FROM humble beginnings, starting out with just 12 pupils in a small room in the Imperial Hotel in Clonakilty on its first day, to a state-of-the-art building which now houses 386 pupils, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate 30 years of Gaelscoil Mhichíl Uí Choileáin in Clonakilty last Friday.
Past and present staff, students and parents gathered to mark this important milestone, as attendees heard how the multi-denominational Gaelscoil, known as Gaeilscoil Chloch na gCoillte at the time, moved five different times before they finally settled at their permanent home on Fernhill Road in 2013.
Teachers (left to right) Síle Ní Choileáin, Breiffní Ní Mhurchú, Elaine Ní Longaigh and Niamh Ní Fhloinn at the 30th celebrations at Gaelscoil Mhichíl Uí Choileáin in Clonakilty. Photo: Martin Walsh.
Speaking at the ‘ceiliúradh’, principal Pádraig Ó hEachthairn said that despite having gone through many homes, including prefabs and an unused bank during that period, the one thing he said which remained steadfast throughout was the ‘school spirit.’
‘There were a lot of people involved in the founding of the Gaelscoil but none of this would have been possible without the brave and forward-thinking parents who enrolled their children in the school on September 1st 1994,’ he said.
‘You set the acorn that grew into a magnificent oak that we have today.’
School principal Padraig Ahern (left) and Richard Barrett, Dunmore House Hotel pictured at the 30th celebrations at Gaelscoil Mhichíl Uí Choileáin in Clonakilty. Photo: Martin Walsh.
Remarkably, by the end of their first month in operation the school’s population rose to 22 students and they were able to meet certain funding criteria as set down by the Department of Education.
Former principal Carmel Nic Airt, who retired in 2017, fondly recalled how the parents had to raise money on a monthly basis to pay the rent for the school room in its first three years in operation, something which was not easy at the time.
‘It was the vision of those people that allowed us to dream big and create a school rooted in their own culture and tradition,’ she said.
Carmel Nic Airt (first principal) pictured with an Abbey Crafts hand made and hand painted porcelain piece depicting a copy of the Southern Star she received as part of a presentation to mark the 30th celebrations at Gaelscoil Mhichíl Uí Choileáin in Clonakilty. Photo: Martin Walsh.
She also announced that a Dáil education committee has recently recommended that a second-level Gaeilscoil be established in West Cork, something which she and others have been campaigning for a number of years.
Presentations were also made to several people including the town’s mayor Eileen Sheppard, Ms Nic Airt, Traolach Ó Donnabháin – who has been chairman of the board of management from the very beginning – and school stalwart Rúnaí Scoile Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin.
They all received specially made figurines showing a figure reading ‘The Southern Star’ with the date of the school’s opening on the masthead.
The first pupils enrolled at Gaelscoil Mhichíl Uí Choileáin in Clonakilty (left to right): Ria McCarthy, Clonakilty, Stephanie May, Ardfield and Jessie Cronin, Ring. Photo: Martin Walsh.
Musical entertainment was provided by the pupils, while the event was also made all the more special as three of school’s very first group of pupils attended.
Ria McCarthy (35), whose two young daughters now attend the school, was in fact the first girl to have enrolled in the school in 1994.
‘The difference from where we started back in the Imperial Hotel to where we are now is phenomenal. I have the best memories from being in the Gaeilscoil and it’s still embedded in my mind.
‘My two girls go to school here and the have the best memories too.’
Her former classmate, Jessie Cronin (35) from Clonakilty said it’s ‘unbelievable’ what the school has achieved over the past 30 years.
‘It means a lot to be asked to attend this celebration.’
