St. Columba's College News

Transition Year Careers' morning

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

[ General News ]

It was a very busy morning here at St. Columba's as we welcomed 11 speakers from a range of career areas for the annual Transition Year Careers Morning. The pupils and visitors crammed in to the Lower Argyle, in a change to previous years, to engage in a careers "speed-dating" session.

Each speaker rotated from table to table over the course of two hours, spending 10 minutes with the pupils - who were arranged in groups of 4 or 5. The speakers proved extremely engaging and everyone found the event very useful, both young and old. The Guidance Counsellor, Mr Jones, would like to thank each of the speakers for giving over their free time to visit the school and ensure them of the value of such an event.

Mr. Jones would also like to thank Danuta Gray, parent and Fellow of the College, for her great help in organising the event. The 2012 speakers were:

Maria Daly - Abbott Pharmceuticals (Quality)
Seamus Ryan - Microsoft
Damian Oates - O2 (Engineering)
Paul Dervan - O2 (Marketing)
Jonathan McCrea - Newtalk & Spin FM
Joe Drumgoole - FeedHenry (Software)
John Carroll - Pfizer (Finance)
Laura Gilbride - PricewaterhouseCoopers
Aisling O'Meachair - Google
Barbara Hughes - Primark
Guy Hollis - CBRE (Chartered Surveyor)

Girls' hockey update

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

[ Sports News ]

The junior girls' hockey team kicked off the start of the cup season two weeks ago against Loreto Dalkey. The match proved to be very exciting with all spectators hanging on to the edge of their seats. The sides were evenly matched and battled it out until the final whistle which left the score at a draw. The team led by Alex Boyd-Crotty continued to give one hundred percent throughout extra time, forcing the winning team to be decided by one-on-ones with the goalkeeper. Unfortunately Loreto Dalkey won in the end despite a fantastic performance by Julianna Huggard. In the league the girls have had some great performances despite some challenges such as the surprise grit pitch when they arrived in Killiney to play St. Josephs of Cluny. Even though they were 4-0 down at half time they worked hard and came back fighting, narrowing the score difference to 4-3. Having now played all league games the girls are waiting hopefully on their groups pending results to see who will go forward to compete to reach the final.

The 1^st XI was also drawn to play against Loreto Dalkey in the first round of the cup. Each member of the team, led by Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi, were committed and trained hard in the preparation of the big game. Again, the match was another nail-biter! Loreto Dalkey got an early goal leaving the scoreline at 1-0 for the majority of the game. With less than two minutes to go, St. Columba�s scored a fantastic goal but within seconds Loreto Dalkey caught us on the back foot and put away a final goal in the last few seconds of the match, giving Dalkey a 2-1 win. Apart from this unfortunate defeat, the team have won all of their league matches, putting them at the top of their group and putting them in a very strong position. They are a very promising side.

The minor girls had a gripping game against The High School in the Cup in which both sides put up a great fight and were very evenly matched. Unfortunately The High School came away with a win in the end. We have played all of the teams in the group with a mixture of wins, losses and draws which will hopefully be enough for them to make it out of their group to compete in the quarter finals.

The 2^nd XI have been training hard since returning after Christmas and they had a great performance against Mount Anville two weeks ago in which they scored a great early goal putting them in the lead. The following week they came back fighting against John Scottus which they won 2-1 with great goals from Rica Wagner and Claire Conway.

The 3^rd XI has been improving all year but they�ve been unfortunate in their matches. Nevertheless each member of the team are keeping their heads up and training hard in all types of weather, preparing to face their next opposition.

The junior B girls and the beginners had a great match against each other last week in the bitter cold. Both teams showed great determination and team spirit. The final score was 3-1 to the junior Bs but a rematch could potentially show a different result as the beginners looked very promising with an outstanding performance from Marie von Brauchitsch.

Last but not least, the first year girls have a jam-packed couple of weeks with a league match almost every Wednesday. Last week they travelled down to Arklow to play St. Marys. The team returned with the news that they had scored 16 goals against their opposition with 9 of the goals from Soren Higgins. A great performance from everyone involved!

Cadette Girls League Finals 2012

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

[ Sports News ]

On January 27^th the Cadette Girls headed to the Oblate Hall in Inchicore to defend and contend for their third league title in a row.The final was a thrilling encounter between two well matched teams and with a 9.30am tip-off there was no time for snoozing.

