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Form I & II Plays

The first drama productions of the year took place last Sunday night as our youngest actors took to the BSR stage for the annual Form I & II plays. Many of the young cast members were “threading the boards” for the first time and these short plays tend to serve as great stepping stones to greater dramatic challenges in the months or perhaps years ahead.

This year’s Form I play was a medieval comedy called ‘A Good Knight’s Work’ by Allan Mackey. The young cast were full of energy on the night as three brave knights battled each other, fire-breathing dragons and a bloodthirsty executioner for the hand of the fair princess. There were plenty of laughs and the odd groan at the brilliant terrible puns.

The Form II play was an adaptation of the Oscar Wilde short story’ The Canterville Ghost’. Once again there were plenty of laughs as Sir Simon, the 300 year old ghost haunting Canterville Castle, grows increasingly exasperated at the new American owners who refuse to be frightened by him and his ghostly companions.

Well done to all the pupils involved (listed below) and to the staff (Mr Stewart, Mr Boobbyer, Mr Jones and Mr O’Shaughnessy) for directing.

Form I CastForm II Cast
Chamberlain – Georgia DobbsMr Otis – Finn
Servant – Henry van den BerghMrs Otis – Giacomo Borrilo
Trumpeter – Hugo BellewWashington – Wilfred Hui
Lord Lilly – Seán HennessyVirginia – Alice Hutchon
Lady Lilly – Laurence SunStars – Jason Otolorin
Lord Fitzroy – Max HeidenfeldStripes – Elijah Kim
Lady Fitzroy – Mena SweetmanSir Simon – Harry Casey
King Ferd – Christabella Osereme LynchThe Spirit – Claire Higgins
Queen Maud – Oyindamola OniThe Skeleton – Merida Zhang
Princess Adeline – Maureen DengNarrators: Finn Breatnach, Amy-Anne Newell and Divyaansh Bhardwaj
Executioner – Andrea Beggy
Magician – Charlie Dunleavy
Sir Blufus – Ivor Guinness
Sir Angus – Winnifred Cawley-Comerford
Sir Richard Trueheart – Eric Wang
Form I & II Plays 2023
Form I & II Plays 2023
26 photos
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Transition Year Half Term News

The first eight weeks of Transition Year 2023-2024 have been typically hectic. In the classroom, the pupils continue to expand their knowledge and skills across a wide range of subjects and most recently received their Junior Cycle results. While we place a strong emphasis on academic progression in TY at St. Columba’s, there is still plenty of opportunity to explore interests beyond the classroom.

So far this term, the Transition Year pupils have welcomed Stephen Kiernan (motivational speaker), Alex Hibbert (Arctic explorer), John Lonergan (former Governor of Mountjoy), Fiona Boobbyer (expert on human trafficking) and Stephen Conway from Team Hope’s Christmas Shoebox Appeal. Visiting speakers are a great way of expanding the worldview of the pupils and we’re enormously grateful for all those who come and speak with our pupils.

There have also been several expeditions, with a visit to Flynn Park for outdoor activities an early highlight. They’ve also visited the Seán O’Casey Theatre to see ‘Bullied’, an excellent play on the theme, which was a Bullying Awareness Week activity. More recently, the TY biologists visited Dublin Zoo for an evolution workshop and, of course, had a chance to see the impressive animals there and explore the conservation work taking place there.

Charitable work is always at the core of our programme and we’ve been delighted to help fundraise for the Hope Foundation and Team Hope. The Transition Year pupils also organised a ‘Colour Run’ to help raise more funds for the Hope Foundation – it was a brilliant, colourful event and will surely cement itself in the College calendar.

The annual TY House Speech competition also took place. There was a high standard overall. Rebekah Fitzgerald Hollywood and Safia Walker were equal second, the clear winner being Grace Koch with her account of her great-grandmother, Freda Ulman Teitelbaum – you can read her speech here.

