Winter Newsletter - November 2014

St. Joseph of Cluny
Winter Newsletter 2014
V O L U M E
SPECIAL POINTS
OF INTEREST:
From the
Principal’s Desk
L.C. 2014 Chosen
Career Path &
Colleges
TY Musical
Art & Cultural
Tours
Web Summit
Deputy Principal’s
Diary
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Leaving Cert 2014 7
Image Coverage
of Cluny Debs
6
Bronze Gaisce
10
A Musical Journey—Director
Irene Burke
3
Buaiteorí den
Scoth
15
Open Evening
Photo Gallery
17
Cluny Tours Paris 20
Cluny Tours
Belgium
21
Sports News
24
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I S S U E
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N O V E M B E R
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From the Principal’s Desk: Nov 2014
Welcome everyone to our November
Newsletter.
The seasonal changes have come on us
very quickly. The English poet Thomas
Hood observed two centuries ago about
November that there’s “no shade, no
shine, no butterflies, no bees, no fruits,
no flowers, no leaves, no birds”. It’s a
somewhat gloomy observation about a
month that is long associated with gathering the last of the harvest and preparing for events to come!
We have had lots of preparation for
events here in the school over the last
two months since the last Newsletter.
Since our September update there have
been more student achievements and
successes, some key events organised by
the Parents Association, some much anticipated and successful school Tours
and lots of events happening in the Library, in Sports and in the day-to-day
events of school life.
Student Awards
Our congratulations firstly to Eilidh Murphy 4C who was selected to participate
in the Irish Science and Mathematical
Olympiad in September due to her high
results in Maths and Science in the recent JC 2014 exam.
Since the June results a number of our
recent graduates have scooped up some
significant awards in their new Colleges.
In November the UCD Entrance Scholars
Awards Ceremony granted a special
award to L.C. students who had achieved
over 560 points in their chosen faculty
and the school received its own plaque
acknowledging this achievement also.
Our special student recipient this year
was Ayo Arongundade -no stranger to
awards herself over the years in Cluny!and Ayo is in the faculty of Law and Business through French, in association with
a University in France. Similarly Trinity
College held a Trinity Entrance Exhibition Award and Grace Morgan who is
studying English and Drama was the recipient of a Scholars Award there on the
basis of her performance in last years L.C.
exam i.e over 560
points. We are delighted for our award
recipients and we
also congratulate all
our recent graduates
and wish them well in
their new colleges. May
they have a wonderful few
years of fun and study
ahead! The same group
were in great form for the
Parents Association Debs
Reception in October.
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From the Principal’s Desk continued
Buddies—Ellen
O’Neill 1st Yr &
Sophie Grehan 6th
Years
School
Fundraiser Dressup for Haiti—
over €700 raised
and great fun
had by all!
ST.
JOSEPH
They were such a glamorous group
that Image Magazine captured the
event on the evening and the girls in
their beautiful dresses and the
photo’s in their November edition so
be sure to get a hold of a copy and
many thanks to all involved! Again
they negotiated those red stairs expertly in their gravity defying shoes!
Our final Prize giving ceremony for
2014 took place in September for present T.Y. students and we distributed
the awards the students received in
Third Year. Congrats to all the award
winners particularly to our two JC
Highest Achievers
and the Outstanding JC Student for 2014 Taylor
Mitchell 4L and Eilidh Murphy 4C .
Our Prize giving Booklet 2014 which
will be sent in this month’s mailing
will give an update on the students
who received awards at this ceremony and the names of all our
Prize winners from May 2014.
Sixth Year Leadership
Our present Sixth Years have
linked up successfully with the
new First Years and the Buddy
system is working enthusiastically again this year. The First
Years have been treated to
special Picnic lunches, quizzes
and and other treats to date.
The Sixth years have generally
been minding them very well
and helping to ease their transition into the school. Halloween dress up day was a very
colourful occasion at the end
of October and the House
Captains did great work
again this year organising a
‘Best Costume’ fashion
Show at lunchtime. The
‘onesies’ were a great hit
especially in First Year but
we also had some really
stylish zombies, vampires
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and school uniforms from certain
other schools were well represented
as well as other imaginative exhibits!
Well done to Ms Ryan and Ms O
Riordan on organising the event and
for raising over 700 euro for the Cluny
Haiti re-building project. Our Head
Girl Kate Doorley and Deputy Head
Girl Aisling Ruigrok are doing a great
job in their leadership roles this term
and making their contribution with
the rest of the Sixth Years to school
life here. They headed up the recent
Opening of the Year Assembly for the
whole school with great speeches.
Our Student Council is being headed
up this year by Chairperson Sophie
Grehan 6C and Co-Chair Sophie Rhattigan Walsh 6C. We are busy at present looking at some follow through
issues from last year and assisting
with school events. So far the 8.30 am
Student Council meetings have nearly
full weekly attendance. More updates
from there as we proceed.
Library
If you didn’t manage to catch the First
World War themed Library exhibition
at the end of September and around
the time of Open Evening you missed
a treat! Ms Dillon had recreated a
model WW1 trench in the Library, a
poster and short film clip display as
well as some interesting memorabilia
from that time. Some of the Staff had
some family letters and other writings
from relatives involved in the Great
War on display. Halloween saw its
own manifestation in a ghoulish
themed Library week including the
ever popular Harry Potter hat, representing different houses at Hogwarts.
We are looking forward to the Winter
Wonderland display there in December and to the performance day from
our younger students in the run up to
Christmas. For further updates on our
busy Librarian please see our ‘Library
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From the Principal’s Desk Continued
Newsletter’ attached. Good luck to this
years’ Student Librarians i.e Isabel Pert
Curto 6N, Laoise Mangan 5L, Ciara Young
5N and Aisling Roche 5L.
The Parents Association
As discussed in the last Newsletter the AGM
of the Parents Association was held on the
08 October under the very capable hands of
Mrs Susan Deegan, outgoing Chairperson.
Mrs Ciara Duggan has taken over that position this year and we are very grateful to
her and to all the parents who volunteer
their time on the Association each year to
assist us with school events and other
school related activities, all of great benefit
to students. The AGM featured guest
speaker Social Entrepreneur Caroline Casey
who gave a wonderful delivery on the
theme of personal resilience and finding
one’s path in life. Ms Dillon also spoke
about the Library programme for this year
and discussed her statistics on young people and reading and encouraging reading
habits. The Debs Reception mentioned
above was another great success and we
are looking forward to the Association hosting the annual Carol Service which will take
place this year on Tuesday 16 Dec at 7.30
pm. This will be followed by a mince pie
reception. Donations will be taken on the
evening for the annual St Vincent de Paul
Society collection.