The team lead by Ali Boyd - Crotty was ready and the game began with tenacious up tempo defense by Columba's. They indeed had met their match as Muckross with an u16 international at the helm. The first quarter the nerves really should with Columba's finding it difficult to find their rhythm and settle into their stride. The first quarter was tied 7-7.

By the second quarter the girls had found their rhythm and were comfortably controlling the boards and the game.Lydia Johnson and Ali Boyd-Crotty led the scoring power, while Philippa Carroll�s defense position and blocks kept Muckross scoring to a minimum. By the end of the half Columba's was leading 18-15.

The third quarter Columba's continued to keep on top. Bethany Shiell and Sally Beeby had a great quarter with some tenacious and quality defense. Solid play from Tara McCormick and Fleur Pay also settled the team they grew more confident and the team went into the fourth quarter leading 29-24.

Muckross picked up the tempo from the start of the 4^th quarter and began pressing. Columba's tried to respond but began to panic and the ball was turned over on several occasions leading to easy scores by Muckross. With just under a minute left in the game Muckross took the lead by 1 point. The clocked ticked down, twenty seconds to go and Columba's had an end-line ball.

Ali Boyd - Crotty called the play, Bethany Shiell moved to the open spot received the pass and hit the three pointed to give Columba's the lead with 11 seconds to go. The bench went wild. Time-out Muckross!!.The key for Columba's was to play solid defense and not foul as every foul meant free shots for Muckrossl. Ball in Aisling McCann from Muckross drove to the basket and drew the foul, two shots from the line. She made both and the game was tied with 4 seconds remaining.Columba's had possession but were unable to get a shot off and the game went to over time.

The loss of Lydia Johnson the teams top scorer had a huge impact on the over time. Columba's fought hard but Muckross remained solid and won 6-2 to clinch the title.

Final Score Muckross 43 Columbas 39. Despite the loss this was one of the most outstanding team performances of the season and definitely the most exciting final played over the two days of competition. In recognition of her tremendous defensive play Philippa Carroll was awarded match Most Valuable Player (MVP). Congratulations to the girls and Paddy Young their coach for their tremendous effort on the day and throughout the year.

Junior Play

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

[ Performing Arts News ]

Pupils from third and fourth year are currently rehearsing this year's Junior Play,'The Field' by John B Keane.Set in rural Ireland in the1960s and based upon a true story, the play is a powerful examination of one man's obsession with land ownership. Performances are on Friday, 2nd and Saturday, 3rd March at 7pm. The play is produced by Mr Evan Jameson and the cast is as follows:

The Bull McCabe - Mark McAuley
Tadhg - Brendan Dickerson
Maimie Flanagan - Lydia Johnson
Mick Flanagan - Aidan Chisholm
Leamy Flanagan - Samuel Clarke
Sergeant Leahy - Jessica Beresford
Bird Finnegan - John Clarke
Maggie Butler - Molly Buckingham
William Dee - Ugo Onwurah
Dandy McCabe - Callan Elliott
Mrs McCabe - Jessye Faulkner
Father Murphy - Sofia McConnell
The Bishop - Siobhan Brady

Sport

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

[ Sports News ]

The junior boys' hockey team got the cup season off to a winning start last Friday with a 5-0 home win against Mount Temple.They now meet Dundalk in round 2 and the same opposition face the senior and leps teams in the coming weeks.The u13 team play St.Kilian's today in their first round.

The senior rugby team continue their progress through the shield competition, meeting Ashbourne, away, in the quarter-final on Wednesday. The junior rugby team are still in contention for the seconds league and play against St.Mary's.

Basketball, for boys and girls, is very busy.The senior boys lost a very exciting encounter yesterday, 32-33, and today is the turn of the girls, with junior A and the minor A teams playing.

There is a full programme of girls' hockey matches this Wednesday - full details on the twitter feed soon.

Hilary Term

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

[ General News ]

The Hilary term started today; it is a very busy time with much to look forward to. On the academic front there are the mock exams and all the special subject prizes, while on the extracurricular side there will be the debating final, the junior play and the arts weekend at the end of the term.It is also the cup match season for many of the sports teams. As usual daily events and reminders can be found on the 'twitter' section of the website.