This week, the Transition Year pupils are completing their Community Involvement placement. This new addition to the TY programme sees every pupil work with a charitable or not-for-profit organisation, gaining valuable insight into teach charity but also building their knowledge of the world of work.

There’s been time for some fun activities too and most recently the TY pupils honed their pumpkin carving skills.

Well done to Ms Lynch and her team for putting together and coordinating the complex machine that is the Transition Year.

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Open Day 2023 – Saturday October 7th

Prospective pupils and their parents are warmly invited to attend our Open Morning on Saturday, October 7th 2023 with an opportunity to explore the College’s wonderful campus and facilities. Visitors will receive a pupil-led tour through the College and will have the opportunity to speak with teaching staff along the way. The tours will visit the Chapel, the College Library and Science Block, and see activities taking place like choir practice, House speech practice, artwork, science experiments and sports sessions.

The Open Morning begins at 10.00am and ends at 1.00pm, and visitors are welcome at any time, though we advise not arriving after 12pm, since there is not then enough time for a tour.

Just drive into the school, and you will be met at the car parks by Transition Year pupils, who will greet you and then guide you to the reception point, Whispering House.

No booking is required, but any advance queries about admissions to the College should go to our Admissions Officer, Mrs Amanda Morris.

Please note: If you can’t make this event, a second open event – our Open Evening – takes place in May so look out for details of this event on our website and social media accounts.

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Annual Admissions Notice 2024-2025 Entry

Notice concerning the admission process to St. Columba’s College, for entry in 2024.

Please be advised that, according to the admissions policy of the College, drawn up according to Department of  Education guidelines, the timeline is as follows:

● The school will accept applications for day places on October 2nd 2023.

● The school will allow three weeks for applications to be received, the last date being October 23rd. 

● Parents will be notified of the result of their application, in writing, by November 10th. 

● Parents of children who have received offers will have three weeks to accept the place.

Full details on the admissions process & current admission status can be found here.

Please find the College’s Admissions Policy here.

Admissions Notice:

Please find the application form here.

Annual Admissions Notice 2024Download
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Warden Gibbs Memorial

On the afternoon of Saturday 17th June a memorial service was held in the College Chapel for former Warden David Gibbs. Mr Gibbs was Warden from 1974 to 1988, and died in June 2020 (he was born in 1926) when pandemic restrictions meant that such a service was not possible.

A considerable gathering came to the Chapel, consisting of family, friends, former colleagues, and current and former Fellows, to remember a man who had an enormous impact on the life of the College. That was made clear in an address given by Mr Ninian Falkiner which described Mr Gibbs’s early life, and then the deep influence he had on St Columba’s. Another angle was given by Mr Shazad Contractor, who had been a pupil at St Paul’s School, Darjeeling from 1962 to 1968 (Mr Gibbs was Rector of that School from 1964 to 1972). He made it clear how affectionately those Indian pupils regarded Mr Gibbs by reading out tributes from some of them.

Thomas Gibbs, grandson, read the first lesson, and the Warden the second. The choir (Soloist: Emily McCarthy) sang ‘The Cloud’s Veil’, and the prayers were led by former Whitechurch Rector Canon Horace McKinley and former Chaplain, Reverend Michael Heaney. The Chaplain, Reverend Daniel Owen conducted the service and said the final prayers, as all present went down to Whispering House for tea and continued reminiscences of a most remarkable man.

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Trinity Term Art Report

It has been a very busy term in the Art Department. First up the Senior Art prizes were awarded with Antonia Ladanyi winning the Earl of Meath Art Prize, Senior. Ellen Beven won the Craft Prize, Senior and Calvin She won the Photography Prize, Senior. We also want to congratulate Jamie Green for taking up an offer for September from the Manchester School of Art.

Junior Cycle pupils, having completed their projects embarked on a sculpture project highlighting some of the environmental issues that we face and this work has been exhibited around the College.