Cluny Carol Service 2014
Tues 16 Dec 7.30p.m.
School Events
This mid- term saw two
very successful school
tours take off for European capitals I.e the Fifth
Year school tour to Brussles, Bruges and Ypres
organised by Ms Doyle
and Mr Browne. Over 50
students enjoyed a visit
to the European Parliament, a chocolate factory
(an
important
choice!) and the wonderful and moving Flanders
Fields WW1 Museum in
Ypres alongside the stunning monument that is
the Menin Gate which is
also in Ypres. We finished it off with an enjoyable and nerve racking
visit to a theme park
which was a fun filled day. Well done to all
on the success of this trip. Ms Archibald and
Ms Simmington travelled that week with
the Sixth Year Art students on an Art tour
of the main galleries in Paris. This is a wonderful opportunity for the girls to have firsthand experience of the development of the
great movements in Art throughout history
for the Art history part of their LC work and
it is hard to beat the quality of work that is
available to them in Paris. Another very successful trip by all accounts. Many thanks to
the teaching staff who organised both trips.
Congrats to Mrs Irene Burke on the return
of a very successful run of the Musical
‘Grease’ featuring the many talents of the
T.Y. girls and the boys from Blackrock College and C.B.C. Monkstown. The three nights of the
show were played to full houses.
The music, dancing and the variety of roles in the show were top
class along with the great costumes. Well done again to Mrs
Burke on great casting and great
TY Musical Grease
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From the Principal’s Desk continued
Pink Ladies!
Grease Oct 2014
Green Schools
recent “No
Trash Lunch”
was a huge
success due to
the cooperation
of our students
and parents.
Good Luck to our
2nd Year’s
Young Scientists Entry
‘Can You Dye Insulin’
ST.
JOSEPH
choreography from Debbie Kiernan
the choreographer, to the voice training from Ms Connor and the ever
young Mr Michael Casey who coordinated the Music for the show.
Well done to the female leads from
T.Y. Sandy Charlotte Morgan 4C and
Risso played by Robyn Magennis 4C .
The comment from the girls in their
programme for the show says it all ie
”Grease’ has been the best experience of 4th Year. It has taught us all
how to handle different experiences
in life and it has matured our year
also”.
The best of luck to this years’ Green
School Committee headed up by Sixth
year Year Head Ms Mc Evoy and the
Committee of Staff and students
working towards the school’s Sixth
Green Flag representing global diversity and co-operation.
Student Success
Congratulations to the 52 Fifth Year
students who were recipients of
Bronze Gaisce Awards in October and
the 17 Fifth Year Silver Gaisce participants this year. Twenty one Sixth
Years will receive their awards in Trinity in 27 November. Congrats to all
the girls who participated this year
and to Mrs Wolahan Gaisce Coordinator this year on her commitment to facilitating and assisting the
girls annually to receive this prestigious award and well done to all the
girls who follow through and commit
to the demands of a venture outing,
community service and learning a
new skill over the week and months
involved. On all counts this is a positive life experience for those who
take part. Two current Sixth
years Ellen O Hagan 6L and
Emily Mc Hugo 6N are attempting their Gold Gaisce
this year also. Good luck to
them!
OF
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Well done to the fifth year Spanish
students Hannah McSweeney
5C,Ciara Crotty 5C , Niamh Brennan
5N and Niamh McCarthy 5L who took
part in a recent Spanish debating
competition in Castleknock College
and to Ciara McKeown 6N,Aisling Ruigrok 6C and Ciara Crotty 5C who competed in the Gael Linn Debates
against debaters from Wesley, Blackrock and Rathdown School in October.
Congrats also to Lucy Gammell 2Y,
Catherine Murphy 2Y and Holly Hunt
2W on the success of having their project on ‘Can You Dye Insulin’ accepted
for the Young Scientist competition in
January.
The round of school debating and
public speaking began in earnest in
October in TCD debates featuring
Sarah Jane Ronan 5C, Miona Fogarty
5C, Ciara Crotty 5C and Chloe Langan
5C. And great to see the Sixth Years
out in force again this term despite
the demands of their final year in
school and representing the school
splendidly at the 2014 Soroptomist
International Woman’s Public Speaking Competition in the beautiful Oak
Room in the Mansion House this
month. The team consisted of Kate
Doorly 6C, Aisling Ruigrok 6C, Niamh
Plunkett 6N and Maeve Rafferty 6L.
Congrats to Aisling who was placed in
runner up position on the day. The
Concern Debating Team began well
this month also defeating Mt Anville
on the night. This team of debaters
included Ciara Crotty 5N, Niamh Brennan 5N on the challenge of Ireland
staying with its commitment to third
World Aid. Well to those students on
the next round. Leinster Schools Debates begin this month also and will
start in UCD with the Fifth year team
of Chloe Langan 5C, Sarah Jane Ronan
5C and Miona Fogarty 5C. Good luck
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From the Principal’s Desk continued
to this team!
On the issue of Third World Aid it was great
to have a return visit from John O Shea who
addressed the TY students on Third World
poverty and how the girls might make their
contribution to assisting world poverty
through social entrepreneurship or spending some weeks when they are college students assisting in third world projects. It is
always great to hear from John and to listen
to his first- hand experience of the value of
making a contribution of time to assist the
poor in deprived areas of the world.
Haiti Schools Rebuilding Project ‘Thinking
Girls’
Another Social Entrepreneur we are hoping
to assist this year is M Sackville past pupil
Linda O Halloran, one of the founding Directors of ‘Thinking Development’ with the aim
of educating girls in Haiti and helping to rebuild that society by replacing the Cluny
secondary school that was destroyed there
in 2010. The aim is to build a sustainable
school building that is also earthquake
proof. An amount of money has been collected for this project so far to allow for the
first 2 phases of the development of this
building. We have made this project our
Student Council Charity/House Captains
charity for the year. We are hoping to link
up with Mt Sackville for a joint charity fundraising project in the spring. More details
will be available shortly and many thanks to
the Parents Association who have very
St. Joseph of Cluny Haiti Students before
their school was destroyed by an earthquake
Together we can rebuild their school!
kindly offered their assistance.
