March 2010 

Five short weeks since the last newsletter, but five hectic weeks they have been. Much hard work was done in preparation for the examinations but there have been lighter moments to savour too, for example the senior girls' hockey final, the Leinster Shield rugby final, the 'arts' weekend and the revamped House Singing evening. As this newsletter wings its way around the world we wish safe journeys to those members of the College on the girls' hockey trip to South Africa and to those skiing in Austria.  

House Singing Evening

On the last evening of term the school gets together to celebrate and enjoy itself. This time it was by means of the 'house singing' evening where the seven houses performed two songs. Compered by Ronan Swift and judged by Julian Girdham and Peter McCarthy, prizes were awarded for 'originality', 'team spirit', 'choreography' and 'presentation' as well as 'best house performance'.  

There were also spot prizes for various lucky winners: 'best mime to the words' for somebody at the back and 'nice T-shirt award' to somebody at the front, all adding to the lighthearted occasion. A novelty this year was the staff singers, who 'sang' We all live in a yellow submarine with great verve and a degree of nostalgia. In the end Iona (pictured) were declared winners with Beresford a close second.

Arts, Crafts and Photography Prizes Exhibition

Mrs Catherine Greene adjudicated and presented the prizes at the Arts, Crafts and Photography exhibition on Saturday 20th March. Catherine first gave an insightful talk on the process of creating a piece of sculpture, taking as an example her huge commissioned piece in bronze, 'Jesus', for the Church of the Holy Trinity in Fatima, Portugal.  She went on to praise the various pieces on view, expressing delight in what she saw while coming to her conclusions.

She awarded prizes to Oliver Glenn-Craigie (junior craft), Jessica Dean (senior craft), Patrick Faulkner (photography) and Pia Gromotka (junior art). The Earl of Meath Prize for Art (senior) went to Toni Hoffmann of Form V, pictured here with Mrs Greene. Much of the work on display (and much more) may be found on the Art department blog.

Music Prizes Concert

Fifteen music pupils, seven vocalists and eight instrumentalists took part in the music prize concert on Sunday 21st March, which was judged by singer and teacher Edith Forrest. After listening to them attentively, three junior and three senior prizes were awarded.

Mrs Forrest took the time to explain to each winner the basis of her choice and recommended areas to work on and improve. She commended all the participants on their courage, composure and technique and stressed the importance of playing under such conditions. Marina Wright (voice), Siobhan Brady (cello) and Kezia Wright (voice) were awarded prizes in the junior section and Poppy Vernon (voice), Fred Mann (voice, pictured) and Lingfan Gao (piano) were awarded prizes in the senior section.    

Senior Girls' hockey final

Anna Traill, on the right and captain, and Leonie Mueller-Methling, vice-captain, are pictured here before the final of their league competition against Newbridge College which took place at the Three Rock Rovers hockey ground in Rathfarnham on Thursday 4th March. More details here.

Anna writes: "The excitement building up to the final was fantastic. During the week there were people signing up to support and all the talk was of the match. We were all nerves and butterflies during the warm up; however once the match started they were forgotten. Full time (1-1) then extra time and still further no score. On to penalties and suddenly we had lost - we were gutted! Nevertheless I am so proud to have been on a team like this. Many thanks to Ms. Lawson for all her encouragement - it has made our year."  

South Africa hockey trip

Early on Wednesday 24th March, a group of girls set off to South Africa for what looks like being a wonderful trip, combining hockey and sight-seeing. They are accompanied by Ms Lawson, Ms Smith and Mrs Fair. Starting in Johannesburg, where they visit Soweto and the Apartheid Museum, their first match is against St Martin's School, and the second against Glenvista High School. They will then spend two nights in the Pilanesberg National Park, and will go on a game drive, and take time in Sun City.

They next travel via Pretoria by air to Cape Town, playing matches against Rustenburg Girls' High and Stellenberg High. They'll also travel up Table Mountain, visit Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned), observe the Two Oceans Marathon and visit the penguin colony at Boulders Beach. And this is only a brief summary.

