ST. COLMCILLE’S COMMUNITY SCHOOL NEWS

Lourdes Pilgrimage
A student’s account of their experience in Lourdes
On Tuesday the 27th of September, 16 students and 2 teachers from St Colmcille’s Community School set off on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. All of us had anticipated that this would be a brilliant trip, but no one realised it would be as good as it was.

In Lourdes there was plenty to do and lots to see. We found ourselves doing something different every day. There were many highlights on the trip.

On the first morning, we paired off and were introduced to the people that we would be taking careof for the week. Our job was to push them in their wheelchairs to the different ceremonies that took place that week. They were all lovely people and were very grateful for our hard work.
That night a torchlight procession took place. A few hundred people took part and the Irish Carmelites led it. The only light was from the candles that we each held. It was a very beautiful sight.

Friday came, and with it, another outing. We walked to The City of The Poor. This was a place where poor pilgrims came and were looked after well during their time in Lourdes. It was a very beautiful area.

On Friday night Fr. Phillip held a Taize prayer service. This was very spiritual. We all sang songs, while people went up to reflect at the cross. This was a very emotional service, as we contemplated our thoughts.

We got up earlier than usual on Saturday morning and went down to the Baths. We queued for an hour and during this time, the Italians said the Rosary. Each one of us found that the Baths were a strange and unique experience. We each came out feeling different, relaxed and renewed. This was certainly one of the best highlights of Lourdes.

We met many other youth groups, also from Ireland. These included Kilkenny, Cork, Terenure and Kildare. We all got along very well and had lots of fun together. In our free time, we met up with the youths. A favourite place for us all to go was McDonalds!!

On the last night all the youths went to Tostaky’s, our favourite club. We danced the night away, but then, it was time to leave for a last visit to the Grotto.

The Grotto was a very peaceful place to pray for all those in need. There is an indescribable feeling in the air there that we all felt.

I think that everyone who went would agree that Lourdes was the best trip we had ever been on. We were so grateful that we were all picked to go on such an amazing pilgrimage. Everyone went with a prayer and came home with great memories. Every student was touched by the whole experience and if we were given the chance we would do it all again!

– By Maeve McMahon and Sally Medbury.

The following students would like to thank Ms Gilroy and Ms Loughman for arranging this trip and accompanying them to Lourdes: Ciaran Boyle, Alan Browne, Ferdia Cahill, Laura Carroll, Aisling Connell, Claire Farrell, Cathal Gearty, Deirdre Glynn, Lisa Kelly, Sally Medbury, Maeve Mc Mahon, Aine O Connor, Orlagh O Leary, Brian Poole, Erika Pounch, Ciara Reynolds.

The French Exchange
On Wednesday, the 5th of October, some of my classmates and I set off on the French Exchange. We were all very excited at the prospect of living with a French family for a week, enjoying fun activities during these days and experiencing the French culture. None of us could wait to meet our pen pals and spend time with them.

At 6.30 that evening, after a short flight, we arrived at St Joseph’s school in Wattrelos. Ms Hanlon and Ms Kehoe, who came with us, started matching the Irish students with the French families. Then we all had a traditional French meal in the school accompanied by a talent show put on by the French.

The week was amazing. During the school hours the Irish students, sometimes accompanied by the French, participated in activities such as long bike rides, visits to the city of Lille and lots of shopping. My favourite was a regional game called boules, which is like bowling but with a different objective. We spent the weekends with our individual French families and they took us places as well. During the course of the exchange we got to know our pen pals and made some firm friends.

The food in France was very different to Irish food. There was a lot more cheese on supply and most of the food was served cold. It was all delicious none the less. The whole experience was like no other.

It was with heavy hearts we departed on the Wednesday morning. We were all sorry to leave our French friends but we were also looking forward to seeing our own families again. After a stop at a mining museum and a bit more shopping we left on a plane to Dublin.

I thoroughly enjoyed the French Exchange and would love to do it again I can’t wait until our pen pals travel to Ireland in March. I would like to offer my thanks and congratulations to Ms Kehoe and to Ms Hanlon. The whole thing was a tremendous undertaking and it worked magnificently.

– Michael Ward

Adult Education
The adult education programme is up and running again this term. Life-long learners are currently at the half way mark of their 10 week term. Courses include European languages such as French, Spanish and Italian. Other areas of interest offered include acrylic painting, Irish, yoga, body sculpting and salsa and meringue dancing, where people can take time from a busy schedule to enjoy these hobbies/relaxation courses. Popular choices also are computers at beginners and more advanced levels, digital photography and typing courses.

EXTRA CURRICULAR SPORTS NEWS
Athletics Congratulations to Oisin Cannon who was the only representative from St. Colmcille’s in the Leinster Track and Field Combined Events. Oisin was 3rd place in the junior event and went on to represent the school in the National competition. He took 5th place in this competition only 50 points short of 3rd place. Well done Oisin!