Building Works
We are nearing the final
handover of our Hockey
Astroturf to the school
shortly. A series of re- Ms. White, centre, hosting a reception for
our Past Pupils at their recent
quired testing has been
20 year School Reunion—Oct 2014
going on over the last
number of months, inclusive of the floodlights but the Board was
‘Thinking
very happy to have received final confirmation from the Swiss based International
Development’
Hockey Federation that the pitch has been
...We have
deemed of International quality certified
now to host both International and National
made this
competitions. It has remained it great conproject our
dition recently during the long weeks of rain
when other local pitches were water
Student Council
logged. Well done to SAC construction and
Charity/House
to Sports Labs UK. A number of the local
Primary school are enjoying its benefits this
Captains charity
term.
for the year...
Work continues on the Sports Hall which is
trying to tackle long term water ingress difficulties. We will be moving indoors soon to
give the changing rooms a makeover along
with other works.
We are hopeful of finishing our new
tennis courts and resurfacing the
Sports Hall car park in the New Year.
There have been lots of team and
League successes in Hockey, Basketball
and Badminton this term also so well
done to all participants. Please fine
details in this edition.
Lots to look forward to! Hope to see
you all at the Carol Service on 16 December as it is always a very special
event. In the meantime I hope you all
enjoy the month of December and
good wishes to you all and your families for the Christmas festivities and for
the Christmas season ahead with its gifts custom, ceremony, celebration and every good wish for 2015.
Nollaig Shona go leir.
M.White
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Image Magazine—The Diary—November Edition 2014
ST.
JOSEPH
OF
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Leaving Certificate Students 2014
Congratulations to all students who sat their Leaving Certificate this year. We are extremely proud of them and wish
them happiness and success in their chosen careers.
Points
550-600
500-550
10
10
No of
students
attaining
450-500
17
Harvard University
Applied Maths and Economics
1
Royal College of Surgeons
Medicine
1
University College Dublin
Arts
Law and French
Human Nutrition
Radiography
Health and Performance Science
Food Science
Commerce
Trinity College Dublin
European Studies
Bess
Drama and English
Psychology
Deaf Studies
Arts
NUI Maynooth
Arts
12
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
National College of Ireland
Marketing Practice
1
Szent Istvan Egyetem Budapest
Veterinary
1
Dublin Institute of Technology
Science
Business and Management
Culinary Entrepreneurship
Biomedical Science
Business and Law
2
1
1
5
1
400-450
7
350-400
11
300-350
< 300
9
Film and Broadcasting
Journalism
Clinical Measurement
Retail Management
Culinary Arts
9
1
1
1
1
1
ADT
English Media and Culture Studies
Business
Applied Psychology
2
4
1
St Patrick’s College Drumcondra
Primary School Teaching
2
Dublin College University
Business
Law
1
1
IT Tallaght
International Hospitality Management 1
Coogan Bergin
Beauty
1
Post Leaving Certificate Courses
Business
Criminology
Performing Arts
Applied Psychology
1
1
1
2
Griffith College
Fashion Design
2
L.A Academy
Make-up
1
Gap Year/Repeating
3
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Buddy Bonding 1st & 6th Years
8
“..I personally
enjoyed getting
to know my
buddy during this
period as she
was very chatty
and seemed
eager to learn
about the
school.”
ST.
JOSEPH
Buddy Meeting 2014
Buddy Picnic
On the 12th of September First years
were finally introduced to their Sixth
year buddy. The buddy system is a
Cluny tradition where a Sixth year
student is assigned a First year to take
under their wing and basically help
them settle into the school. As always
both years were nervous to meet
their buddies, maybe Sixth year more
than first years!!
To ease us into it we turned it into a
bit of a game. Ms. McEvoy and Inion
Ní Aodhagáin, the Sixth and First Year
Year Heads, handed each student a
sticker with the name of their buddy
on it. Both years were lined up at opposite ends of the hall. There was music playing and the atmosphere was
great! When Ms. McEvoy said “GO”
everyone had to rush around and try
to find their name on another girl.
There was music playing some people were quick to locate their buddy,
others took slightly longer but everyone was paired up in the end. Once
everyone was paired up we sat down
in groups of 4 or 6 and chatted to our
buddies. I personally enjoyed getting
to know my buddy during this period
as she was very chatty and seemed
eager to learn about the school.
Throughout the year we plan to host
numerous buddy events possibly once
a month including a cinema trip and a
buddy quiz. Everyone is very excited
to spend time with
their buddy and eager
to help make this year
easier for them.
Becky Carroll 6L
On Monday the 13th of October all the
1st and 6th years had their first Buddy
event. We had a picnic in the concert
hall. All the 6th year buddies bought
and baked delicious treats. The hall
was all set up with picnic blankets set
out on the floor. We all gathered in
groups on the blankets and we
started to get to know our buddies.
There was music playing in the background and there was a great atmosphere in the hall as everyone began to
tuck into the lovely treats and cakes.
It was a very successful day and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. We are
all looking forward to our next buddy
event.
Ellen O Neill and Louise McKeown 1X
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Sixth Year Retreat to Glendalough
On a beautiful, sunny Tuesday, we set off on our Retreat to Glendalough. The two coaches filled with us,
sixth years; singing, chatting and being the very opposite of the silence and insularity usually found on a
Retreat. With the air conditioning turned to the max,
we looked out the window where big city roads
turned to winding back roads and country side in no
time.
When we arrived, we were led into a grassy field,
making footprints on the dewy grass. We were introduced to Father Michael Rodgers and Sister Bríd and
were told by them that this was a day to get in touch
with ourselves and to be grateful for the gift of life.
We started off by using all of our senses, to live in the
moment and fully appreciate all the things going on
around us. We looked around at the flawless, blue
sky, the round tower high above the trees. The
sound of the water rushing, the feel of the grass
under our feet and the sun at our back.
We walked on open paths filled with sunshine,
overlooking the sparkling lake and up hills covered
in dark forests, each symbolising our path along
life and the good and bad days to come. Walking
past rocks which were over 500 million years old
and going through mazes leaving our worries behind us.
And so we ended the day not quite saints but
were able to appreciate the peacefulness and
beauty that Glendalough offered us and in the
Church of the Women, a table was littered with
flowers and sticks and rocks. Each one picked up
by us on our path and represented ourselves.
There we had Mass and gave thanks for our wonderful day and
prayed for the
peace we found at
Glendalough
to
continue throughout the year and
our lives.
Our 1st Year Geography Trip
When we were first told about our upcoming Geography trip to Shanganagh beach
we were all very excited. On Thursday the
25th of September an enthusiastic year all
set off to Glenageary DART Station along
with Ms Rooney, Mr Twomey and Ms.