The results of their matches will be posted via Twitter on the Latest News page of our website.

The Submarine

The latest edition of the Library magazine The Submarine has just come out, and can be read online (and printed out) here. It's always a really good read, and this issue is no exception. In his opening words, Librarian Tom McConville discusses the nature of the Library's service to pupils and staff for "a self-contained community without easy access to bookshops and public libraries" and goes on to comment on the vital importance of reading fiction for teenagers' brains...

There follow reviews and articles by pupils Lydia Johnson, Ross Canning (in Irish), Sadhbh Sheeran, Patrick McGonagle, Sally Kemp and Oyinda Onabanjo as well as teachers Dr Garry Bannister (recommending the anonymous diary A Woman in Berlin) and Mr Evan Jameson (on Colm Toibin's recent novel Brooklyn), plus the regular New Books and What's Reading Me features.

Finally, a strong recommendation for a short story called 'Cultivation' by Fiona Boyd on pages 6 and 7. Fiona is the editor of this edition, and her own story, written originally as a practice composition for the Leaving Certificate, is a powerful, understated and moving account of the thoughts of an elderly farmer. Shades of John McGahern and William Trevor...

Transition Year Academic Prize

From an original twenty proposals, six were selected to go forward for the TY academic prize. Each candidate must present their topic to the judge, this year the biologist and BBC TV presenter Miranda Krestovnikoff, and be prepared to answer questions from the audience. Mastering their brief and presenting it effectively and concisely is the challenge that all must face.  

Leonhard Dihlmann spoke on the 'preparations for the D-Day landings', Lingfan Gao on 'the pipe organ throughout the ages', Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi on 'the physics of time', Michael Kemp on 'Brit Art', Emma Moore on 'Dickens's London' and finally Rab Sheeran on 'whaling'.  The winner was Lingfan Gao and the runner-up Emma Moore, both here pictured with Miranda Krestovnikoff.

Old Columban News

The Old Columban Society is currently putting together the 65th edition of its annual magazine, the 'Bulletin', which will be sent out to 2,500 members in May. This magazine, edited by former teacher Ninian Falkiner, contains a huge amount of information about the Society, its activities, its members and the College.

The opening pages of each Bulletin list coming social events (in last year's edition, a dinner in Dublin, a drinks party in London, a party in Berlin, a golf outing and several year-reunions). Events during the past year are then reported on, followed by a piece from the Warden, several obituaries and details of births, engagements, marriages and deaths. The central section is always Old Columban News - last year there were 15 pages on OCs of all ages. The variety of experience and achievement in these pages is always fascinating. Finally, the last few pages give a summary of events and news in the College during the previous 12 months. In this way, in addition to the website, email directory and Facebook group, Old Columbans are kept in touch with each other and the College.

And finally...

Particular congratulations to Juliana Huggard, who became national indoor girls' archery champion at the recent St Michael's shoot ... Just before the end of term the Senior Rugby XV, captained by Senior Prefect Alec Cherry (pictured), won the Leinster Shield, beating Sandford Park 15-8 in the final ... Our pupils had considerable success in the recent Feis Ceoil, with Lingfan Gao coming third in the Dorothy Stokes Cup for sonata-playing, Poppy Vernon second in vocal duets (under-18), Kezia Wright highly commended in the under-18 vocal repertoire and in the Under-16 girls’ solo, Siobhan Brady third in girls’ Irish song (under-15), as well as first place duet success for her and Sally Beeby ... CSPE IIIb set planted a mountain ash in the College grounds for National Tree Week ... Robbie Hollis, Patrick McGonagle and Miriam Poulton have reached the National Final of the European Youth Parliament ... V form English pupils went to the Second Age production of Hamlet at the Helix Theatre in DCU ... Charity donations from Chapel collections have recently been sent to Barretstown Camp, Fields of Life and the Leprosy Mission ... the Actiontrack drama team worked with II form at the end of term for three days, giving them an insight into drama techniques ... I form and Primary visited the Dail ... Harry Morris has been selected for a Leinster under-16 hockey side to play a touring South African team.