Form VI carried out their practical art exam- a five hour window in which to demonstrate their skill and talent. It was a challenging and stressful day for them. TY pupils exhibited their Architectural Drawings at a Nationwide ‘Architects in Schools‘ exhibition at the Lexicon Library In Dun Laoghaire. Form I and II continued to work on craft projects such as clay modelling and lino printing.

In the week leading up to St. Columba’s Day senior pupils had the opportunity to meet with the designer and artist Serena Kitt to talk about creating a portfolio and applying to Art College. This was supported by a trip to the BIFE for their end-of-year portfolio show for those pupils interested in compiling a portfolio in the next year or two. 

TY pupils exhibited their portraits in the Whispering House and an exhibition showcasing a selection of pupil work from Form I-VI was on display in the Sports Hall for St. Columba’s Day.

There was a trip to the Lavina Fontana exhibition at the NGI and a guided tour of the Casino Marino for Form V. Below, Lily Boyle and Jesse Reynolds write reports on those expeditions.

National Gallery of Ireland by Lily Boyle, Form V

On Tuesday, May 30th, the Form V art pupils went on a trip to see the Mannerist paintings of Lavinia Fontana in the National Gallery. Lavinia Fontana was born in Bologna in the middle 1500s and she was best known for her attention to detail, especially in the fabrics she painted. We had a tour of all of her works on display in the gallery and we developed a deeper insight into her compositing and the story behind her work. We learnt that Fontana was managed by her husband Gian Paolo Zappi, all the while having eleven children. One thing I found particularly interesting was how Fontana combined the interest and/or professions of her clients into their paintings eg, a horoscope globe into an astrologer’s portrait or into her self-portrait she included a piano. Lastly, something I found truly interesting, was the classical and biblical allusions in some of her work, including the love affair of Aphrodite and Mars and Judith slaying Holofernes. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and found learning about Lavinia Fontana enlightening and it has inspired me to dig deeper into other Renaissance and Mannerist artists.

Casino at Marino by Jesse Reynolds, Form V

After visiting the gallery, we went to see the architectural gem – The Casino at Marino. The Casino was designed by Sir William Chambers as a summer house for James Cauldield, the first earl of Charlemont. It is a great example of an eighteenth-century neo-classical building. Our tour guide told us that the egg and spear design throughout the casino represents life and death and that the lions surrounding the building were originally supposed to be water fountains; however, they ran out of money. The Casino was designed to look small on the outside when in reality it is much larger than it seems on the inside. The classic Greek columns elongate the building and deceive the mind into thinking the building is small. The Casino has been recently restored by the Office of Public Works and it now stands as a perfect example of Chambers’ work and the cultural aspirations of the Irish ruling classes.

Seeing the building in person really helped to understand the architectural innovations and how effective the deception was. We had a great day out. 

Below is an album of photos and pieces of work from this term in Art.

Trinity Term Art '23
Trinity Term Art '23
34 photos

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Trips Week 2023

‘Trips Week’ takes place every year as the Junior & Leaving Certificate examinations take place; those not sitting examinations leave the campus on various trips to bookend their year and give those sitting examinations free run of the campus in that first week. There are a range of trips organised, including long-running trips to the Burren and Achill, as well as a fantastic junior tour to Spain (Madrid & Segovia) and several day trips to nearby attractions.

The traditional Form V trip to the Burren hasn’t taken place in full in recent years. The trip is designed to provide time for Geography and Biology fieldwork but there is also plenty of time to explore the wonderous outdoor scenery of the Burren National Park including Mullughmore, Lahinch Beach and the Cliffs of Moher. Meanwhile, our Transition Year pupils travelled to Achill for their traditional end-of-year outdoor adventure. There was time for hiking, coasteering, surfing, kayaking and plenty of fun.

Our younger pupils, those in Forms I & II, either travelled on the junior cultural trip to Madrid & Segovia or participated in a number of day trips in Dublin and neighbouring counties.