Keenaghan. After arriving at Shankill, each
First Year student was handed a worksheet
and began filling it in as we headed down
to the beach. We had to find features of
coastal erosion and deposition such as
notches, blowholes, cliffs, and beach, as
well as identifying constructive and destructive waves. We were soon ready for
our picnic that we enjoyed sitting on the
rocks in the sunshine.
After lunch three girls volunteered to each throw
an orange into the sea and
we measured how far
longshore drift could bring
the oranges up the shore.
We were amazed how far and quickly they
travelled. We then took pictures of the sea
before heading back to the DART. This was
our first outing in Cluny uniforms and we all agreed it
was a big success. Hopefully
we can all look forward to
many more.
Cara O’Donnell 1W
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Bronze Gaisce Participants 2013-14
Read more
about Gaisce,
the Presidents
Award on their
website
www.gaisce.org
Well done to the following 5th years
who completed the Bronze Gaisce
Challenge in 2013-2014. Awards will
be presented at the beginning of
year Whole School Assembly
B Wolahan
1. Ailise Allen
2. Aislinn Brennan
3. Niamh Brennan
4. Aoife Burke
5. Caroline Byrne
6. Eve Carr
7. Ruth Cassidy
8. Ciara Crotty
9. Sophie Doherty
10. Emma Duggan
11. Miona Fogarty
12. Anouk Fitzsimons
13. Sophie Forsyth
14. Ellen Fortune
15. Caoimhe Gillis
16. Jennifer Hickey
17. Siofra Hughes
18. Anna Jackson
19. Tara Keenan
20. Ciara KELLY
21. Chloe Langan
22. Dearbhla Madden
23. Rebecca Maher
24. Laoise Mangan
25. Louisa Maye
26. Helena McAlinden
27. Niamh McCarthy
28. Chloe McDonnell
29. Maeve McElree
30. Emily McKendry
31. Hannah McSweeney
32. Emma Muldowney
33. Gemma Murphy
34. Lucy Murray
35. Hazel Nolan
36. Shauna O Carroll
37. Grace O Donovan
38. Zoe O Dwyer
39. Kate O Rourke
40. Abbi O Toole
41. Megan O Toole
42. Alex Plenderleith
43. Emer Rafferty
44. Saoirse Reade
45. Aisling Roche
46. Sarah-Jane Ronan
47. Aisling Scully
48. Orla Scully
49. Rosanna Sheridan
50. Bronagh Stapelton
Braving the
elements on the
Gaisce Hike, May
2014, just one part
of their Gaisce
commitment.
Culinary Arts Cupcake Challenge
The task for our first culinary
arts cookery class was to research an original cupcake batter
and decorate it to suit a specific
occasion. We chose to do red
velvet cupcakes with buttercream icing to suit Valentine’s
day. We got out the laptops in
the library and researched different recipes. During the week we
went shopping for all the ingredients. On the day we were baking we didn’t think that we
would win as many of the other
ST.
JOSEPH
OF
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girls had very creative
ideas. We really enjoyed making the cupcakes and had a great laugh. We decorated the cupcakes very carefully with the
icing and we put edible roses on each
cupcake. When Ms.Fahey asked the class
who they thought made the best cupcakes the class said us. We were astonished! Our prize was a free pass each to
Dundrum cinema which we are saving
them for midterm.
By Megan Drea and Christina McDonnell.
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A Musical Journey
TY Production—Grease - October 2014
This journey began 25 years ago when I
mentioned the musical My Fair Lady to Sr.
Maeve Guinan. Looking at the sixteen official photos in the hall this week I realised
that I had been involved in the production
of all of these and all the unrecorded others! So many girls, songs, dances, costumes
and sets and changes over the years! So
many musicals brought from page to stage.
The choice of musical has always been significant, can we accommodate a bevy of
lovely girls? Sixty to seventy five girls and 20
boys? We have discovered over the years
that they like a little glamour for example in
last years’ Boyfriend they looked stunning.
Not so keen on being peasants in our moving Fiddler on the Roof or the singing nuns
in the Sound of Music or cowgirls in Oklahoma. Each year we have found ways of
reorganising the scripts to involve all our
students as fully as possible on stage, transformed into different characters by wonderful costuming and make up -from our so
loyal Costume Club. Their care, kindness
and creative talents ensure that every student steps on to the stage happy and confident.
Our choreography has improved greatly
since me and students work shopped our
early productions. However since then we
have had the benefit of professional choreographic talents, in particular of Tara
Doyle, Margaret Joyce, Tanya Dormer and
our latest Debbie Kirwan.
It has been such a pleasure working with
our many talented Musical Directors -David
Wray, Tamara Galassi, Liz Nolan (RTE) Judith
Nolan, Helen Mahon, Charles
O’Connor who left us for Sligo and
John O’Connor who forsook us
this year for greater things in London and now we welcome a new
face Ms Yvette Connor, and wish
her well in her first outing with
Cluny. Michael Casey rescued us
from disaster some fifteen years
ago when our musical director fell
ill and since then has been at hand
to help steer the musical ship.
Merci Michael.
Art work has been so important,
our lovely backdrops, works of
art. First with Maeve Hunter for
many years, (The Wiz and Fiddler
are so evocative) Jackie Ball and
Louise O’Sheehan, (High School
Musical) Denise French
(Hairspray) and now our charming
Fiona Archibold. To see the Art
groups come in each year and
transform that canvas into Nice,
New York, Oklahoma , Ohio, Rydell High, The World of Oz …is
always a magical revelation. Courtesy of Ed and Martin those flats
and backdrops fly up and down!
Our Georgian windows and palm
trees have served us well since designed over 15 years ago.
Over the years faces have changed
in the staff room but those of Ms.
White, Annette, Ms. Seymour, Ms.
Dullaghan, Ms. Joy remain, always
with an encouraging word when
high drama and difficulties arise,
as they invariably do on occasion!
The support and tolerance of all
our colleagues is so appreciated
and essential to this project.
We began with all female casts in fact our first Danny was played
magnificently by Christa Lawless.
Over the last ten years, with Ms
White’s encouragement, we have
brought in boys each year from dif-
TY Musical 2011
Hairspray
TY Musical 2010
Footloose
TY Musical 2009
Fame
TY Musical 2008
The Wiz
TY Musical 2014
Grease
11
PAGE
A Musical Journey continued
12
ferent schools. Grease on both recent occasions attracted 70 boys to
be auditioned! The boys have added
a new and vibrant dimension. Romances have blossomed! Three weddings …..
