LETTERS to their future selves, a Michael Jackson CD and a VHS video tape were just some of the interesting items found in a time capsule that was buried in the canteen wall at St Brogan’s College in Bandon in 1995.
At a ceremony at the school last Friday night, former and current staff, along with past pupils, watched as the capsule was recovered.
Science teacher Nuala Falvey, who was also teaching at the school in 1995, was originally behind the project which involved TY students, and she joked that she couldn’t have imagined where she might be 25 years later.
‘It was the European Year of Conservation and we were sent out packs about creating a time capsule. The idea was to look at the environment back then and predict what changes would happen 25 years later. It was called 2020 Vision,’ said Nuala.
‘It was only a cylindrical tube, so we couldn’t fit much into it. All the students wrote a letter to their future selves about what they thought 2020 would be like. We also put in a vacuum pack of flower seeds in case they would be extinct in 2020.’
Nuala even persuaded four of the past pupils to stand up and read their letters from 1995.
‘We put in a Coke can which hadn’t changed at all – showing the power of marketing. There was also a Michael Jackson CD (Man in the Mirror) and we had a VHS tape. Barry O’Donovan recorded a video at the time around the school and the town. We were able to convert it into an MP4 and show it at last weekend’s ceremony which was very entertaining.’
The principal at the time, Barry O’Brien, had submitted a letter addressing the future principal of the school in 2020 and he read it out at the ceremony.
‘He made a few predictions, including that the principal would be female – the current principal is Helen Cadogan – and he did say that if he is alive and reading the letter, he would be 75 and probably hard of hearing.’
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