Below, find an album of photos from across the trips.

Trips Week 2023
Trips Week 2023
59 photos

 

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Transition Year Update

You might imagine things slow down for Transition Year pupils at this time of the year but it is the opposite in fact. As the year draws to a close, the pupils continue to develop their knowledge and skills and we reflect on and celebrate their achievements in a range of academic and extracurricular endeavours.

Away from the classroom this term there was a 50km hike along the Wicklow Way (pictured), a visit to the School Summit careers fair, a trip to Nowlan Park in Kilkenny for a hurling match, a visiting speaker from DePaul, volunteering with The Hope Foundation, sailing in Dun Laoghaire, the Viking Splash tour, a forensics workshop and a TV production workshop in Maynooth; all over six short weeks.

Recently, four major events focused on the Transition Year pupils’ academic achievements. Shannon Walker Kinsellawon the TY Academic Prize with her project on ‘fear’, judged by former SCC teacher Alan Cox. Clodagh Walsh won the Alyn Stacey Cup at the TY Modern Language Evening while, at the TY English Evening, ‘Premier Awards’ for English were presented to Aeladh Bradley-Brady, Cajetan Cardona, Carlotta Castagna, Amber Cotton, Ava Fagan, Emilia Hager, Manuela Nassief, Melina Paulsen, Shannon Walker Kinsella, Clodagh Walsh, Alison Wang and Johanna zu Solms. (Click here for a full report on the TY English Evening on the College website). The remaining academic prizes were awarded last night at the final Transition Year Awards & Prizes event with full details here.

Two other prizes were awarded last night also. Elliot Warnock was presented with the Spirit of Transition Year award, for embodying the philosophy of TY, and Ciara Finn was presented with the Transition Year Award for Outstanding Resilience.

It has been a bumper year for our Transition Year pupils and huge credit and thanks must go to Ms Lynch and her predecessor Ms Kilfeather for their extraordinary work in building and maintaining such a vibrant, rich and varied programme.

Transition Year 2022-2023
Transition Year 2022-2023
70 photos

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Leadership Awards 2023

Congratulations to the following pupils who were presented with Leadership Awards this morning. These awards aim to recognise pupil leaders across all Forms. Their leadership may have been on the sports field, in formal positions in their houses or simply through the acts of kindness they’ve shown throughout the year. Well done to everyone – all were extremely well deserved.

Form I – Jan-Christian Dijkstra, Harry Casey, Eloise Droulliard, Cora Wheatley, Amy-Anne Newell and Alannah Starbuck

Form II – Pia Mulholland, Alice McCarthy and Jack-Francis McKeon

Form III – Ryan Ovenden, Safia Walker, Oscar Ryan and Naoise Bradley-Brady.

Form IV – Hedley Butler

Form V – Cheuk Yin Wong, Raicheal Murray and Hughie Casey

Form VI – Solomon Babajide, Marco Trolese, Monty Walsh, Isabel Warnock and Georgiana Clare.

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Voices of Poetry 2023

Voices of Poetry has been going for many years: a unique event, it provides a punctuation point at a particular part of the school year: Sixth Form have finished classes, the Sports Day is over, and ahead are the St Columba’s Day weekend, the public exams, the excitement of trips week, and finally the school exams. For 45 minutes we pause in the middle of all this activity and listen in the BSR to voices in different languages, both pupils and staff speaking in a darkened hushed auditorium lit by a single spotlight. The event celebrates the great diversity of the College population, and, appropriately, this year it was Pentecost, with its associations with speaking in many tongues.

On Sunday evening, a group of three foreign languages started us off, linked tenuously by their first letter. Chinese (Mandarin) was spoken musically by Coco Xu, and she was followed by Czech – Phoebe Landseer, with a piece by 1984 Nobel winner Jaroslav Seifert – and Catalan (Tomas Rosa Echevarria). The rhythm of the evening was that then we reverted to English for three poems: Mr Kirwan was at the event for the first time, reading Thomas Hardy, followed by two Second Formers: Lexi Hunter with ‘Prayer’ by Carol Ann Duffy and Elizabeth Coffey with ‘The Great Blasket Island’ by Julie O’Callaghan, which you can hear the poet herself read here.

