That modest inscription is the detail that anchors the whole structure in a particular moment of Irish history, when the state was, for the first time, attempting to put organised elementary education within reach of rural communities across the country.

The building is a neat, rectangular structure, its long axis running north to south, with a three-bay west-facing front. The central bay projects slightly as a pedimented breakfront, a classical architectural device in which a section of the facade steps forward and is crowned with a triangular gable, lending the building a degree of formal dignity unusual for a rural schoolhouse. The doorway sits slightly off-centre to the right and is reached by a short flight of steps, while hood mouldings, stone projections above window and door openings designed to deflect rainwater, run along the ground floor. A separate set of stone steps at the south-east corner provides independent access to the upper floor, suggesting the two levels may have been used separately or at different times. The roof is hipped, meaning it slopes on all four sides rather than ending in vertical gable walls, and a central chimney rises from the rear. The overall composition has a quiet institutional formality about it, the kind of architecture that was meant to signal purpose and permanence to a community unaccustomed to purpose-built public buildings of any kind.