The first school in Rathlee was built in 1835 and is now Rathlee’s Star of the Sea Church. This school building consisted of a large room divided by a timber partitian into a boy’s section and a girls section. There was a male principal and a female principal in the respective sections. Each section had an assistant teacher, making it a four-teacher school. There were approximately 150 children enrolled in the school, but the average attendance was 59.

 

In 1926 this school was replaced by the new school, where we are housed today. The new school had two large rooms, and the boys and girls were amalgamated. It is reported that the girls cried for two whole days because the boys were allowed into their classrooms. Clooneenmore School amalgamated with Rathlee. As numbers dropped at Rathlee, it became a three teacher school.

 

In 1989, the school was refurbished and a classroom, staffroom and indoor toilets were added. In 2005, due to an increase in numbers, Rathlee again became a four teacher school, and a portacabin was added to the school buildings.