Pupils at Mullanaskea Primary School pictured around 1954/55.

Bridie McCaffrey (nee O’Connor) who is in the picture (third row, seated, ninth from left) kindly forwarded the photo to our Looking Back column. Four members of the O’Connor family are in the picture.

25 YEARS AGO - May 10, 1990: Sandra Celebrates at Royal Occasion - Sandra Kee, a member of Fermanagh Pony Club, is having an extra special birthday today, May 10. Sandra, who is 14 today, begins competing with the Northern Ireland Pony Club Games Team at the Royal Windsor Horse Show at Windsor. Trained by Miss Clodagh Heap, as a member of the Fermanagh Pony Club Team, Sandra was selected for the Northern Ireland team following in the footsteps of Joanna Williams, who became the first team member selected for the team last year. Sandra’s mother, Avril, is secretary of Fermanagh Pony Club. The Northern Ireland team competes over three days against teams from England, Scotland, Wales, the Republic and America, with the highlight of their trip being the competition in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen on Saturday evening. The trip will prove an exciting if not testing time for Sandra and her 13.2 bay mare, Keeora.

Classic fishing festival spreads its net wider than ever! - A record entry of around 400 anglers is expected in next week’s P.and O. European Classic Fishing Festival in Fermanagh. With £15,000 in cash prizes the event is Europe’s richest competition. It is also most effective in promoting coarse angling holidays in the county and provides an early season boost to the local tourist industry, particularly the hotels and guesthouses. Never before in the 12 years the Festival has taken place in Fermanagh have so many match fishermen submitted entries. The final figure will not be known until Monday, but it is believed to be close to 400. Among them are 30 from the local Erne Anglers’ Club.

Friends attend unveiling of fitting memorial to Jim Nawn - A large number of people gathered at Enniskillen Library on Friday evening for the unveiling of a portrait in bronze of Mr. Frederick James Nawn who had made such an important contribution to the library service during his lifetime. He joined Fermanagh Library Service in 1939, became Divisional Librarian for Fermanagh in 1973 and retired ten years later.

Secretaries’ Day - MAP - Once again it is time for the annual secretaries’ day out when bosses treat their hard-working senior office person to a meal and entertainment - all in a worthy cause, of course. The Enniskillen “Forty-One” club, which organises the event, has chosen the charity to benefit this year, the Fermanagh Support Group of the Northern Ireland Hospice.

50 YEARS AGO - May 6, 1965: The New Princess - MAP - It’s my opinion after a chat with our new Fermanagh Dairy Princess, 21-years-old Philomena O’Reilly that the county should stand a very good chance of having the new Ulster Dairy Queen residing within its boundaries. With a twinkle in her blue eyes and a light-hearted laugh, Philomena said “I haven’t a chance.” The daughter of an illustrious father, P.T. O’Reilly, of Kinawley, who has earned a name as a journalist by his lively writings in the Farmers’ Union Journal, Philomena is a civil servant, working in the Ministry of Agriculture Offices in Enniskillen. Although she goes to dances once a week, she still finds time to make most of her own clothes, and likes cooking special dishes. An “old girl” of Enniskillen Technical College, her first big outing as Dairy Princess will be to Balmoral Show later in the month.

Four Brigades Fight Big Clones Fire - With her hair and eyebrows singed, Miss Marion Hall, a Clones shop assistant, escaped from a furniture and hardware shop in Fermanagh Street on Saturday morning, minutes before it became a blazing inferno, and one of the worst fires in Clones for many years. Several thousand pounds worth of wardrobes, beds, dining-room suites and general hardware, together with a consignment of new carpets delivered earlier in the week, were destroyed and the three-storey building was completely gutted. Firemen from four Brigades - including Lisnaskea’s Brigade, which made a quick dash across the Border - fought the fire for several hours and prevented it spreading to adjoining shops.

Personal - Viscount Brookeborough has accepted an invitation to open Ballinamallard’s new County Primary School on 1st June.

Balmoral Show - The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society will hold its 98th annual event - The Balmoral Show - in its permanent Show Grounds at Balmoral, Belfast, from Wednesday, 26th, to Saturday, 29th May, inclusive.

Marble Arch Explored - Eight pupils and two teachers of Lisnaskea Secondary School spent part of their Easter holidays climbing and exploring the Marble Arch area of County Fermanagh. The expedition, which lasted five days, was organised by Mr. Edwin Mowat, Rural Science teacher at the school, and he was accompanied by Mr. C. Crawford, the Physical Education teacher. The boys had experience not only in cooking and camping, but in living on a restricted diet of tinned and dried food.

