News
RTE All Ireland Drama Festival Initiative – Schools Playwright 2022
Congratulations to Senan Sheils, TY whose one act play titled: Enough Said was awarded 5th place in Ireland at an awards ceremony held last Tuesday, at the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone. His play was based on the theme of Equality and centred around a group of football players attending a restaurant where one of them met with ethnic discrimination. A dramatic turn of events witnessed the Manager needing the help of the player he refused to deal with to save his life.
Pictured are Margaret Egan, Schools Playwright Co-ordinator, Senan Sheils and Ms. Mary Briody, his English teacher.
2nd and 3rd photos were taken at the Town Hall Theatre, Cavan yesterday, 6th May attended by Rag St Aidens and a 5th year history class with their teacher Ms. Briody. The Cartographer’s Pen was set in Cavan and written by Dubliner, Jimmy Murphy. It re-enacted in a very poignant way the difficulties of drawing up a border in the aftermath of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and students got a real sense of just how easily attitudes hardened on both sides in what had been a peaceful area.
Galetech Energy’s Windfarm Tour 2022
“As part of Global Citizenship Education in TY, students have an increased awareness of their role in increasing the biodiversity of the world around them, and in particular in their local environment. With the support of Galetech Energy, students are experiencing first hand the interconnections and interactions between geography in the classroom and in the community. We are delighted as a school community to engage in this national initiative, made possible by the time and efforts of Galetech Energy”.
Power-packed second half show sees St Patrick’s College Cavan land Oisin McGrath Cup
St Patrick’s College Cavan 2-12
St Colman’s Newry 2-08
St Patrick’s College Cavan’s u15.5 team ended a ten year wait for the Oisin McGrath (formerly Brock) Cup on Thursday 7th April on a balmy spring evening at Grattan Park in Inniskeen, county Monaghan. The famed Down footballing nursery of St Colman’s College Newry provided the opposition in what was a first Ulster Colleges ‘A’ final experience for both groups of players. St Pat’s had overcome St Michael’s Enniskillen & St Macartan’s Monaghan in a titanic semi-final battle in Clones to make the decider. St Colman’s for their part had defeated St Pat’s Armagh and a much-fancied St Mary’s Magherafelt side on their journey to the final. The showpiece would be excellently officiated by the experienced Monaghan referee Martin McNally and would prove to be an exhilarating hour of schools’ football for the large crowd in attendance.
The game began at a frantic pace with influential centre forward Ben Tully opening his side’s account after three minutes with a sliced effort from the terrace side of Inniskeen after Laragh United’s Jack Kelly forced a turnover in defence. St Colman’s responded after seven minutes with a pointed free from Aaron Little before Cavan were dealt a blow with a black card being shown to key attacker Joshua Shehu on the twelfth minute mark. Colman’s captain Aaron Haughey of Crossmaglen Rangers then traded points with towering Butlersbridge midfielder Joe Dugdale, before Dugdale again showed leadership and strode forward before finding his range from all of 45 metres with ease. The next five minutes would see the Newry lads show their class and make their numerical advantage show, as they kicked an unanswered 1-3, with their goal cooly dispatched by number 11 Corey Clerkin of Mayobrige. This left the score at 1-6 to 0-3 after twenty minutes and with St Colman’s starting to find their groove and with a vocal support behind them, things looked ominous for the Cavan youngsters. By now, the St Pat’s rearguard was under heavy shelling and Ballyhaise goalkeeper Zach Pepper showed his reflexes to get down low to deny another Newry goal. However, the Cavan response was strong before half-time with Joshua Shehu nailing a free which he won himself, before the newly introduced blood-sub Philip Shannon cooly slotted over from the right wing. This was quickly followed by a classy Shehu score after a pinpoint delivery from Cavan Gaels clubmate Tully, which left the game delicately poised at 1-6 to 0-6 in favour of Newry at the interval.
