Eibhlín Uí Dhonnchadha, a former principal of Meán-Scoil San Nioclás, dedicated over 32 years of her life teaching at the only Gaeltacht secondary school on the Ring peninsula in west Waterford.
She took up her teaching post there in 1960, a year after the school opened, and spent the rest of her professional life there until she retired as principal in 1992.
Recalling the early years in Meánscoil San Nioclás in an interview in Irish two years ago, she said: “We hadn’t enough of anything; we had no money; we had no building; there was no one to clean the place. I don’t know how many subjects every teacher had to teach, everything from physical education to religious education to French, but it worked out.
“I always say, even to those past pupils themselves who were there, that there is something about them – they have no fear. We did wonderful things there.”
Nottingham
She was the second eldest of five children born to Seán Mac Craith and Máire Ní Ghríofa. After primary education in Ring, she attended boarding school in Carrick-on-Suir. On finishing her secondary education, she went to Nottingham in England to teach.
She returned on a scholarship to study for a degree at UCC. After graduating in history, Irish and Latin, she taught in Coláiste na Rinne for a year and then in Ennistymon, Co Clare and Limerick city.
In 1960 she moved back home to teach in the newly established secondary school under the principalship of her brother, Nioclás Mac Craith. She married Páid Ó Donnchadha in 1966. She was nearing retirement age when she became principal of Meánscoil San Nioclás, taking the helm in 1990. Past pupils all speak of her kindness, gentleness and dedication as a teacher. Even after her retirement, she continued to take classes in the school over many years.
Recently she was awarded the Gradam Niocláis Tóibín in recognition of her great contribution to music in the Gaeltacht, both as a singer and as a teacher of music.
Sean nós
In her eighties, she would often attend a monthly night class in sean nós singing, and those in attendance would often listen in awe as she sang a long forgotten song, always adding afterwards an explanation of its genesis and meaning. She was widely regarded as an authority on such matters.
She is survived by her husband, Páid, her daughter, Eibhlís, her son-in-law, Liam Mac Gearailt, her grandchildren Meadhbh and Seán, her sister, Póilín Mhic Pártalán and her brothers, Nioclás and Séamus Mac Craith.