Romance languages formed the next cluster: French from Hugo Laurenceau and Ebah Assebian, Spanish from Eugenia Garcia and Olivia Valderrama, and Italian from Anna Luisa Sanminiatelli. Back to English: Mr Swift read the ever-excellent and amusing Billy Collins’s ‘Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House’, followed by two more Second Formers, with both Jack-Francis McKeon (‘Earth Summit’ by Oliver Tearle) and James Breatnach (the famous ‘Lake Isle of Innisfree by W.B. Yeats) reading confidently.

An extremely eclectic group came next: Yoruba from Bibiire Oke-Osanyintolu, Irish from Naoise Murray, Ancient Greek from Edvard Zujest and Arabic from Anna-Cecilia Corti. You could hardly find languages with less in common, but all of them marked by a very different and beautiful music.

A First Former and the Warden followed: Harry Casey read his own work ‘Farewell’ and then the Warden recited one of the poems he learned years ago, Walter de la Mare’s dramatic and evocative ‘The Travellers’.

The final foreign-language group was from countries close to each other: German (Hannah Bergmann), Danish (Melina Paulsen), Ukrainian (Anhelina Khliebnykova) and Polish (Aleksander Kierski). The last of these was ‘Clouds’ by the 1996 Nobel Laureate, Wisława Szymborska, and Mr Girdham read out the English translation first.

The evening came to a close with Nikolai Foster representing Sixth Form and leavers with Berton Braley’s ‘The Will to Win’, some advice for those whose time at the school is not yet coming to an end. Then Mr McCarthy, whose time is, recited Langston Hughes’s ‘Life is Fine’.

We ended with Junior Poetry Prize winner Giacomo Borillo’s touching ‘The Beautiful Beach’, thinking of his grandfather who died a year ago. That reflective note was the right one on which to end, a recognition of how poetry can console us and express what truly matters to us.

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Open Evening, Thursday 18th May 2023

We are delighted to host an Open Evening for prospective pupils and their parents will take place on the evening of Thursday 18th May, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.

This will be an opportunity for pupils seeking entry in 2024, 2025 or 2026 at any age to see around the College with their parents. There will be a reception, followed by introductory talks, and then short tours given by Junior pupils.

If you would like to come to the Open Evening, please contact us via email – admissions@stcolumbas.ie – or phone 01-4906791.

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Memorial Service: Warden Gibbs

On Saturday 17th June at 2.00pm a service in memory of former Warden, D.S. Gibbs, will be held in the Chapel.
David Gibbs was Warden of the College from 1974 to 1988, a time of great changes in the College, which he successfully implemented. He died on June 21st 2020, but pandemic restrictions meant that a proper memorial service was delayed. All Old Columbans and friends of the College are most welcome to attend the service; further details will be given here in due course.
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Senior Rugby Team Win Ian McKinley Cup

The Senior Rugby Team have won the inaugural Ian McKinley Cup, presented to the winners of the reestablished Metro Senior League (Section A). Ian McKinley, one of the College’s greatest ever sportsmen, presented the team with their trophy – fitting for both Ian and the College.

League or cup finals can often be anticlimactic, nervous affairs with low scores. All the signs pointed to the opposite as the weather was fine, the pitch was firm and the referee was clear that he was looking for a free-flowing game. St. Columba’s didn’t disappoint, producing a scintillating 35 minutes of rugby in the opening half.

As the referee’s whistle signalled the start of the game, there didn’t seem to be any nerves on show as St Columba’s came out firing. After a solid scrum, Nikolai Foster fed Tommy Casado and he set the backs away as he has done all season with a well timed skip pass to Marco Trolese who drew his man and used soft hands to send Kieran Ovenden sprinting through the Newpark defence and under the posts. Kieran then added the extras for a 7-0 lead after just two minutes.

