A survey of National schools in 1834 reports that there were three hedge schools operating in Moylough. These schools were run by private individuals who were paid by the contributions of their pupils.The three subjects taught were “the three Rs – reading, writing and arithmetic and in some cases Latin. At this time Irish was the spoken language of most people.

During the 1950s an extensive building programme was undertaken, when three new schools were built in the parish, one in Mountbellew in 1957 and one in Cooloo in 1959. Management boards took over the running of the schools. These consisted of two nominees of the patron (usually the local Bishop), two parents representatives and the principal teacher of the school , under the chairmanship of the local Priest. 

Scoil Naomh Pàdraig was built in 1961 and with various stages of development funded by Department of Education, parents and the local community we now have a fantastic state of the art school building.