75 YEARS AGO - May 9, 1940: Presentation to Ballinamallard Teacher - A pleasant little function took place at a meeting of the Enniskillen branch of the National Teachers’ Union recently, when Miss I.O. Campbell, Grove P.E.S., Ballinamallard, was made the recipient of a presentation from her work as hon. secretary and treasurer for the past eight years. The chairman, Mr. Curry, Magheraveely P.E.S. and several members having paid tribute to the efficiency of Miss Campbell’s work for the Enniskillen branch, Miss R. Brown, Model School, after a neat little speech, handed Miss Campbell a wallet of treasury notes. Miss Campbell suitably replied and thanked the members.

Enniskillen Lads’ Adventure - Albert, aged 17, and Eric (14), the sons of Mr. and Mrs. A. Elliott, Darling-street, Enniskillen, had an exciting adventure last week. They are often to be seen on Lough Erne in a canoe built by themselves, and when testing a sail on their frail craft near Devenish Island the canoe capsized, and they were flung into the water in mid stream opposite the landing stage. Both the lads, however, are strong swimmers, and were able to reach land and bring their craft with them, being none the worse for their ducking.

Personal - The Rev. Lancelot MacManaway is on a short holiday home with his father, the Dean of Clogher, at the Deanery, Enniskillen. Mr. MacManaway is a chaplain in the Royal Navy, on board H.M.S. ‘Renown,’ the great battleship which was recently struck by two bombs from a German aeroplane, on the North Sea.

Postmistress - Brookeborough Postmistress - Miss B. Dalton, who has been assistant in Brookeborough Post Office for a number of years, has been appointed postmistress in succession to Miss E. West, who has retired.

Carol Little - Carol Little, age 12, of Clabby, Fivemiletown, has obtained first honours, with 94 per cent. in the recent examination of Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin, in violin playing Grade V. She took full marks in sight reading, ear tests and theory.

The Poor Tractor! - Things in General - Farmers who have recently got motor tractors for ploughing cannot get out of the habit of talking to the motors as if they were horses. I have been told of a farmer in the Fivemiletown district who kicks his motor tractor when it won’t go, and has kicked the toes out of two pairs of boots in a week!

Pupils at Mullanaskea Primary School pictured around 1954/55.

Bridie McCaffrey (nee O’Connor) who is in the picture (third row, seated, ninth from left) kindly forwarded the photo to our Looking Back column. Four members of the O’Connor family are in the picture.

25 YEARS AGO - May 10, 1990: Sandra Celebrates at Royal Occasion - Sandra Kee, a member of Fermanagh Pony Club, is having an extra special birthday today, May 10. Sandra, who is 14 today, begins competing with the Northern Ireland Pony Club Games Team at the Royal Windsor Horse Show at Windsor. Trained by Miss Clodagh Heap, as a member of the Fermanagh Pony Club Team, Sandra was selected for the Northern Ireland team following in the footsteps of Joanna Williams, who became the first team member selected for the team last year. Sandra’s mother, Avril, is secretary of Fermanagh Pony Club. The Northern Ireland team competes over three days against teams from England, Scotland, Wales, the Republic and America, with the highlight of their trip being the competition in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen on Saturday evening. The trip will prove an exciting if not testing time for Sandra and her 13.2 bay mare, Keeora.

Classic fishing festival spreads its net wider than ever! - A record entry of around 400 anglers is expected in next week’s P.and O. European Classic Fishing Festival in Fermanagh. With £15,000 in cash prizes the event is Europe’s richest competition. It is also most effective in promoting coarse angling holidays in the county and provides an early season boost to the local tourist industry, particularly the hotels and guesthouses. Never before in the 12 years the Festival has taken place in Fermanagh have so many match fishermen submitted entries. The final figure will not be known until Monday, but it is believed to be close to 400. Among them are 30 from the local Erne Anglers’ Club.

Friends attend unveiling of fitting memorial to Jim Nawn - A large number of people gathered at Enniskillen Library on Friday evening for the unveiling of a portrait in bronze of Mr. Frederick James Nawn who had made such an important contribution to the library service during his lifetime. He joined Fermanagh Library Service in 1939, became Divisional Librarian for Fermanagh in 1973 and retired ten years later.

Secretaries’ Day - MAP - Once again it is time for the annual secretaries’ day out when bosses treat their hard-working senior office person to a meal and entertainment - all in a worthy cause, of course. The Enniskillen “Forty-One” club, which organises the event, has chosen the charity to benefit this year, the Fermanagh Support Group of the Northern Ireland Hospice.