End of Michaelmas Term

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

[ General News ]

'The Comedy of Elves' by William Shakespeare (not!) provided the hilarity on the final evening of term. Santa has a tragic sleigh crash and has lost his identical twin sons and their identical twin servants. (Get the connection!) The storyline need not concern any critic but random connections brings the sets identical twins on a whirlwind tour to Ireland, a small province in Connemara, bumping into (very) weird and wonderful people on the way.

Term ended after Warden's assembly this morning. Sadhbh Sheeran spoke of how busy she is during this Transition Year, Henry Roe urged all in the BSR to take up some form of public speaking after his exciting experience in Zagreb and finally Jack Cherry gave his take on the senior boys' hockey experience at the all-Ireland schools tournament in Cork.

Form III Action Project

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

[ General News ]

CSPE action project Set III C decided after a few brainstorming classes that they should celebrate �national tree day� so they got going with everyone�s different task. As it happened the big oak tree outside chapel was going to be cut down as it had died of old age, so this was the perfect opportunity to plant a new one. The oak tree had been in the college chapel square for at least one hundred and fifty years. It saw all Columbans up to October 2011 when it was cut down. To raise awareness of national tree day III c also went out to the Sowby fields and collected acorns for planting and hopefully next year some will germinate. The Swamp Oak which Mr. Swift bought for our project should turn a beautiful autumn colour when the seasons turn in the coming years. In their time at St Columba�s III c won�t see much growth in the tree but future Columbans will. Trees are a vital part of human civilisation, becoming more so because of deforestation which is why awareness should be raised. We hope if we return to the school in future years to see the progress in our tree and we feel we will always have that connection with our oak and the college.

Basketball

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

[ Sports News ]

All teams have made excellent progress this year and have had significant successes.
The senior and cadette girls both reached the Dublin regional semi-finals for the first time. This was a tremendous achievement and great credit goes to the girls and their commitment over the term. Shannen Keoghan (captain), Aoise Keoghan-Nooshabadi and Oyinda Onabanjo have excelled as leaders both on and off the court.
The senior boys also successfully reached the SDBL semi-finals and will face St. Conleths in the New year. Richard Matuschka is having a stellar season and is the teams most consistent player.
The junior and minor girls are building up their skill level. Plenty of talent is emerging and there is the prospect of a promising league campaign next year.
The photograph is taken from the recent basketball blitz. One hiundred basketball players participated in this event last Tuesday, an event which is in its eighth year.

Edublog Awards 2011

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

[ Academic News ]

Both the English and the Art blogs are shortlisted for this year's international Edublog Awards, and would be delighted with your vote.

Voting takes just a minute or two and can be done at this link before Tuesday. SCC English is nominated for Best Use of Audio/Video/Podcast and also Best Individual Tweeter. SCC Art is nominated in the category of Best Class Blog.

Many thanks.

Review of 'The Comedy of Errors'

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

[ Performing Arts News ]

Shannen Keogan reviews the recent Shakespeare Society production of The Comedy of Errors:-

On a dark wet evening on Saturday 19^th of November, in Saint Columba�s College, there really was no better place to be than sitting in the buzzing Big Schoolroom listening to the classic tunes of the 70�s and dancing in our seats whilst we all anticipated this year�s Senior Play, The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare.

If we didn�t think the blaring 70s beats were good enough, suddenly we were graced with the presence of the one and only keyboard extraordinaire Lingfan Gao, looking as some would say �Elton John-esque� in what really was the sparkliest jacket of gold and silver sequins that I have ever seen. When the lights dimmed and the sweet and sombre sound of Lingfan�s keyboard began to play the mellifluous tones of Catie McGonagle's voiceover introduced the story.

The story itself is a complex one and I thought that Patrick Tice who played Egeon did an excellent job of trying to explain the utterly chaotic plot in the first scene of the play. He informed the ruler of Ephesus (Kezia Wright) of how he and his wife had a pair of twin babies both called Antipholus who were separated on a sea journey in a storm. In the storm Egeon is separated from his wife and one of his sons. If that wasn�t confusing enough, on the exact same day another set of twins had been born to a local poor woman who Egeon bought to grow up as servants of his twins. These servant twins were both called Dromio. So the story begins with Antipholus of Syracuse (Zach Stephenson) and his loyal servant Dromio (William Maire) setting off to find their long-lost brother.