Newpark looked to build into the game from the kick off but they gave away a couple of penalties which Kieran Ovenden expertly placed into touch. The second of which set up a great opportunity just 6 metres outs. Some deception at the lineout with a dummy jump by Aaron Murray and a perfectly placed throw from Ben Patterson into Caleb Owen set the foundation for a maul which drove towards the line for Ned Chambre to touch down for a 12-0 lead.

From the kick off, Columba’s uncharacteristically attacked from deep against coaches orders. It proved to be the right decision as Aubrey Gardner who was destructive all day, carried hard and through the Newpark defence; he appeared in open country and beat another defender and sprinted into the Newpark half, before drawing the full back and setting Thomas Dwyer free with a 40 metre race to the line which he won with metres to spare for a 17-0 lead after just 10 minutes.

Newpark finally got the ball in their hands following the kick off and started to put some pressure on. Some indiscipline from Columba’s gifted them a number of opportunities and despite some very good defence from Cameron McKinley, Noah Kutner and Bene Huessen in particular, Newpark managed to scramble over from close range. They added the conversion to cut the lead to 10.  Some words of encouragement from coaches Alex Lee and Conor Anderson under the posts seemed to remind the team about the game plan. From the kick off the game calmed a little and we settled well into our system with some big carries from captain Solomon Babajide and Ben Patterson. Another solid maul was set up after Aaron Murray soared to claim yet another lineout and Newpark could do nothing but illegally pull it down to stop an almost certain try, The resulting tap penalty saw Caleb Owen carry well into three Newpark defenders. This meant there was space out wide which the backs identified and slick hands saw Marco Trolese crash over for our 4th try wide on the left. Kieran added the conversion for a 24-7 lead.

The resulting kick off saw one of the most amazing pieces of individual skill, power and determination many have seen in a green and white shirt. Caleb Owen recieved what looked like a simple crash ball, but he refused to be stopped by the two Newpark defenders and barged through the defensive line. He continued past another defender, before being tripped by a committed tackle, only to bounce back to his feet and beat another would be tacker, before eventually being dragged down 70 metres from where he received the initial pass. This set us up with a great opportunity, one which the backs spotted and Aaron Murray‘s well timed pass set Marco Trolese up; but he still had work to do to outpace the last defender as he dived in near the right touchline. Kieran Ovenden used the post and crossbar to get the ball over and add the extra 2 points for a 31-7 lead just before the end of the first half.

Despite playing with the wind in the second half, we couldnt add to our half time score, Newpark came with some skill and powerful carries and added a try after 15 minutes, to keep it interesting. Monty Walsh, Georg Wachs, Pablo Shavlov were brought on and added speed and power. Gavin O’Dowd‘s passing was accurate and allowed Aubrey Gardner to once again break free, his offload, unfortunately, didn’t stick for Camilo Nordmann for what would have been a try to remember. Newpark came firing again late on to add another try, but it was too little too late and as the final whistle went the party began!

It was a fantastic achievement to win the first ever  Ian McKinley Cup, made all the more special having Ian’s nephew Cameron on the winning team! They were cheered on the majority of the pupils and staff in the school and by Tom Larke, who represented Ireland U19’s last week against Japan but was unavailable for the league decider. Congratulations to Solomon and his team, the coaching team of Hein Havenga, Alex Lee, Conor Anderson, Will Gibbs, Ian O’Herlihy and team logistics manager Charlie Poole.

Below is a photo album from the game, courtesy of Rev Owen.
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DePaul Talk to Form III on Homelessness

Grace Koch, Form III, reports on the recent CSPE class visit of Sarah Kearney from DePaul on homelessness.