50 YEARS AGO - May 6, 1965: The New Princess - MAP - It’s my opinion after a chat with our new Fermanagh Dairy Princess, 21-years-old Philomena O’Reilly that the county should stand a very good chance of having the new Ulster Dairy Queen residing within its boundaries. With a twinkle in her blue eyes and a light-hearted laugh, Philomena said “I haven’t a chance.” The daughter of an illustrious father, P.T. O’Reilly, of Kinawley, who has earned a name as a journalist by his lively writings in the Farmers’ Union Journal, Philomena is a civil servant, working in the Ministry of Agriculture Offices in Enniskillen. Although she goes to dances once a week, she still finds time to make most of her own clothes, and likes cooking special dishes. An “old girl” of Enniskillen Technical College, her first big outing as Dairy Princess will be to Balmoral Show later in the month.

Four Brigades Fight Big Clones Fire - With her hair and eyebrows singed, Miss Marion Hall, a Clones shop assistant, escaped from a furniture and hardware shop in Fermanagh Street on Saturday morning, minutes before it became a blazing inferno, and one of the worst fires in Clones for many years. Several thousand pounds worth of wardrobes, beds, dining-room suites and general hardware, together with a consignment of new carpets delivered earlier in the week, were destroyed and the three-storey building was completely gutted. Firemen from four Brigades - including Lisnaskea’s Brigade, which made a quick dash across the Border - fought the fire for several hours and prevented it spreading to adjoining shops.

Personal - Viscount Brookeborough has accepted an invitation to open Ballinamallard’s new County Primary School on 1st June.

Balmoral Show - The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society will hold its 98th annual event - The Balmoral Show - in its permanent Show Grounds at Balmoral, Belfast, from Wednesday, 26th, to Saturday, 29th May, inclusive.

Marble Arch Explored - Eight pupils and two teachers of Lisnaskea Secondary School spent part of their Easter holidays climbing and exploring the Marble Arch area of County Fermanagh. The expedition, which lasted five days, was organised by Mr. Edwin Mowat, Rural Science teacher at the school, and he was accompanied by Mr. C. Crawford, the Physical Education teacher. The boys had experience not only in cooking and camping, but in living on a restricted diet of tinned and dried food.

75 YEARS AGO - May 9, 1940: Presentation to Ballinamallard Teacher - A pleasant little function took place at a meeting of the Enniskillen branch of the National Teachers’ Union recently, when Miss I.O. Campbell, Grove P.E.S., Ballinamallard, was made the recipient of a presentation from her work as hon. secretary and treasurer for the past eight years. The chairman, Mr. Curry, Magheraveely P.E.S. and several members having paid tribute to the efficiency of Miss Campbell’s work for the Enniskillen branch, Miss R. Brown, Model School, after a neat little speech, handed Miss Campbell a wallet of treasury notes. Miss Campbell suitably replied and thanked the members.

Enniskillen Lads’ Adventure - Albert, aged 17, and Eric (14), the sons of Mr. and Mrs. A. Elliott, Darling-street, Enniskillen, had an exciting adventure last week. They are often to be seen on Lough Erne in a canoe built by themselves, and when testing a sail on their frail craft near Devenish Island the canoe capsized, and they were flung into the water in mid stream opposite the landing stage. Both the lads, however, are strong swimmers, and were able to reach land and bring their craft with them, being none the worse for their ducking.

Personal - The Rev. Lancelot MacManaway is on a short holiday home with his father, the Dean of Clogher, at the Deanery, Enniskillen. Mr. MacManaway is a chaplain in the Royal Navy, on board H.M.S. ‘Renown,’ the great battleship which was recently struck by two bombs from a German aeroplane, on the North Sea.

Postmistress - Brookeborough Postmistress - Miss B. Dalton, who has been assistant in Brookeborough Post Office for a number of years, has been appointed postmistress in succession to Miss E. West, who has retired.

Carol Little - Carol Little, age 12, of Clabby, Fivemiletown, has obtained first honours, with 94 per cent. in the recent examination of Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin, in violin playing Grade V. She took full marks in sight reading, ear tests and theory.

The Poor Tractor! - Things in General - Farmers who have recently got motor tractors for ploughing cannot get out of the habit of talking to the motors as if they were horses. I have been told of a farmer in the Fivemiletown district who kicks his motor tractor when it won’t go, and has kicked the toes out of two pairs of boots in a week!