Now, a Shakespearean comedy really just wouldn�t be a comedy if it didn�t have a crazy over-dramatic and completely confused woman in it and this was Adriana who was played fantastically by Opeline Kellett. She, along with her sister Luciana (Bella Purcell) are baffled by the peculiar actions of her husband Antipholous (Robin Fitzpatrick) and their slave Dromio (Hamish Law). But the most confused characters of all were definitely the Antipholus twins (Robin and Zach) and the Dromio twins (Hamish and William). These four have to be commended on what really were flawless performances on their parts.

Not only was the acting of an incredibly high standard this year but so were the stage production and costumes. With the use of some new modern technology, a beautiful tower clock, very colourful garments (organised by Ms. Hennessey) and great music, the comedy sense of the play had without doubt been fulfilled in a most professional manner. And with some hilarious acting from the local police officer (Konstantin Behr) the local courtesan (Rachel Rogers) and many more, I never ceased to stop giggling throughout the performance. All of this of course was due to the 19 performers who put months of hard work and effort into preparing their roles under the direction and guidance of Mr. Girdham and Mr. Swift, who have yet again left us with another exceptional drama production, and for this they must all be congratulated.

Annual Geography lecture

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

[ General News ]

We were honoured to have Mr Peter Murtagh (of the Irish Times) and his daughter, Natasha to speak to the school at the annual geography lecture on Sunday evening. They told of their journey to Camino de Santiago de Compostela and the writing of their book 'Buen Camino!'.

Special Subject Prizes - History

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

[ Academic News ]

The special subject prizes are designed to encourage pupils to delve further into the subject, to look beyond the boundaries of the immediate curriculum and to promote independant thinking and research. History is the first of the special subject prizes this year and there were many entries, for both the senior (Arthur Barton prize) and junior (Sandham Willis prize).

Mrs Haslett writes :The Arthur Barton (senior) Prize was awarded to Alex von Bulow for her fine essay on Frederick the Great and the Sandham Willis (Junior) Prize was awarded to Molly Maire for her essay on the Nazi totalitarian regime.

The entries were remarkably diverse and the overall quality was outstanding reflecting careful and thorough research, excellent writing and great creativity in coming up with interesting topics.

In the Senior category there were many fine essays which deserve a special mention including Max Kavanagh's exploration of the effects of Watergate on the Nixon administration, Patrick Tice's 'Why did Margaret Thatcher secure general election victory in 1983?'. Rab Sheeran explored the causes of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and Lorcan Maule looked at Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. Ross Canning looked at the impact of the Boston Massacre of 1770 and Albert Kyd-Rebenburg examined the reasons for the 'Foibe killings' in the Julian March 1943-9. Battles featured prominently among several entries and the judges were impressed by the quality of explanation demonstrated in Jonathan Shiell's essay on the Battle of Sekigahara of 1600. Lin Fan Gao mastered extremely complex material on Napoleon's re-structuring of the French state

In the Junior category it was an extremely tough decision and Roland Barron Fitzgerald really showed bibliographical enterprise (that indispensable weapon in the budding historian's armoury!) in his exploration of the Irish role in the Crimean War. Samuel Clarke asked himself the question 'Who was the better artist - Leonardo or Michelangelo? and produced a thoughtful and impeccably researched answer. Creativity and imagination in selecting topics was demonstrated in second-former Jack Murphy's essay on the conquest of Everest.

Music Scholarships

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

[ Performing Arts News ]

The music scholarships for 2011-2012 were awarded today. All applicants are to be congratulated.There was a large entry and the standard of performance, particularly at the senior end was very impressive.

The scholarships were awarded to:

Clara Booth (Form IV)

Siobhan Brady (Form IV)

Molly Buckingham (Form V)

Lingfan Gao (Form VI)

Emma Moore (Form VI)

Clara Murphy (Form II)

Patrick Tice (Form VI)

Daria Tischenko (Form VI)

Kezia Wright (Form V)

'The Comedy of Errors' photos

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

[ Performing Arts News ]

The Senior Play for 2011, Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, is on in the BSR at 7pm tonight and Saturday. Below, some photographs from the dress rehearsal, in an Animoto slideshow.