Sarah Kearney is the Community and Events Manager for DePaul Ireland. Last Friday, she spoke to us about her organisation and the issue of homelessness. Homelessness affects a massive portion of the Irish population, with 11,754 people being registered as seeking emergency accommodation. This figure is expected to exceed 12,000 by the end of the month. 3,400 of these people are children. However, this statistic does not account for people who are not registered, such as people living in hotels or staying with friends. There are many causes of homelessness, such as addiction, the housing crisis, family estrangement, debt, disability, poverty, and eviction. Many homeless people have only a sleeping bag and the clothes on their backs.

DePaul was founded in 1989 in London and came to Dublin in 2002. It is an international organization, with services in many countries such as Ireland, the UK, Croatia, Ukraine, and more. Their goal is to end homelessness and they work toward a world where everyone has a place to call home and a stake in their community. DePaul focuses on five main areas: prevention, families and young people, high-support accommodation, health and rehabilitation, and housing. They have 37 services around Ireland in 20 counties. In 2021, they supported 3,670 people and 822 families. We can help reduce homelessness by spreading awareness, organizing our own events, and interacting with DePaul’s content online. The talk was very informative and engaging, and everyone learned a lot about the issue of homelessness.

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Senior Boys’ Hockey Win Leinster Trophy Final

The Senior Boys’ Hockey team had a fantastic win in their Trophy final against Kilkenny College this week, bringing home some well-deserved silverware to the College.

The 3-2 victory saw the team win the Leinster Trophy for the first time since 2014 and the third time since its inception in 2010.  The team dominated the first quarter, scoring two goals as well as creating a number of other chances but some excellent saves from the Kilkenny goalkeeper kept them in touch going into the second quarter.  The first goal was a well-taken short corner by Christoph Geyer with a well-directed slap. The second goal came from a good cross into a crowded circle. Joon Schultheis received the ball and manoeuvred himself into space to shoot evading the attention of a number of Kilkenny defenders. He finished with an excellent flick past the keeper and into the net.

In the second quarter, Columba’s were a bit flat, perhaps thinking that the job was done. They still looked the better team but they were not passing the ball around as fluently as they had in the first quarter. Kilkenny took advantage of a few lazy mistakes which gave them the opportunity to attack the Columba’s Circle.  One of these attacks came down our right-hand side and a neat ball into a free Kilkenny player on the penalty spot left Benedict Huessen too much to cover as the ball was directed past his left foot.  Kilkenny were back in the game and began to play with a bit more confidence and forced more mistakes from the Columba’s players.

Columba’s came out after halftime playing the ball around a bit more like they had in the first quarter and this led to an early goal from Edvard Zujest who got an excellent deflection from a dangerous cross in front of the keeper. Down by two goals, Kilkenny had nothing to lose and threw themselves into every challenge.  This limited the time that Columba’s players had on the ball leading to more mistakes.  In the final quarter, Kilkenny really piled on the pressure and eventually, it paid off for them clawing back one of the goals.  It was a nervy final 10 minutes with only the one goal separating the sides but the Columba’s players kept hold of the ball for longer periods and were able to exert pressure on Kilkenny rather than having to defend. It led to a few more chances for Columba’s but again the Kilkenny keeper kept them in it.

It was certainly a well-earned win for the team who have worked incredibly hard all season.  They were very unfortunate early on in the season to have missed out on qualifying for the All Irelands and the Senior Cup but they turned their season around by remaining unbeaten in all competitions since October. A special mention must go to Grant Glutz, the Senior’s coach, who has transformed the squad into a formidable team capable of competing against the best teams in the province.