Our stars have even appeared on
stage and screen, Aisling O’Neill from
our first Boyfriend in Fair City , Aisling Franciosi from High School Musical in film , Karen Koster from Guys
and Dolls in Exposé, Joanna King
from the Boyfriend in ‘Casualty’. It
has been a great privilege to have
known so many talented and wonderful girls over the years….girls of which
Cluny can be proud.
Memorable moments occur each
year - discovering an emerging talent
- a shy girl dancing and smiling in the
front row - a comic talent discovered
in Fiddler on the Roof— a parent discovering her son’s singing talent as
he stars in Footloose - Girls seeing a
fellow pupil in a different light—a
brilliant organiser sorting our costumes and always a camaraderie
and sense of team spirit developing
over the rehearsal time.
We are very proud of our achievement, in transforming so many of the
impersonal words in the script to living and vibrant stage
moments…the
magic of theatre; of giving
so many of our
girls an opportunity to demonstrate their
talents. Thank
you girls and
colleagues …we
have shared so
many happy
memories!
TY Musical March
2013
Back to the 80’s
Photo below
TY Musical Oct
2013
The Boyfriend
Mrs Irene
Burke with
some of Grease
cast
Oct 2014
ST.
JOSEPH
OF
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So once again its Grease…..The show
now belongs to you the TY of 2014…
Give it all your energy !
Mrs Burke
MA. L.T.C.L.
Musical Memories 2014
Costumes were so exciting and
colourful
Ross’ speech as Eugene
The auditions were fun especially
the boys
Getting the opportunity to sing,
dance and act
I got much closer to people in my
year
A great class bonding experience
Editing the script to make it more
suitable Meeting our dance partners and being too shy to dance
properly at first
Learning our fabulous dances
I loved helping design the backdrop
This was a fantastic experience ..
Memories made that will never be
forgotten
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Grease The Muscial—Students Perspective
‘’Grease’’ so far has been the best experience of 4th year. It has taught us all about
how to handle different experiences in life
and it has matured our year also.
When starting the musical no one knew
what to expect. Yes we were doing
‘’Grease’’ and we were the envy of the rest
of the school but there were still unanswered questions. Who would get to play
Sandy was the main thought floating
around our year. We all went through the
audition process, the girls and the boys. All
very enthusiastic to take part (especially the
boys!!!). It seemed that auditioning for the
Cluny musical ‘’Grease’’ was one of the top
priorities on many 4th year boys’ minds.
From day one it was go go go. Yet we were
still anticipating the day the lead parts
would be casted. Once the lead parts were
announced two days later we were off to
Recess Connemara. There we had many
‘’Grease’’ hits on replay. We belted out the
words to ‘You’re the One that I Want’ daily
until we got to the point where we had no
voices left.
Once we returned it was madness between
costumes, singing and dancing, a bit of a
whirlwind in my opinion. However it was all
part of the fun. Some dances were harder
than others. Walking was a struggle for
many. It was quite amusing that so many
people found it difficult to do a basic walk
on the spot, opposite arm to leg. We soon
conquered the walking and everything else
that came at us.
As we count down the days to the opening
of the curtain on Wednesday night excitement is raising yet fear kicking in. However,
no one has a doubt in their mind it won’t be
a success. Everyone believes that all our
hard work will pay off when we show case
‘’Grease’’ in the concert hall, full of our family, friends and fellow students. We hope
you will enjoy the musical as much we have
enjoyed putting
it together!
By Hannah
O’Neill
The day had come. After an anxious summer
of waiting we were finally going to find out
what musical we would be taking part in. We
all filed into the hall, nervous and chatty. Ms.
Burke stood up and the whole hall fell quiet,
everyone anxious to find out. After a few tense moments
Ms Burke smiled and announced ‘Grease.’ Everyone began cheering and clapping and relief flooded the room.
It wasn’t long before auditions came around and soon
after that principals were picked. Each girl was put in a
dance group - the Rockers, Cools, Greasers or Cheerleaders. Soon rehearsals were in full swing, each group learning their own dances and songs. The long search for costumes began and there was always a frantic scramble on
the day of a rehearsal as everyone tried to get their costumes in order. Meanwhile the leads had evening rehearsals with the boys and there was always a constant stream
of gossip and stories about how they though the musical
was coming along, each of them with a different opinion.
As well as being given a dance group each girl was assigned a job-Publicity, Art or Costumes. It was the publicity girls’ job to sell the tickets for our musical and essentially promote it. The art girls’ job was to help design and
paint the set over two long Saturdays. These days were
very memorable and they made the musical seem more
real and personal to all the girls. The costume girls had the
hard task of finding costumes in the dark room under the
stage and then modelling them not only for us, but on
Open Day also. As the weeks of rehearsals dragged on the
musical began to come together before our very eyes. The
hard work and long hours of dancing and singing seemed
to be paying off.
We would like to thank Ms. Burke for organising this
whole musical because without her we would’ve gotten
anywhere. We would also like to thank Debby for choreographing all the dances and for being patient with us as
we learnt the new twists and turns and thank you to Ms.
Connor who taught us every song and harmony. A big
thanks also to Ms. Dalton and the costume ladies who
helped us find our perfect outfit for the show. We hope
that as you sit back and watch the musical our hard work
and dedication is clearly
portrayed. Thank you for
reading and enjoy the show!
By Eilidh Murphy and Jane
Byrne.
13
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14
First Year Art Trip
This October, the first year art classes
went on a trip to ‘The Hugh Lane Gallery’ and ‘The Irish Museum of Modern Art’, or ‘I.M.M.A’.
When we arrived at The Hugh Lane
Gallery, we were given a worksheet.
We had to find a picture that we
found interesting, illustrate it and find
out information about it. We split into
two groups and had a look at all the
amazing pieces of artwork. We also saw the
recreated Francis Bacon
studio, and it was shocking to see how messy artists can be!
After our visit to The
Hugh Lane Gallery, we
went to McDonalds for
our lunch, and headed off
to I.M.M.A. It was fascinating to see all the abstract pictures and unique
sculptures. After completing the
worksheet and finishing our walk
around the galleries, we went over to
the gardens and then we headed
home. Everyone had a great time and
we really enjoyed ourselves.
By Ailbhe Larkin
2nd Year Art Tip
On Thursday the 16th October, the
2nd year art students went to town
on an art trip. We visited a car park
full of graffiti first, which we took
lots of photos
in! We then
went to the
Chester Beatty
museum which
featured ceramic art and
ancient art. Afterwards we
went to ECOUNESCO, which
had an Irish
coral reef which
was embroidered. We went
GRAFFITI
ART
ST.
