History in Ardscoil Phádraig is offered at both Junior and Leaving Certificate levels. Students are encouraged to immerse themselves into the study of history through various teaching and learning styles. Classwork focuses on the development of key historical skills such as source analysis, project work and analytical skills. Students who choose to do Transition Year also engage in a broad and developed history course.
Some of the topics covered in Transition Year include; Local History, Genealogy, Civil Rights, the Irish Diaspora and the influence of history on Popular Culture. Leaving Certificate History incorporates the Research Project, which students begin to develop in fifth year and finish prior to their Leaving Certificate exams.
We are fortunate here in Ardscoil Phádraig to have a wealth of local history and resources on our doorstep. Students are regularly brought to Granard library where local historians have spoken to them. We also make use of the Motte and regularly visit it.
Yearly trips to Cavan County Museum allows students an opportunity to walk trenches and study World War I memorabilia, so that they can gain an understanding of the topic in an interactive way. Granard’s Knights and Conquests is also visited, with the students delighting in discovering about Normans, Knights and archaeology. The exhibition on Michael Collins and Kitty Kiernan is always a particular student favourite.