ENROLMENT 2024/2025 : Baltydaniel N.S. will be accepting enrolment applications from the 1st of October 2023 for the 2024/2025 school year. Please find more information under the 'Admissions' tab.
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History of School

 History of Baltydaniel N.S.
Baltydaniel N.S. was built in 1994. It replaced the old school which stood on the same site. The old school dated back to 1884. An extension was added in 1928 which made it a 2 roomed school. By the 1980’s pupil numbers had increased but conditions in the school had deteriorated, no indoor toilets, central heating etc.
After many years of campaigning by the then principal Mr. Sean Crowley, parents, community and local curate Fr. Gerard Condon the new school was built in 1994. It is now an nine teacher school with 6 mainstream teachers, 2 resources, 1 learning support teacher. The school has 6 special needs assistants, a secretary and a care-taker. It has approx. 155 pupils on the roll, which come from many cultural backgrounds.
 
History of the nameplace Twopothouse
The following writing is taken from the late Sean Crowley’s book “A Rural Community Remembers”

About 3½ miles outside Mallow on the main Limerick road you come upon a sign post showing’New-Two-Pot-House.’ Visitors to the area often ask the question “Why isit called New-Two-Pot-House?” This is followed by the obvious question “Is there anOld-Two-Pot-House?” To confuse matters further right at the New-Two-Pot-House cross is Baltydaniel National School. If you proceed about a mile along the Doneraile road you come to Hazelwood. But on a road map it is not shown as such. It is called Old-Two-Pot-House. Some residents in the area are confused so it is not surprising that the stranger is puzzled.

The old Cork-Limerick coach road comes down PencilHill and up through Cahirmee Cross. In Taylor and Skinners ‘Maps of the Roads of Ireland’ published in 1783 there is a coach stop shown opposite NoelO’Brien’s house. It was called ‘The Two-Pot-House Inn.’Subsequently the nearby crossroads became known as ‘Two-Pot-House.’ During the 19th century a new road was built from Mallow to Buttevant and it was also called Two-Pot-House. To avoid confusion the new cross was called’New-Two-Pot-House’ and the old one ‘Old-Two-Pot-House.’ Older people in thearea still refer to the two crosses as the ‘Old Cross’ and the ‘New Cross.’They also refer to the main road as the ‘New Line.’ There are a number of theories as to why the Inn was called Two-Pot-House.

(1) There were two large flower pots outside the entrance.

(2) There were two troughs in the yard for the coach horses.

(3) There were two pots at the front door.

(4) The landlord was a kindly man and he gave a free pint of ale to the coach-driver and his assistant.

(5) There were two signs outside the door showing a hand with a pot of ale in each one.

All of these seem plausible. There is another theory also but I don’t think it carries much weight. The Irish for a hut is ‘both’ and it is suggested that ‘Tigh an dha Bhoth’ was the original name. However the most plausible explanation is the version that was obtained in 1938 by the school children when they were collecting material for the Folklore Commission. The Hickey brothers, who were blacksmiths at Hazelwood Cross told them that there were two handpainted signs at the entrance to the Two Pot House Inn depicting two pint pots of ale. As the Hickey family owned the establishment it is the most likely explanation.

Baltydaniel National School got its name because it is located in the townland of Baltydaniel East. The name Baltydaniel came about because the present Springfort Hall was formerly known as Baltydonnel. This house is also included in Taylors and Skinners book. It was owned by the Foote family. Hence the townlands of Baltydaniel East and West.

Of course if somebody really wanted to confuse the issue they could say that all these names are incorrect. In fact the real namefor the area is Cahirduggan. The parish of Cahirduggan was once quite large and incorporated the whole area around Two-Pot-House/Hazelwood. In 1291 Pope Nicholas put a levy on all parishes in the Christian world. This was to finance the Crusades. The levy on Cahirduggan was 16 Marks. This was the second largestin the Diocese of Cloyne. Hazelwood is a sub-parish of Doneraile and in fact the official name for Hazelwood parish is Cahirduggan.

How did Old-Two-Pot-House become known as Hazelwood? S.R. Lysaght of Hazelwood House built a hall for the locals, many of whom worked on the Hazelwood Estate. This hall became known as Hazelwood Hall and gradually the area around it became Hazelwood. When the hall was changed into a church it became known as Hazelwood Church.
First School Register 1885