As the second half began, Cavan were boosted by the introduction of inspirational captain Ben Smith to marshal the defence with Lacken’s Rory O’Brien relocating to the full-back line to mark St Colman’s danger-man Darren Doherty. Tully again got St Pat’s off the mark, this time off his left after good build-up play from Mullahoran’s Dylan Brady. The Cavan minor panelist again swung an instinctive score over his right shoulder to close the gap to one. From the resulting kickout, Newry broke with lightning speed and buried a goal against the run of play to restore a four-point cushion. Again, St Pat’s response was emphatic as on the 42nd minute, Cornafaen full-forward Sean McFaul cut in along the endline and finished a rasping shot to the roof of the St Colman’s net. At this stage, the vociferous St Pat’s support were getting behind the team as Tully swung over his fourth of the day after a smart lay-off from Crosserlough’s Ryan Corr. From the resulting kickout, McFaul again chipped over, and Cavan were now ahead by one. St Colman’s responded through midfielder Martin McKinley leaving it all square entering the final ten minutes. Tension was palpable by now and up stepped Cormac Crotty, who showed his athletics pedigree to burn three defenders and swing over a beauty off his left. Belturbet’s Aaron Beatty made an instant impact off the bench and fed Tully for another white flag, before Beatty himself cooly finished off his left after another surging Crotty run. St Colman’s responded with a free leaving it on a knife-edge at 1-12 to 2-8 entering injury time as the Down team desperately searched for an equaliser. As the clock hit the fourth minute of additional time, Cavan defenders swarmed a Newry attack on their 21 metre line. Shehu then took off on a lung bursting run before feeding Killygarry sharpshooter Charlie Fallon to expertly finish a textbook breakaway move to the net. Finally, the long whistle sounded and was followed by joyous scenes as the Cavan college celebrated only their second ever success in this under 15.5 competition and first since 2012. In the end, the impact of the six St Pat’s substitutes proved decisive in the final quarter to overcome the stern St Colman’s challenge and both teams must be commended for the high quality, intense spectacle of gaelic football they produced on the evening. For St Patrick’s College Cavan, they will now look forward with excitement to a tilt at next year’s Rannafast Cup having obtained the school’s first Ulster schools title since the 2018 Dalton success.
St Patrick’s College Cavan Team & Scorers
Zach Pepper (Ballyhaise), Ciaran Galligan (Cavan Gaels), Jack Kelly (Laragh United), Gavin Murtagh (Ballyhaise), Luke Maguire (Mullahoran), Joe Dugdale (0-02) (Butlersbridge), Cian McCrystal (Ramor United), Rory O’Brien (Lacken Celtic), Daire Moran (Killygarry), Joshua Shehu (0-02), Ben Tully (0-05) (Both Cavan Gaels), Declan Cosgrove (Killygarry), Cormac Crotty (0-01) (Cavan Gaels), Sean McFaul (1-01) (Cornafaen), Dylan Brady (Mullahoran)
Subs: Phillip Shannon (0-01) (Butlersbridge), Ben Smith (Captain) (Ballyhaise) Ryan Corr (Crosserlough), Aaron Beatty (Belturbet) (0-01), Charlie Fallon (1-00) (Killygarry), Charlie Gannon (Killeshandra), Freddie Clarke (Drumlane), Ben Murphy (Killygarry), Conor Tynan (Ballymachugh), Giles McConnell (Belturbet), Aaron Dowd (Ballyhaise), Alex Mooney (Butlersbridge), Jakub Jaskiewicz (Cavan Gaels), Jack Furey (Ballyhaise), Kevin Shiels (Laragh), Diarmaid Martin (Cornafaen), Stephen Gilchreest (Lavey), Cian Coyle (Lacken), Ryan Lynch (Killygarry), Fionn McNamara (Cavan Gaels), Evan Conaty (Denn), Marcel Holko (Cavan Gaels), Tadgh Shiels (Mullahoran), Jakub Iwanski (Belturbet), Lachlan Maguire (Drung)
Hogan Cup – 50th Anniversary
Entrance Scholars Awards
Parents Association Draw 2022
Our parents association draw will take place on April 7th. There are fantastic prizes up for grabs. You can purchse your ticket(s) on the following link:
IMTA Junior Mathematics Competition
The Junior Mathematics Competition is held annually for First Year Students. The competition was developed and organised by Michael Moynihan and has been running since 1994. It consists of a school round where multiple choice brain teasers are answered within a class period.