JOSEPH
OF
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for lunch in Temple Bar.
After lunch, we went to the Blackchurch Print Studio. It contained
three floors with a variety of different printing techniques. The first
floor was lithography, the second
floor was etching and the third floor
was screen printing. The man who
showed us around explained each
process in lots of detail. We walked
up to Trinity College to see the sculptures in the grounds. It was a great
day out and all the art students really
enjoyed it!
By Dani Carr 2Y and Lia 2W
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Buaiteorí den Scoth
Anuraidh chumamar dánta sa rang agus
sheolamar iad go dtí Iris Nua Liteartha
‘’Comhar Óg’’. Bhí an t-ádh linn mar foilsíodh iad sa chéad eagrán eile. Chum
Dearbhla dán faoi deilfeanna I mbaol, chum
Brona dán faoi a colceathrar Saoirse agus
chum Mia dán faoi púca beag a thug cuairt
uirthi.
Chuir Alison a dán ‘’Níos Sona’’ isteach I
gcomórtas bhí ag Conradh na Gaeilge le
haghaidh Seachtain na Gaeilge agus tháinig
sí sa triú háit in Éireann. Bhí ‘‘Níos Sona’’
faoi feirmeoir a bhí go sona sásta cois tine
tar éis lá fada ag obair go dian. Bhí an
sceitimíní uirthi freisin mar fuair sí fiche
euro.
Last year we wrote poems in the class and
we sent them to ‘’Iris Nua Liteartha Comhar
Óg’’. We were very lucky because they published them in the next issue. Dearbhla
composed a poem about dying dolphins,
Brona composed one about her little cousin
Saoirse and Mia composed one about a
small ghost that visited her.
Alison entered her poem ‘’Níos Sona’’ in a
competition that Conradh na Gaeilge had
for Seachtain na Gaeilge and she came third
place in Ireland. ‘’Níos Sona’’ was about a
happy farmer beside the fire after a long
days work. She was very happy because she
won twenty euro as well.
Na Deilfeanna By Dearbhla Hanney
Tá na deilfeanna ag fail bháis
Go luath beidh said imithe
Tá an timpeallacht á lót
Agus nílimid á saoradh
Stop an marú
Ní maith leo bheith I ngéibheann
Tá na deilfeanna I mbaol
Nílimid á saoradh
Cuir stop leis an marú!
An Cuairteoir By Mia Kenny
Bhí cnag ar an doras oíche amháin
D’fhreagair mé é,
Ach le m’iontas,
Ní bhfuair mé aon rud ann.
An oíche dár gcionn
Tháinig cnag eile,
Mia Kenny, Dearbhla Hanney, Brona Markey and Alison Barnes
D’fhreagair mé é ach
Ní raibh aon rud ann.
An oíche dar gcionn tháinig cnag arís,
Bhí eagla orm.
Nuair a d’oscail mé an doras chonaic mé é
An púca beag.
An púca beag d’fhéach sé orm
Bhí sé beag agus bán.
An púca beag a duirt ‘BOO’!
“We were very
lucky because
they published
them in the
next issue”
Saoirse By Brona Markey
Ag súgradh ag spraoi
Ina brógaí beag buí
Mo chol ceathar Saoirse
I gcónaí I mo chroí.
Ná bac leis an bhfad
Beidh me ann di gan stad,
Mo chol ceathar Saoirse
Ná dean dearmad.
Is breá liom thú go deo
Is breá liom thú gach treo
Mo chol ceathar Saoirse
Tá mo ghrá duitse beo
Níos Sona By Alison Barnes
Bhí sé an-fuar
Ach ní raibh scamall sa spéir
Bhí an teach beag
Agus deatach go léir
Ní raibh aon duine
Ag siul in aice an teach
Bhí an feirmeoir ag obair
Bhí gach rud go maith
Istigh sa teach beag
Bhí sé an teo
Agus in aice na tine
Bhí áthas ar an bhfeirmeoir gan aon agó
Tar éis la fada oibre
Is gaiscíoch aon duine
Bhí sé tuirseach
Ach anois bhí sé níos sona
15
PAGE
16
Our Trip to the Bank—TY
On the 13th of November, a group of
five transition years and around fifteen first years gathered in the foyer
ready to brave the weather outside in
order to catch the 59 bus to Dun
Laoghaire. We were all really excited
to be going down to the Bank of Ireland Dun Laoghaire branch to get an
exclusive tour of how the bank is run.
We arrived before opening time and
were shown how the money is taken
out each morning to prepare for the
day ahead. We got to see inside the
vaults and learned that all the unlocking had to be done by at least two
people. We were shown into the safe
keeping vault in which there was a
guitar belonging to a famous person
(we didn’t get told who) and the original sorcerers hat from the Harry Potter movie! We got to see different
bank notes including the Australian
dollar which is waterproof and the
Canadian dollar which smells like
maple syrup! We went finally behind
the cash desks after having to go
through seven locked doors with
codes on them. We got free Bank of
Ireland pens when we were leaving.
It was a very educational trip and the
information that we learned will be
very beneficial in the running of the
school bank which transition years are
in charge of.
By Laura Lynam 4th Year
Spooky Halloween Cakes
In our last home economics class before midterm we made scary Halloween cupcakes. We got ideas from the
internet and looking at photo from
previous years and eventually made
our decision. They looked really
spooky!!! Everyone had a different
design including spiders, monsters
and even the cookie monster made
an appearance. We really enjoyed
decorating the cupcakes...and we enjoying eating them even more!!
ST.
JOSEPH
OF
CLUNY
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17
Open Evening—September 2014 photo gallery
The
key to Cluny’s
highly successful
Open Evening is
student
participation! A
big thank you to
all the girls who
gave their time
and energy to
this school event.
Dun Laoghaire
Gazette Headline
Cluny as “Cool
School” in their
Oct Edition!
PAGE
18
Runde zwei in Deutschland!
Summer 2014 the three of us were
fortunate enough to return to Germany to complete another Sprachkurs
(language course). We travelled to
Nϋrnberg in southern Germany.
We had visited Nϋrnberg the previous year on a day trip and fell in
love. The Germans describe it as “a
small picturesquecity full of history” to us it was not small. Having
its own underground system,Straßenbahn and SBahn, it
was not hard for us to make our
way around. The first day we were
greeted by our host mother Inge at
the train station, she brought us to
our home where we would spend
the next two weeks. There we met
our lovely roommates Ana
(Brazilian) and Silvia (Italian). We
attended school everyday where
we expanded our vocabulary and
improved our speaking ability
greatly. Our afterschool activities
ranged from sailing, going to the
cinema and visiting places Hitler
and his forces once occupied. On
Saturdays we visited nearby cities
such as Bayreuth. We even had
time to take a day trip to Munich.
