Irish Army Apprentice School

The Army Apprentice School (AAS) - Scoil Phrintisigh an Airm (SPA), was situated in Devoy Barracks, Naas, County Kildare.

The School was established on 16 August 1956 when the Irish Defence Forces (Óglaigh na hÉireann) recognised the need for suitably trained craftsmen within the Army and Naval Service. Apprentices were trained as a soldier first and a tradesman second. The school closed in 1998 due to Irish government cutbacks at the time, of which the Irish Defence Forces would later regret. The Irish Defence Forces would later send enlisted personnel to train as apprentices and send them to civilian colleges to be taught. Devoy Barracks was sold to a private company, who would later demolish it and build Kildare County Council offices and "The Osprey Hotel & Spa" on the site. The arch and clock tower are the only structures remaining from the original barracks.

Crest of the Irish Army Apprentice School (1956 to 1998)

"Ni Obair In Aisce Í" meaning "There is no work without gain"

The apprenticeships had age limits on application. These were initially a minimum age of 15 years and a maximum age of 17 years. However, these age limits were later increased to a minimum age of 16 years and a maximum age of 18 years.

Apprentices under the age of 18 were also required to have their parents' written permission to be able to enlist. Their contract was for a four-year apprenticeship and they signed up for a period of 9 years service, which could later be extended to the standard 21 years service if the apprentice so wished.

If an apprentice wanted to terminate their contract they would have to "buy themselves out". The cost for this in the 1990s was IR£25 during initial training and then rose to £5,000 for the fourth year and until completion of the 9-year contract. The Defence Forces had raised the cost to "buy oneself out" to £5,000 to stop apprentices from leaving their ranks and joining "civvy street" for much better pay.

The following are the list of Apprenticeship Trades that were taught:

The apprenticeship was broken into three parts:

Students held the rank of Apprentice, which was the equivalent to the rank of Recruit. Apprentices were required to spend three years at Devoy Barracks in Naas, Co. Kildare. (This may be the longest known military course in the world). During the three years in Devoy Barracks apprentices attended school onsite from September to June each year. The school was staffed by both civilians and army personnel. Some people suggest that the school had the best instructors of Ireland teaching in the school, which turned out the finest of tradesmen. Many apprentices went on to win the National Apprentice Awards of Ireland after qualifying. All apprentices were housed onsite in Devoy Barracks in dormitory-type prefab buildings and fed in the army dining-hall within the barracks. Apprentices were often required to have their sleeping quarters sparkling clean and failure to pass each Friday inspection often resulted in apprentices being refused permission to return home for the weekend.

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Wikipedia