Markethill Primary School is situated in the the town of Markethill.
As with many of our local primary schools Markethill Primary School is the result of a long process of educational evolution beginning with the creation of Markethill National School. The National School was established in 1818 and received a mention in George Bassett's County Armagh Directory of 1888. At some point it relocated to a site on the Fairgreen Road, on the site of the current Business Centre.
A new school was constructed on the Mowhan Road in 1926 to provide improved
and more spacious facilities. The school had seven classrooms, two offices and
an assembly hall. Although it was co-education girls and boys were required
to enter the building through separate doors.
A swelling of the numbers and a need to modernise brought further plans for
redevelopment in 1987. A new school was built on the site of the old primary
school but the facilities were greatly improved. The school now has nine classrooms,
each with a communal area to promote informal teaching. This provided adequate
room for the admission of students from the old primary school and students
from the redundant Cladymore Primary School.
The five acre site allowed the school to cultivate some land as a nature conservation
site and to make way for a football pitch.
The students undertake a wide range of academic subjects, sports and leisure
clubs. Numbers have continued to rise and current intake is approximately 250
students.
In the accompanying audio recording, Tommy Wallace talks about Markethill Primary School (1min 0s).
Use the audio controller to listen to this talk, given in 2013.