Enid Settles in Ireland

Emily Weddall enrolled her niece Enid or now Siobhan Betts in Alexandria College, Dublin. Emily attended its sister school for Daughter’s of the Irish Clergy in the 1870’s and 80’s. Emily good friend Kathleen Lynn attended Alexandria College too, making it an idea choice to send fifteen year old Enid after she arrived in Ireland.

During the school holidays she returned to Achill to spend the summer with her aunt Emily on the Island. The summer of 1913 was a pivotal to the cultural life on the Island and to Emily and Enid alike, a far cry from her experience of life in Australia.

Advertisement for Scoil Acla 1913

Advertisement for Scoil Acla 1913

That summer saw the final Scoil Acla until it’s revival in 1985, when the war and the political situation prevented it from continuing. This particular year the Trench girls from Dublin attended Scoil Acla which was documented by Frances, or Cessca in her diaries. Both Emily and Enid or Siobhan as she was known in Gaelic circles featured as some of the main protagonists.

The summer began with the Oireachtas or Ardfheis in Galway and ended with the Scoil Acla summer school in August. Siobhan Betts met up with people who would influence her future and remain friends with for life.

Sources
Chenevix Trench, Frances Georgiana, and Hilary Pyle. Cesca’s Diary, 1913-1916: Where Art and Nationalism Meet. Dublin: Woodfield Press, 2005. Ní Dheirg, Íosold.
Emily M. Weddall: Bunaitheoir Scoil Acla. Baile Atha Cliath: Coisceim, 1995.