children can now be less attentive and less eager than previous generations to learn and study. Maeve married John Finegan, a post-primary teacher, and together they raised seven children.