Our boys team from 4th class competed in the finals of the South Cumann na mBunscol Indoor Hurling competition today in Martinstown. The boys lost out in keenly contested games against Kilmallock, Kilbehenny and Martinstown. It was a great experience for all involved.
Following games against Knockainey, Ballylanders and Knocklong our team qualified for the finals of the south indoor hurling competition next week. Well done boys!
The team lost narrowly to eventual finalists Effin and Knocklong. Well done girls.
Our fourth class made the short journey into Limerick today to exhibit their project at the RDS Primary Science Fair in Mary Immaculate College. The children have been working on the project since October. Elements of the investigation involved a fieldtrip to hurley maker Ed Shanahan, identifying alternate woods for hurleys, testing the ‘new’ hurleys and interpreting the results.
The project was very well received by visitors to the Fair and huge credit is due to the pupils both for the effort they put into completing the investigation and also for the way they represented their school today. In a nice co-incidence, the judge assigned to our school was 18 time All Ireland winning camogie and football player Rena Buckley. The Cork legend gave some feedback to the class on the project and presented the pupils with an award for their hard work.
Here is the feedback received by the class:
The research question was both clear and catchy. The class predicted that the traditional timber, ash, would be best. It was obvious that huge thought was put into the design of this project, to test the various timbers in every aspect of the game of hurling/camogie. This was very impressive. The results of the tests were presented very clearly using a bar chart and the use of different colours to combine results of all the tests meant patterns were very easy to follow. The hurleys on display also contributed positively to the project. The discussion of the results and the preferences students relayed showed how each student contributed and enjoyed the project. This was a really impressive project which was excellent from both a science and interesting point of view – well done to all.
Here are two accounts of the trip:
“Last Friday the fourth class and Mr. Fitzgerald went to Clarina to see Ed Shanahan. First we got the bus at 11:45am to Limerick. The workshop was in Shanahan Hurleys in Clarina (Limerick).
When we arrived Ed was working on some hurleys. We went in and he greeted us. We needed information on hurleys because we are doing a project on hurleys for the RDS Science Fair. We watched him demonstrate how to make a hurley and we asked a lot of questions. Then he sanded the hurleys until they were spick and span.
Mr Fitzgerald had ordered two hurleys before that and I got to hold one. We took a photo and said goodbye and thanks to Ed. Then we got the bus back to school.”
“Last Friday, November 24th, we went to see the Shanahan Hurleys’ workshop. We left school at 11;45 on the spot. We went on a bus. It was in Clarina in Limerick.
The hurley maker’s name was Ed Shanahan. It was in a garage. He showed us how to make hurleys. First he put them into the drier. Then he got a see-through hurley to use to draw the outline of the hurley. Next he cut it. Then he sanded the hurley. He said if he wasn’t happy with a hurley he would not give it to someone. We got our photo taken and finally we got the bus back to school.”
It was a very educational trip and it gave the children lots to ponder in their investigation. The Fourth Class will be exhibiting their project at the RDS Science Fair satellite event in Mary Immaculate College on January 18th.
On Monday, Pádraig O’Dea and Shane Markham of Hospital/Herbertstown Bord na N-Óg called to the school to promote the local GAA club. Of course, there are many of our pupils already playing GAA with Hospital/Herbertstown, and also Kilteely/Dromkeen, but Padraig and Shane both wished to tell the children that any new players would be most welcome. As part of their visit, Pádraig and Shane also made a presentation of sports equipment to the school.
On Tuesday, Orlaith O’Donoghue and Niamh Holland, two key members of the St Brigid’s Ladies Football team which won the County Intermediate title recently called into the school with the cup. St. Brigid’s have a vibrant underage system in place with many of our girls playing with them at various grades. It was great for our pupils to see the local club having success and the winning panel contained five past pupils of the school, Gráinne & Niamh Kennedy, Nina Winship, Keeley Baggott and Eimear Daly. Orlaith and Niamh spoke to the whole school and outlined the benefits of playing sport and how playing with St. Brigid’s has helped them form great friendships with team mates off the field.
The boys started playing handball following a visit to the school from local handball player Paudí Quish. A multiple All Ireland champion, Paudí then became their coach at Hospital Handball club and today was the first opportunity the boys had to represent their school in the game. They can be very proud of their performances as we had players in both the A & B U11 finals with the U11 A title coming back to the school. It’s great to see our pupils playing one of our national games and hopefully we will have more boys and girls taking up the sport in the coming months.
Today, Michael Sheehan from GAA Rounders visited the school to take 3rd to 6th class through some of the basics of the game. Michael plans to visit the school once again next week to build on the start made today. The children really enjoyed running the bases and practising ball handling and teamwork. Rounders was once a popular sport in the school and in local community games and the hope is that with a better understanding of the rules the school will be in a position to promote the game properly.
Here are some photos from this afternoon.
Our pupils may only be back a short few weeks but they have been busy on the football field already. There has been some great attendances at both boys and girls after school training sessions.
On Monday our girls team travelled to Martinstown to compete in the South INTO mini football sevens. The boys attended their sevens tournament earlier today. Both teams put in some excellent performances and did the school proud. It’s back to the training field again now ahead of the 11-a-side blitzes in a couple of weeks.
