Last weekend was an historic one for the staff and students of Scoil Ide in Salthill when hundreds of past pupils re-united to celebrate the publication of a history of the school. The occasion marked the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of this institution and it was good to see so many familiar faces back in town for the celebrations.
Scoil Ide was started on May 1st, 1952 by the Sisters of Jesus and Mary in what used to be Dalysfort Hotel, belonging to John and Angela Allen. It was an unusual sight to see so many four and five year olds going into the hotel instead of tourists. Numbers gradually increased and so the sisters had to furnish two classrooms upstairs, but eventually the building became too small, so they knocked the hotel and built a new school on the site. Classes were held in the Hangar Ballroom during this period. In that year they started a 'Secondary Top' which meant that the sixth class pupils would be able to continue their education in Scoil Ide, doing all the subjects that they would in first year of secondary school. These would be the nucleus of Salerno which was about to open.
Since its foundation, Scoil Ide has made an enormous contribution to Galway life, producing many thousands of graduates. Most of these are captured in print and in photographs in this history of the school which was edited by Bernie Finan. It is a very lively production with many articles, poems, a list of all the pupils who ever attend the school, and above all - photographs! It is an impressive celebration of 50 years, and an ideal gift for anyone who ever went to the school.
So this week we have two photographs for you -
first a group taken at the Liturgical Festival in May 1957. 
Front Row: Jim Horan, Conor Morris, David Colgan, Niall Howard
Second Row: Roisin Gallagher, Anne Conneely, Margaret Fagan, Mary Walsh, Mary F. Conneely, Ann Roche, Eleanor Quinlan, Nuala McLoughlin, Sally Lardner, Geraldine O'Beirne, Yvonne O'Connor, Sheila McCarthy, Mary Lee, Teresa McLoughlin
Back Row: Cekia Burke Claffey (teacher), Aileen Boland, Elenor Craughwell, Aoife Morris, Connie Fannon, Mary Carroll, Mary Mannion, Anne McDonagh, Carmel Fegan, Bernie Dunne
Our second photograph is of a class who enrolled in 1955-59
Class: Deirdre Conneely, Deirdre Browne, Mary Cummane, Máire Ní Cúsisn, Mary Connolly, Mary Lu Moroney, Elizabeth Clarke, Hilary Kelly, Geraldine Mahon, Pauline Carroll, Patricia Field Corbett, Patricia Craughwell,
Carol Kelleher
Teacher: Mother Stanislaus.
