A chairde,
St. Patrick’s Day break and ‘Lá Glas’:
A reminder that the school will be closed on Friday 15th March and Monday 18th March. We invite children to wear something green on Thursday 14th March for Lá Glas / Green Day. Children will finish as normal that day and will return to school on Tuesday 19th.
Swimming: Rang 7 will be going swimming this week.
Unveiling of statues at the City Hall: A few of the children and myself were at the unveiling of the statues of Mary Ann McCracken and Winifred Carney last Friday 8th March. There was a short tour of the City Hall and a visit from the Mayor Ryan Murphy, the children entertained him with some music and their behaviour was impeccable. The trip was enjoyed by all of us and a few of our wee stars appeared in the Irish News the following day. Please note that the photograph in the Irish News showed the children taking a selfie with what looked like a real phone – this was an Irish News prop and did not belong to any of our pupils.
Fiddle / Traditional Music
I have been so impressed by some of the children who have been doing exceptionally well in learning and playing their tin whistles. To continue to expose the children to further traditional music and instruments, we have employed an Irish Fiddle Teacher who has selected a few of the children to play the fiddle; the school has acquired a few fiddles for this. We encourage you to allow your children to practice – even at the expense of your ears! (See attached letter on P2)
Easter break:
School will close for the Easter Break at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday 29th March – THERE WILL BE NO SCHOOL DINNERS OR AFTERSCHOOLS THAT DAY. Children will return on Monday 8th April for a normal school day.
School Attendance
Many thanks to the parents whose children have exceptional attendance records. This will stand them in good stead in the long term and is teaching them valuable lessons for the future.
Séamas
A Chairde, 11.3.24
SPONSORSHIP FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Brian Murphy, a local businessman, has just purchased 100 tin whistles at a cost of £800 to help promote traditional music in our school and in three other Irish Medium Schools. Most of the great traditional musicians Ireland has started their musical journey with a tin whistle and plenty of encouragement at home. Tá muid an-bhuíoch dó. / We are very grateful to Brian.
We are delighted further to announce that Kieran Murray Jewellers (behind St Anne’s Cathedral) is happy to sponsor the purchase of ten fiddles for the children in R5-7 who have been excelling at tin whistle. The total cost will be in excess of £1200. Tá muid an-bhuíoch dó. / We are very grateful to Kieran.
Both businessmen offered this sponsorship with your children in mind and just as importantly, they want to see traditional music thrive in our school. They want our past to have a future and to place it in the hands of our young pupils who have people at home who talk of cultural identity in a responsible manner.
We are indebted to Brian and Kieran’s interest in our pupils’ learning. The best way for us to repay them is to let them see that the parents / guardians are a source of constant encouragement and that their investment in the children’s learning was a worthy one.
Séamus Lavery, the renowned fiddle teacher and uileann piper, will start working with the children in the next few weeks. Séamus visited the school last week and was very impressed with our pupils’ musical performance. He sees in them the great musicians of the future.
We will invite both Kieran and Brian to the school in the coming weeks to see the result of their generosity towards your children.
Le meas,