The three of us took a train from
Nϋrnberg’s central station to Munich. There we
took
another
train out to the
old concentration camp in
Dachau,
we
took a quick
tour there and
made our way
back to Munich.
It rained the
whole day but
that didn’t stop
us from visiting
all we wanted
to on our “to do
ST.
JOSEPH
OF
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in Munich” list. We managed to
squeeze in a visit to the BMW museum, the Olympic park and Marienplatz. We got a great sense of public
transport that day, 15 trains and 6
buses later we were finally home.
Tired was an understatement! We
found this year in Germany even better than last year’s visit, we were less
nervous this time and we were more
willing to speak with the locals and
explore all that Bavaria had to offer.
Although it may be a cliché, the
friends we made this summer are
friends for life (even though they live
all over the world). We our already
arranging a reunion with our friends
from Brazil. We would recommend to
any doing a language in school to take
part in an exchange or a language
course, It really helped us to improve
not only our writing but also gave us
more confidence when speaking. If
you have the opportunity to take part
in one, you won’t regret it. Our visits
to Germany have been our two favourite holidays we’ve all ever been
on, even if it was school related! J
Cliona Rellis, Kate Geraghty & Claire
MacHale
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Web Summit —RDS Dublin Oct 2014
The week before mid-term Transition Year
students and some fifth years were given an
amazing opportunity to visit the world renowned Web Summit meeting which was
being held in Dublin. We all eagerly signed
up to secure one of the fifty places available
to us. We spent numerous classes researching the event which we would be attending.
On Tuesday 4th November we were given
our instructions of how to get there and
were left eagerly waiting for the time to
arrive that night. We students and our three
teachers, Ms. O’Riordan, Mr. Twomey and
Ms. Higgins, met outside the RDS in Simmonscourt at 6.45p.m. but were left waiting
on those who had trusted the reliable DART
to not break-down, how wrong they were!
Nevertheless as 7 o’clock arrived we made
our way into the RDS arena accompanied by
several other schools from all over the
country. We took our seats and eagerly
awaited for the
esteemed conference to begin.
The large hall
where we took
our seats greatly
reflected the matter of the conference.
As
we
walked through
the tunnels of
sculpted
key-
boards, the glare of fluorescent cubes that
created the stage stunned us. We knew
were in for a real treat. We took our seats,
chatted to friends and waved to familiar
faces we saw in the crowd, it was a fun start
to the night.
At approximately 07.30 Marcus Segal, who
would be our presenter, gave us a brief synopsis of what could be expected from the
night. The speakers varied from young
minds starting off in the tech world to those
who have already made their mark in this
field of work. There were many interesting
topics discussed including robots, science
experiments and coder dojo; a computer
coding system which we fortunately have
the opportunity to take part in during transition year in our school. As the night progressed we listened attentively, danced to
Beyoncé and were apart of many crowd
selfies.
All of the speakers were very encouraging
and inspired many of us to open our minds
to different aspects of technology development. We were very grateful towards our
teachers for giving us this wonderful experience that we have learned so much from.
By Lauren Murray and Charlotte Morgan 4C
“… topics
discussed
including
robots, science
experiments
and coder
dojo”
19
PAGE
Paris—6th Year Art Cultural Tour
20
During the October midterm
break, a small group of 6th Year
students visited Paris with Ms.
Archibald and Ms. Simington.
On our first day we visited
Montmartre and went on a
walking tour around this picturesque area. We ate dinner at
the Hard Rock Café and we
then made our way to catch the boat
for the Seine river cruise. The views
from the deck were absolutely exquisite.
6th Year Art Class
in Paris
Our first gallery visit was to the
Musée de l’Orangerie, which is located in the beautiful tranquil Tuileries Gardens. The gallery is famous for
Claude Monet’s paintings of water
lilies that were designed especially for
the gallery. In the afternoon we did a
little shopping and then we had a traditional French meal before going to
visit the Eiffel Tower. We got a lift to
the summit. It was absolutely freezing
at the top but the view was unforgettable. It was amazing to see the city lit
up at night.
We started the third day by visiting
the Musée Marmottan, which is a
small private gallery that exhibits Impressionist and Post-Impressionist
work. In fact, the museum holds the
largest collection of Monet paintings
in the world. We then went to see the
beautiful Notre
Dame cathedral. We ate
lunch in the
bustling Saint
Michel
area.
We then went
to the Pompidou centre and
ST.
JOSEPH
OF
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the vintage quarter for some shopping.
The Musée d’Orsay was the main gallery we visited on the last day. It is
situated on the banks of the seine and
is a restored railway station. I think
that the building itself is just stunning,
not to mention the impressive art collection that it displays. This was one
of my favourite galleries. We then
visited the lock bridge. We bought
locks and wrote our names on the
locks and locked them to the bridge.
We then had lunch and visited the
Musée d’Art Décoratifs. This was
quite modern and displayed a wide
variety of exhibitions including fashion and jewellery. We then made our
way to the airport.
I thoroughly enjoyed every part of our
trip to Paris this year. I had the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of
French art and culture. Not only did I
have the amazing experience of being
able to see Paris in person but I also
had a great time with all the girls in
my class along the way. I would definitely recommend this trip to be part
of the Senior Art course because being able to see the paintings in real
life rather than in a textbook was
even better than I could have imagined.
By the 6th Year Art Class
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5th Year Tour of Belgium— Oct 2014
Day 1: Afternoon
Parlamentarium
None of us really knew what to expect as
we trudged up the steps towards the Parlamentarium in Brussels. We were all still recovering from the early flight, and of course
being typical teenage girls the first thing
that crossed our minds as we passed
through the security gate was ‘is there free
wifi?!!!’ ...There wasn’t. And so we came to
the conclusion that we must pay attention
and I’m so glad I did! We were handed
smart phones with a headset attached to
each one and this allowed us to swipe the
phone over various icons on walls and displays and our headset would then tell us all
of the relative information for that area.
The highlight for many people was an open
area where you could wheel around cylindrical trolleys around a huge map of Europe
on the floor. The trolleys had monitors on
them that would scan the name of the
country or city and reveal more information
about the area and its’ history as part of the
EU. (The trolleys were also entered in trolley races but that of course was purely for
educational purposes...) Overall we really
enjoyed the visit to the Parlamentarium and
we learned a lot. Afterwards, we got to stop
off outside the palace in Brussels to take
some photographs, before retiring to our
beautiful 4 star hotel for the night.