Senior Boys' Hockey Trophy Final March, 2023
Senior Boys' Hockey Trophy Final March, 2023
80 photos

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Transition Year News – February 2023

Our Transition Year pupils will spend the week after half-term on work experience, which is a fantastic opportunity to explore the working world and discover if a particular career area might interest them. We wish them all the best of luck and thank all the “employers” for facilitating our pupils’ experiences.
As per usual, there has been plenty of opportunity for our TY pupils to learn outside the classroom this term, through various workshops, trips and visiting speakers. We’re thankful to David Rane and Neasa Ní Chianáin who presented their new film, Young Plato, and facilitated a Q&A. Other talks this term included ‘As I Am’ – an Autism Awareness group and the Hope Foundation on their work in Calcutta. All of TY visited the Objects of Love Exhibition for Holocaust Memorial Day at Dublin Castle, a fascinating yet harrowing event. There were two Irish language activities in January – a table quiz hosted by nearby Gaelcoláiste an Phiarsaigh and an Irish language drama workshop. Our TY pupils were actively fundraising for charity also, selling lollipops for the Oesophageal Cancer Fund and the Hope Foundation.
There was another Activities Day, with pupils getting to experience yoga, self-defence and barista training. Individually, many TY pupils continue to work towards their Gaisce award by completing at least an hour of Physical Recreation (their chosen College sport), Community Involvement (mentoring younger pupils) and Personal Skill (choir/music/languages) each week. Our TY pupils have also been participating in a series of in-person and online workshops including at the Centre for Talented Youth medicine course, Trinity College Dublin TY Computer Science Week, Look into Law Bitesize (The Bar of Ireland) online course, the University of Limerick Health Sciences online course, the National Rehabilitation Hospital online seminars and the Royal College of Surgeons mini online courses in Medicine, Physiotherapy, Pharmacy.
Finally, Ms Lisa Lynch has taken on the role of Transition Year Co-ordinator from the start of this term. We must thank Mrs Ann Kilfeather for her stellar work with TY over the past six years and wish Ms Lynch the best of luck in her new role.
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Science Olympiad Success

Last Saturday, six Form V pupils took part in the second round of the Irish Olympiad of Experimental Science at Dublin City University with four of the six achieving medals. In Biology, Lorne Walsh finished in first place, taking the gold medal while Rachel Shaw came second, receiving a silver medal. In Chemistry, Elizabeth Hart won the silver medal while in Physics Calvin She also took silver. Well done to all the competitors but especially the medal winners who now progress to round 3 where they will compete to make the Irish team for the European Olympiad of Experimental Science which takes place in Riga later this spring.

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Transition Year Leadership Day 2022

A report on the recent Transition Year Leadership Day, by Aeladh Bradley Brady.

On Tuesday the 29th of November, the whole of the Transition Year pupils were taken out of the college on a trip as a lovely surprise and to celebrate receiving our Junior cycle results. Throughout the day we participated in many fun-filled activities. Firstly, we went up Larch Hill to a scouting centre to participate in team bonding activities, organised by Branch Out. We completed many challenges such as trying to untie ourselves in a pair, herding “sheep” and mathematical challenges. This helped us utilise many skills such as communication skills, leadership skills and cooperation skills. This is extremely important and useful for many real-life situations and jobs. Finally, the last task and most rewarding task was to build a fire as we made hot chocolate and s’mores to heat us all up. We had to collect firewood and organise specific roles and jobs for team members to fulfil. The Larch Hill trip was great fun and truly an amazing experience. The Branch Out leaders were very helpful and kind to us during our time spent there. 

After this, we went to Dundrum to ice-skating and see a Christmas movie. It was so enjoyable going ice-skating with all of Form IV and it was thoroughly entertaining to see people who had never skated in their lives attempt to manoeuvre about the rink. Mr Jones and Mr Clarke took wonderful pictures of many pupils mid-fall, attempting to stop their inevitable collapse to the ground. The movie was a great way to end the day as we could all sit back, relax and rest.

On behalf of Transition Year, I would like to thank Mr Jones and Mr Clarke for accompanying and planning this truly amazing trip. Everyone loved it! See a collection of photos from the day below.

TY Leadership Day, Nov 2022
TY Leadership Day, Nov 2022
23 photos

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