This year during the week of February 28th all first year students at St. Patrick’s College participated in the competition. We would like to congratulate the students who gained a top ten place in their year group. They are Ben Reilly, Mark Shiels, Darragh Smith, Darrah Reilly, Scott Burke, Brian Burns, Cillian Njamen, Diarmuid Hyland, Harry Butler and Kornel Szpak. Congratulations to all of the students who participated and to their Maths teachers for facilitating ( Mr. Quinn, Ms. Maybury, Mr. Mc Nerney, Ms. Keogh, Ms. Shiels and Ms. Corcoran). In the photo are (left to right) Darragh Smith, Cillian Njamen, Kornel Szpak, Darrah Reilly and Diarmuid Hyland). Well done!
St. Patrick’s Enjoy Great Success in Wesley Interschools Music Festival yet again!
St. Patrick’s College music department enjoy even greater success in the Wesley Interschools Festival in 2022 than in 2020.
The school’s very successful debut participation in the festival in 2020 was just 5 days before the country succumbed to its first Covid lockdown. Grim determination and commitment by all involved allowed the school enter the festival in 2022 on the 6th of March and emerge with an even greater tally of successes. Almost 50 students were involved between the Orchestra, Jazz Band, Traditional Irish Group, Rock band and a number of soloists. While it was great to have achieved many successes in the competitions one of the highlights of the entire project was to play in front of live audiences with no restrictions.
Competition Results
Traditional Irish Groups
The traditional Irish Group won 1st place in their competition for the 2nd time in a row beating off stiff competition from 10 other schools including St. Finian’s and Loreto Colleges Mullingar, Kilkenny College, St. Patrick’s, Navan, Gonzaga College, Sandford Park and Wesley College. St. Pat’s has a huge number of Irish Traditional players and one of the most difficult aspects of the preparations for this competition was choosing the 12 members to which this competition is limited.
U16 Brass
Alex Boyko playing trumpet won 1st place in this competition despite being in 1st year. Christopher King on French horn was highly commended in this competition.
O16 Brass
Anthony Boyko took 1st prize in this competition having won the U16 competition in 2020. James Davis took 2nd prize. Both these students would join the jazz band and orchestra in their respective competitions
U14 Classical Guitar
Peter Flynn had a very busy day having won 1st place in the classical guitar and third place in the U14 piano. Just a few days later Peter took the Silver medal at the TU Dublin Conservatoire U14 solo piano competition. Peter also performed with the College Rock Band and Orchestra later on in the Wesley Festival.
U16 Popular Song
Brian Murphy was highly commended for his performance in this competition.
O15 Rock Guitar
Aaron Mc Cann a 5th Yr student took 1st prize in this competition and later on performed with college rock and jazz bands. Daniel Nicholl also took 3rd place in this competition. Daniel also joined the rock band and Jazz bands in their competitions.
Second Level Concert Band
St. Pat’s were highly commended for their excellent performance of Glenn Miller’s American Patrol.
U16 Wind
Callum Kelly on saxophone took 3rd place in this competition with a great performance of Handel’s Arrival Of The Queen of Sheba. This was only the start of Callum’s successes. After his saxophone competition Callum took part in an all Ireland Chemistry Olympiad that saw him win the Bronze medal and through to the next round of the competition. Success in the next round that could see him being part of a team to represent Ireland in the final of the Olympiad in Beijing in the summer ! Callum would later join the jazz band and traditional Irish groups in their competitions. Darragh Langtry a fellow member of the jazz band and orchestra was highly commended in the U16 woodwind competition.
O15 Rock Bands
St. Patrick’s College Rock Band took 2nd place in this competition against stiff competition.
This band consisted of Sean Mc Kiernan on lead vocals, Aaron Mc Cann on rhythm guitar, Daniel Nicholls on bass, Peter Flynn on Bass and Shane Galligan on Drums. They gave a sterling performance of Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train that was highly praised by the adjudicator.
Second Level Orchestra
St. Patrick’s took 3rd place in this competition. The orchestra consisted of 43 students and performing in a large group in front of a large audience was a very, very satisfying achievement after 2 years of covid restrictions.
O15 Rock Bands
St. Patrick’s College Rock Band took 2nd place in this competition against stiff competition.
