Scoil Aireagail, Ballyhale, Co. Kilkenny

Our 2nd year students  had a really enjoyable day on their school tour when they went paintballing in Stradbally.

students preparing for their cycle

 The green school committee organised a cycle day on Thursday the 9^th of May. In the morning the transition year green school members presented a slideshow to the junior cycle, about the travel flag and what green schools is about. After little break students from 1^st and 2^nd year along with Mr Dowling, Senan Gardner and Garda Tina Walsh, went on a 10km cycle into Hugginstown and back to the school. After lunch the 1^st year had cycling skills with Senan. Grace Kent won the “Green school poster competition, Matthew Fitzpatrick won the “Slow cycling race” and Lauren Browne won “Miss Congeniality Award”, these students were rewarded with bike lights.Thanks to Senan, Ms O’Dwyer and Garda Tina Walsh from Thomastown Garda station, and all organised.

sdhsd

As part of their CSPE course, the 2nd year class visited Dáil Eireann on Wednesday 1st May. This is an important practical addition to their study of CSPE and proved to be an enjoyable, as well as educational, outing.

Breda Irish and Andrew Fitzpatrick make a presentation to  Miche�l Muircheartaigh

Seachtain na Gaeilge proved to be a very memorable event in Scoil Aireagail this year.

Officially starting on March 4, different events were organised through the medium of Irish throughout the week, such as bingo as gaeilge, quiz gaeilge, Aifreann Gaeilge, Ceilí, and fancy dress. The local shops embraced the week by displaying products as Gaeilge.

The highlight of the week was undoubtedly the visit of the legendary sports commentator Mícheál O’ Muircheartaigh. At a gathering of students, staff, parents and invited guests, Mícheál captivated all with his stories.

MC for the day was former principal Tom Hunt, who regaled all with hilarious tales from the past. A perfect combination of speakers who demonstrated how our shared past informs the present and builds the future from a sense of belonging.

Míchaél remarked on the strong sense of community and spirit he witnessed among students and staff in Scoil Aireagail. Indeed, this was the theme of his address, pride of place-a sense of belonging.

Andrew Fitzpatrick, pictured left presented Míchaél with a hurley signed by John Dalton, Paul Murphy, Colin Fennelly, Michael Fennelly – all past pupils of the school, and members of the Kilkenny Senior Hurling squad. As he read the names of the men he had commentated on many times before, he lifted the hurl in the air. Breda Irish, pictured right, presented him with a piece of glass specially made by a local glass designer.

It was a celebration of Irish culture at its best, including the history of Scoil Aireagail by students as Gaeilge, Irish traditional music, Song and dance. The day concluded with a passionate rendition of The Rose of Mooncoin and the Man from Dingle sang along. Great praise is due to Ms Murphy and Ms Kennedy who organised the entire week.

(Taken from The Kilkenny People 02/04/2013)

Hard luck to our senior hurlers who were defeated in the All-Ireland Vocational Schools Senior Hurling ‘A’ Semi-Final over Easter. The lads put up a great fight but St. Bridgids Loughrea were just too strong on the day.

Best of luck to our Senior hurling team who are playing in the All Ireland Senior Hurling Semi-Final tomorrow in Templemore against St Bridgids Loughrea. The game begins at 1.30p.m.

Can Caps Team at the Christmas market Kilkenny

Congratulations to the Transition Year students who set up the company “Can Caps”. They won an award for Best Display at the TY Get Up and Go Competition last week held in the Springhill Hotel, Kilkenny.

The students involved were Lucy Elvidge, Sarah Molloy, Eimear Fitzpatrick, Emily Murphy, and Tara Butler. Can Caps is a company that sell caps for cans. The girls have made profits in the region of €700 over the year selling their products. They have been true entrepreneurs throughout the competition, selling their product at every opportunity. They sold at the Christmas market over 2 days, at the Car Boot sale, and even went to door to door. They marketed their product by setting up a website, and using social media. They were also interviewed on the Sue Nunn show.

Other students involved in the competition were as follows:

Crafts for Christmas: Rebecca Duggan & Sophie Corrigan

Ryan & Seans Wristbands: Ryan Bland & Sean Grace

Applecrumble & Fudge: Jessica Raglia, Rachel Fitzgerald, Stacy Phelan, Stephanie Walsh

Congratulations to our Transition Year young entrepreneurs who won an award for best branding at the County Final of the Student Enterprise awards last Thursday March 7th.

The students involved were Jessica Raglia, Rachel Fitzgerals, Stacy Phelan, and Stephanie Walsh. The girls set up their company Applecrumble and Fudge last September and have worked really hard to get it established. The company sells T-Shirts with catchy slogans printed on them. They ran a competition among students to come up with a cathcy slogan and the winning slogan was printed onto t-shirts which they are now selling. The enterprise also sold hand painted signs at the Christmas market in Kilkenny.

The student enterprise awards is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn what it is really like to be your own boss – to set up and run your own business. Students get to work in a team and learn valuable life skills like organization, communication, confidence building, and hard work.

Congratulations to Ryan Thomas who performed in the final of  the All Ireland Schools Talent Search 2013 competition in aid of childline at theHelix Theatre Dublin recently.

Congratulations to our Senior hurlers who were crowned Leinster Champions at Dr Cullen Park on Saturday following a convincing win over St Fergal’s of Rathdowney. It was a brilliant game played with great determination and skill. Congratulations to all the team and to their managers Mr. Murphy and Mr. O’Hanlon.

We wish the lads the best of luck in the All Ireland quarter finals which will be played in the next couple of weeks.

Scoil Aireagal Team – A Roche; J Kenneally, E Aylward, D Halligan; P Kirwan, J Grace, A Doherty; P Delaney, B Phelan; M Jones, E Power, C Phelan; K Farrell, R Corcoran, A Fitpatrick. Subs: R Coffey for Power (42); R Coady for Farrell (45); D Waters for B Phelan (58).

Scoil Aireagail Hurling Team 2013-Leinster Champions

Scoil Aireagail Senior Hurling team celebrating their victory

James Grace, Captain being presented with the Leinster Cup

Scoil Aireagail supporters