My Life with Wendi Drinan: I always wanted to time-travel, now I do that every day

Wendi Drinan is an animator at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, Co Clare

Wendi Drinan, who is an animator at Bunratty Folk Park, channeling her inner Victorian school teacher.

As a little girl, my one dream in life was to possess the ability to time-travel.

Now, as a woman in her fifties, I have the chance to do that every day. My working day begins a little differently from most. The first thing I do is slip into my Victorian school teacher’s outfit, which consists of a full skirt with a hoop.

This is in addition to a Victorian blouse finished off with a waistcoat and cameo brooch.

The ironic twist is that I went from being a real-life school teacher to playing the role of one at Bunratty Folk Park. History was just one of the subjects I taught in a former life, which might explain my passion for this job.

A recreation of a 19th-century village, complete with shops, pubs and thatched cottages, the tourist attraction really is like travelling through time. Every morning I dress up for work takes me back to my childhood when I would sport several dresses at a time to replicate the style of women hundreds of years ago. 

I often lamented being born into the wrong decade.

A Victorian schoolteacher is just one of the characters I channel on a daily basis. While at work, I am anyone I want to be from a doctor’s aid to a fisherman’s wife. Like any teacher, I have my very own classroom. The furniture from the school can still be seen here today, along with artefacts like old maps and pictures adorning the walls.

A Victorian school classroom - with bench seats and blackboards with chalk and clothes. Picture: iStock

The schoolhouse, which was opened at Belvoir in East Clare in 1835, is typical of its day. It has two classrooms, each of which once accommodated between 30 and 40 children who completed their lessons with the aid of slates and chalk. David John Wilson and his wife opened the school on their own land.

The couple had no children of their own, so they treated this school like it was their own family. David John Wilson even donated 10 acres of his land to set up a little farm so the boys could learn farming.

We were under British law at the time which stated that, until 1890, kids could only attend primary school if they paid money. Understandably, some of the families were very poor so David accepted farm labour from some of the little boys in lieu of fees. It was a brilliant arrangement because the whole community benefitted hugely. Later, he introduced scientific farming to Ireland with the foundation of the first agricultural college in Glasnevin in the 1850s.

The primary school’s classes were no different to most schools in those days. I am lucky enough to be able to teach my own classes today to offer park visitors an insight into how teachers were back then.

Most adults love coming in and will sit at the tiny desks and tell me stories about their own schooldays. There are also the adults who hated school so you hear some very sad stories too.

A few are too scared to come inside and will only talk to me through the window. These are usually men who didn’t have a good experience of school. In contrast, you have the ones who will march straight up to the teacher’s desk. They like to ring the bell and that’s how I’m able to spot that they are teachers.

Many of the younger ones who come to experience a class have never seen an abacus before and think it’s a toy.

When the children come in, I’ll conduct the class in the same manner as a Victorian teacher. I teach them about nature and roman numerals.

Many of the younger ones who come to experience a class have never seen an abacus before and think it’s a toy. I teach them how to use it and they are fascinated that you can calculate huge numbers very quickly. We have competitions using it, and, of course, the teacher always wins. Other children are content with just drawing on the little slates.

The classroom boasts an exceptionally high ceiling, which acts like a microphone, so you don’t need to raise your voice at all. I always tell the kids that if they are shuffling in their chair or whispering I can hear everything because it all echoes. They react well to this and you never hear a peep out of them.

I always make sure to work around my audience. Some people are uncomfortable with you being in character and they just want a history lesson. In this situation, I am happy to adapt.

Of course, there have been some amusing moments along the way from people who mistake what I’m doing for reality and believe I really am the character I’m playing.

My one priority when this happens is not to embarrass them and to find a way to let them down gently. For example, while playing the fisherman’s wife there have been visitors who actually believed that I have six children and my husband abandons me for three months of the year to go fishing down the Shannon river.

I feel so lucky to be in the job I’m in. Whether I’m channelling a Victorian schoolteacher or another equally interesting character, every day is a school day at Bunratty.