Pioneer of Irish multi-denominational education

FLORRIE ARMSTRONG:FLORRIE ARMSTRONG, who has died aged 81, was a former principal of the Dalkey School Project national school, Ireland's first Educate Together school. This pioneer of Irish multi-denominational education also contributed to shaping education in a number of developing countries.

Prof Áine Hyland of UCC said: “Her legacy is immense. Today there are 56 national schools in the Educate Together sector and there is no doubt that there will be many more. She was a woman before her time.”

Sheena Odongo, a pupil at the Dalkey school in the 1980s, had fond memories of her former teacher: “She always had a smile, always knew our names, always had something encouraging to say. She was a true inspiration and I feel privileged to have been one of her pupils.”

Born in 1928, she was one of four children of Thomas and Elizabeth Armstrong, Drumaloor, Co Cavan. She trained to be a teacher at the Church of Ireland teacher training college Coláiste Moibhí, Rathmines, completing her education at Trinity College Dublin.

She became principal of St Patrick’s national school in Dalkey in 1954. She built up what was then a one-teacher school on the verge of closure to the point where eight teachers were employed. She encouraged parents to play a full part in the life of the school, which welcomed pupils of all religions and none.

Because of her commitment to child-centred education and her interest and expertise in the use of the arts as a tool for learning, the school was chosen by the Department of Education in the late 1960s as a pilot school for the arts programme of the then proposed new curriculum for primary schools.

She was faced with a dilemma after the church and civil authorities insisted on restricting enrolment to the children of Protestant families. In Florrie Armstrong’s view, the new policy would split families and friends. “I just couldn’t go along with it,” she said.

She took leave of absence and in 1974 went to Nigeria to join the programme for universal primary education, and was then drafted into a federal government scheme to integrate tribes through integrated education. She remained in the country for four years.

It took courage for her to apply for the principalship of the Dalkey School Project, and even greater commitment for her to accept the post and resign from St Patrick’s, given that premises had not been found for the new school.

Despite opposition to the project, she never had any reservations. “I had faith, I had vision, and I was prepared to put what I had into making it a reality.”

The school opened in temporary premises in Vesey Place, Dún Laoghaire, at the start of the 1978-79 school year. With two other teachers, Síle Harrington and Jayne Doran, she took on the challenge of providing an education for 92 pupils.

The Dalkey School Project went from strength to strength, with pupil numbers constantly outgrowing school premises. At one stage in the early 1980s before the school moved to permanent premises in Glenageary Lodge, the pupils were housed in three separate buildings over two miles apart.

During this time Florrie Armstrong was a teaching principal, leading her colleagues in providing a positive learning experience for the school’s pupils. Simultaneously, she worked with management, the patron body and the Department of Education to ensure that the permanent building to house the school would reflect the Educate Together philosophy.

She retired in 1990, after which she worked as an educational consultant.

She never married, “I enjoy my bachelor life and freedom too much,” she said. Her interests included golf, bridge and poetry.

Her cousins Luc Dunne and Ena Wade, nieces, nephews and sister-in-law survive her.

Florence (Florrie) Armstrong: born November 26th, 1928; died December 14th, 2009