Basketball The girls cadet basketball team has got off to a magnificent start and were unbeaten in their first two matches. They had a convincing win over Fingal Community school 27-14 in their opening match. Their second match was a little more difficult with St. Colmcilles getting the better of Pobalscoil Neasain 33-30. Their next match is against Tallaght Community School and the team, which is made up of pupils from 3rd, 4th and 5th years, are hoping to reach the final. Best of luck to them! Basketball training for 1st and 2nd year girls continues every Monday after school. All are welcome.

Camogie The senior camogie team got off to a very positive start in their first league match. They had a very convincing win over St. Wolstans 4- 7 to 1-1. Well done to Paula Mc Grath who was top scorer. Their next opponents are Maryfield. The U14 girls’ Gaelic football team are hoping for a very successful year. Training is after school every Thursday at the Ballycullen pitches. All are welcome whether they have played before or not.

Hurling The Under 16 hurling team have reached the Dublin ‘B’ Final for the second year in succession. The team beat a very strong St. Aidan’s of Whitehall in the semi- final in O’Toole Park. Stephen O’Connor, Elvin Moynagh, Brian Duffy, Eoin Small, Ciaran Brennan, Shane O’Donnell have all excelled in every game. However, it is the performance of Niall Mc Morrow that is grabbing all the headlines. Niall is undoubtedly the most skillfull and talented hurler on view in the league and he has been our team’s top scorer. Eoin Small is another player who deserves huge praise. Eoin is in first year and is competing against some fifth year students in this competition. Eoin has displayed maturity beyond his years and is as brave and skilful as any player on view. The Under 18 hurling team are awaiting the semi-final of the ‘B’ league also and hopefully we will have two teams competing in Dublin Finals this year. Eoin O’Reilly, David O’Connor, Fionn Prendergast, Neill Farrell and Brendan Treacy have all been performing very well this season.
Gaelic Football On Wednesday the 12th of October 2005 St. Colmcille’s Community School Knocklyon played an under-14 football group game against Clonkeen College. It was expected to be an easy win for Clonkeen College however this was not the case. Knocklyon excelled from the start, driven on by Darragh Geoghan and Darren Morrell at mid-field and Peter O’ Donnell at wingback. Knocklyon also had the advantage of a steady breeze in the first-half. Kane O’Doherty was very unlucky after a run through the Clonkeen defence, his well struck effort hit the post and rebounded to safety. Near half-time Knocklyon finally started to take their chances especially Darren Morrell who scored 1-2. The score at half-time read 1-6 to 0-1 in Knocklyon’s favour. In the second half Knocklyon played as they finished the first, going on the attack straight away. Clonkeen started to improve gradually and their mid-field started to dominate proceedings. With about 3 minutes left Clonkeen had brought the match back to 1-7 to 1-5 with most of their scores coming from their midfielders. Clonkeen now looked like they would go on to win the match, but it wasn’t to be, as Knocklyon went down the pitch and scored a decisive goal. The final score was 2-7 to 1-6 to Knocklyon. Best performers for Knocklyon on the day were centre-back Eoin Crowley, Peter O’Donnell, Darragh Geoghan and Darren Morrell.                 
 – Seamus Keane TY

Goal Jersey Day in St. Colmcille’s Community School
On Friday 30th of September, St.Colmcille’s Community School wore their favourite jerseys to school. All students paid 3 euro for this privilege. E1,000 was raised for the charity GOAL. The idea for this initiative was taken by two third year students, Keeva Benthamn and Karen Agnew for their C.S.P.E project. Well done girls and to all the staff for their help and support.

Shoe Box Appeal for Samaritans Purse
The first and second year students of St. Colmcille’s Community school are collecting and filling shoe boxes with goodies for children in Eastern Europe. Samaritans Purse is a Christian organisation that reaches out to children who are in need worldwide. The shoe boxes, filled with treats will hopefully bring a smile to the faces of millions of children around the world who have so little to look forward to this Christmas

Ministers of the Eucharist
Ms. Tara Gilroy has started the programme of Ministers of the Eucharist with Transition Year students in St. Colmcille’s. These students will under go a 7 week training course to prepare them for the responsibilities of Ministers of the Eucharist. The students will then serve both the needs of the school and that of the Parish. There will be a special commissioning mass for these new Ministers in early December.

Transition Year made beautiful!!
The girls of 4k in Transition Year, St. Colmcille’s Community School have enjoyed 7 weeks of beauty classes given by qualified beauty therapist Ms. Tara Gilroy. During this time the girls have learnt the art of false tan, make-up, nails and all the other essential beauty bits! Well done girls on successfully completing this module!