Newtown School was built in 1868. As there was controversy surrounding the location of where the school should be built, a compromise was reached and it was decided to build it between the two villages, namely Faugheen and Ahenny. One of Newtown’s past pupils, Leo Cody, who resides in Ahenny, recounts his days at Newtown national school.

‘I started School in September 1943. There was no water except for a barrel under the downpipe from the roof. Once a week some of the pupils were sent to the wood for timber. On Fridays two pupils had to empty the buckets from the lavatories (toilets) up on the hill. Mrs Walshe was the teacher in first, second and third class. She came from Carrickbeg on a horse and trap. Mr Thompson was in charge of 4th, 5th and 6th class. He came from Carrick on a bicycle. He grew potatoes in a plot near the wood. We all gave him a hand’.

Newtown Upper N.S. is a 4 teacher rural school with 58 pupils near the town of Carrick-On-Suir, Co. Tipperary. We have wooded land behind our school and the Ahenny High Crosses with Slievenamon practically on our doorstep. The townsland, which is situated between the villages of Faugheen and Ahenny, is called Newtown.