This band consisted of Sean Mc Kiernan on lead vocals, Aaron Mc Cann on rhythm guitar, Daniel Nicholls on bass, Peter Flynn on Bass and Shane Galligan on Drums. They gave a sterling performance of Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train that was highly praised by the adjudicator.
Concert
Anxious to perform all the music that had been prepared for the festival the students performed their music in a concert compered by Ms Gwen Brady that was thoroughly enjoyed by 1st and 2nd year students and their teachers in the College Sports hall. The concert concluded with a prize giving ceremony for all the many successful competitors.
Ciarán Tackney puts the great success down to very hard work from the students involved, the excellent music tutors and the terrific support of Mr Chris Rowley Principal, the management and staff of St. Patrick’s College and the parents of all the students involved.
St. Patrick’s College Christmas CD Fundraiser
It was a busy week in St. Patrick’s College music diary. With just days before the Wesley Festival the fruits of the College Christmas CD were being celebrated with a presentation to St. Christopher’s Hospice of €1460 euro. The presentation was made to Paddy Grogan on behalf of St. Christopher’s Hospice. The CD was produced by the choir, jazz band and traditional Irish group in the school and marks the 11th consecutive CD release. The CD was sold by TY’s in the lead up to Christmas. This year’s song was written by Conor Lynch and Daniel Nicholls both of whom were heavily involved in the Wesley Festival.
St Aiden & St Aodghan’s Geography Trip
Great educational day had by all. Marble arch Caves Cottage walk followed by guided tour of the Caves. Visit to Tullydermot Waterfall, Brackley lake, Drumlane abbey an example of a Monastic settlement.
Thanks to Ms Keogh and Mr Meehan who contributed greatly to the success of the day.
TY Trip
TY driving preparation and education programme
Christmas CD 2021
In Aid of St Christopher’s Hospice
The 2021 Track from the College Christmas CD in aid of St. Christopher’s Hospice will be featured on the ‘Wind That Blows’ program on Wed Night 15th at 8.10 and again on Sunday night at 9.30 pm on both Radio Shannonside & Northernsound. Well done to all the many students involved in the writing, recording and CD production ! CDs are available from the school office and Multisound, Cavan priced €7 from Tuesday 21st December
Handball Doubles Success
AILO Linguistic Olympiad Workshop
AILO introduces students to linguistics (i.e. the study of human language) and to the application of logic to problems of language understanding and translation. The goal is to develop students’ problem-solving skills and to inspire them to consider the fascinating range of Careers at the intersection of computing, linguistics and language.
Round 1 Maths Olympiad
Students in 5th year availed of the opportunity to participate in The Irish Mathematical Olympiad (IrMO) is a national mathematics contest for secondary school students. This competition challenges students’ mathematical and problem-solving skills. Successful students will be then offered the opportunity to attend enrichment classes at a variety of centres nationally. From this a team of six students are chosen to represent Ireland at The International Mathematical Olympiad. Best of luck to all involved.
Bebras Problem Solving Challenge
TYs in Ms Corcoran’s Maths class participated in the Bebras Problem Solving Challenge. This event involves students solving interactive tasks online and is run in 60 countries in November. Those students who do well in the competition will be invited to compete nationally. Well done all involved.
MABS Winners
TY workshop with MABS
Cavan’s money advice and budgeting service
During our talk with MABS we learned alot about needs and wants and what is necessary, they talked to us about how to organise a budget and money management. We really enjoyed the talk and we believe they did a really good job of presenting their work.
TY Barbering Course
Personal Development
St Connor’s on their end of module well being walk. No concert for now, but we improvised with Ryan hand 3rd year playing piano and they listened and watched through the window.
TY trip to Flemming’s Folly and Cavan Cathedral
TY B Sports Against Racism Workshop
TY A begin 8 week Taster Programme in Cavan Institute
TY CPR Training
TY Orienteering Trip to Con Smith Park
Walking tour and jump and reach challenge
Pictured Winner of track Killian Crowe
Winner of jump and reach Jack O’Shannon
Working together for a sustainable future!!
We received the Energy Flag on October 5th after two years of hard work. Thanks to everyone in St. Pat’s for all their support in raising the issue of saving energy in school and at home.
We’re starting on the next theme “WATER” in the coming weeks. Any student who would like to join please let Ms. Carolan know – all welcome!!