School roll books open window to forgotten past

Its doors may have closed to pupils 40 years ago but a Dublin school’s roll books are opening a window into the hidden past of the lives of inner city children.

A university and community research project is bringing to life the stories of children photographed a century ago in some of the worst housing in Europe.

By collating information in the roll books at St Andrew’s National School with family records in the 1901 and 1911 Census — published online by the National Archives of Ireland — it is hoped to learn and share more about the pupils.