(By Aílise Allen )
Day 2: Morning:
Chocolate Museum and
Free time in Bruges
In the morning we went to
a Chocolate Museum.
Where we learned about
the history of chocolate
making and how ‘chocolate culture’ has evolved. We got to
taste the most amazing chocolates as well which was a bonus!
After each museum visit we got
at least an hour free time. This,
of course, was spent searching
for waffles and raiding chocolate shops. In
Bruges we got two hours to peruse the
beautiful area. A lot of chocolate was
bought, by the teachers as well as the students. I also think that not one person has
fully recovered from just how delicious the
waffles were. Then in Ypres people saw the
historic arc bridge and then went again to
get more waffles.
Each place we got to explore was beautiful
and historic. With the gorgeous scenery,
shops, restaurants, and just overall atmosphere, we could not have had a better time.
Not to say the organised trips were not
lovely, but I personally feel that our free
time was the most enjoyable. (By Nicole
Wright 5N)
Day 2: Afternoon:
“In Flanders Fields Museum”
After spending our Saturday morning in
Bruges visiting the Choco Story Chocolate
Museum and buying our bodyweight in
chocolate, we hopped back on the bus and
went to Ypres to visit the “In Flanders Fields
Museum”. The Museum presents the story
of the First World War that went on from
1914 – 1918. The Museum
particularly focused on the
invasion of Belgium and the
first months of the mobilisation, the four years trench
war in the Westhoek - from
the beach of Nieuwpoort to
the Leie in Armentières -,
“...typical
teenage girls
the first thing
that crossed our
minds as we
passed through
the security
gate was ‘is
there free
wifi?!!!’.”
21
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22
Belgium School Tour continued
Map of Belgium
“The exhibits
displayed
authentic
artefacts..”
ST.
JOSEPH
the end of the war and the
permanent remembrance
ever since.
When we first arrived we
were each given a bracelet
with a red poppy which
we used to interact with
different exhibits in the
museum. When everyone
had got there bracelets
we made our way upstairs
to begin our tour. The exhibits displayed authentic artefacts from the
war as well as reconstructions such as
a life size model of a horse pulling a
cart, full of weapons that were used
in the war. Some of the artefacts included the uniforms from the different ranks of soldiers, pieces of the
wooden carts that were used to carry
weapons and propaganda posters
that were used during the war.
Throughout the museum were interactive screens that told different stories of the soldiers that fought in the
war. We could read about where they
were from, about their family, how
they entered the war what rank they
were in and their experiences of the
war. We also had the opportunity to
read about the different countries
that were involved in the war and
what role they played. There were so
many stories of all the soldiers it
really made me think of what they
went through and how awful it must
have been for their friends and families. It also made me realise how awful the war was and how so many
innocent people were killed.
When we were all finished looking
around to the museum we met outside the front of the museum. The
teachers then told us that we had
about an hour to look around Ypres
and see the Menin Gate if we would
like to. The Menin Gate is a huge
OF
CLUNY
memorial dedicated to the British and
commonwealth soldiers who were
killed in the war but whose bodies
were never found. I was amazed at all
the names that were on the walls.
They listed the soldiers by their rank
or position and then alphabetically by
their last name. There are over 54,000
names listed there. It is terrifying to
think that nearly every one of those
men had a family or loved ones waiting for them to come home. The
Menin Gate gave them somewhere to
go to remember them.
To conclude I think visiting the “In
Flanders Fields Museum” and The
Menin Gate was a great experience. It
really helped me to understand fully
what happened during the war and
how awful the war was but also how
interesting all the different stories of
the soldiers are, How each of them
were so different but they all shared a
love for their country. (By Ellen Fortune 5th Year)
Day 2 Evening
Menin Gate
After spending the morning in Bruges
we went to Ypres where we visited
the Flanders Field WWI Museum. We
had a bit of free time after the museum in Ypres so many of us went to
see the Menin Gate which is a memorial to all those who died in the war. It
is a beautiful structure but it was also
quite sad at the same time. There
were many poppy wreaths laid there
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Belgium School Tour continued
at the plaques with all of the names on
them. We really enjoyed our time in Ypres.
(by Megan O’Toole)
Day 3:
In the morning, we went to ‘Mini Europe’ in
Brussels which was a great way to tour
around all of Europe in just a few hours!
We got the chance to see perfect replicas of
the best monuments and sites of Europe.
All the monuments have been recreated
down to the smallest detail. We were excited to see that Ireland was represented by
the Rack of Cashel and Glendalough. We got
lots of photographs beside the Eifel tour
and the Big Ben. It was a great way to learn
more about other countries in Europe and
we could think about all of the countries we
still want to travel to!
In the afternoon we went to Walabi Theme
Park just outside the city. When driving into
the car park all we could see was the
‘Cobra’, a red and yellow ride which goes
upside down six times. As soon as I saw that
I knew it was going to be a good end to our
trip. We were there for about 5 hours,
which gave us enough time to go on all the
thrilling rides and to the ‘Asylum’. My favourite rides were the ‘Cobra’, ‘Dalton Terror’, ‘Psyke Underground’, and ‘Vampire’.
We never had to wait long for our turn and
there were also lots of places where we
could get lunch. One of the best parts of
that day, and my overall trip was going into
the ‘Asylum’. This was a haunted house
with many different rooms of really creepy
and scary props. Throughout my whole time
in the haunted house I was screaming and
just wanted to leave. What really made my
day was seeing the teachers running out
and screaming. This was definitely one of
the highlights of my trip to Belgium!
(by Michaela Wright)
Biology Ecology Trip to Sandycove
Walking to Sandycove in our wellies and
rain jackets on a cool but nice day in fifth
year, we never expected that on our biology ecology trip we would find crabs,
prawns and even a jellyfish! Usually our
ecology trips take place in a green area
down the road but this year we decided to
study a seashore habitat instead. On arriving at Sandycove, we took a group photo
and then set to work looking in rock
pools, throwing pencils over our shoulders, placing a quadrat over that area
and then carefully counting the various
organisms found there. We were joined
by an amazing marine biologist (who
just happened to be Ms. Higgins’ daughter) and she helped us identify the many
organisms we managed to catch. It was
a lot of fun and thankfully the rain gear
wasn’t needed! By Katie Doorly
“What really
made my day
was seeing the
teachers
running out
and
screaming.”
23
PAGE
Sports News
24
Basketball Round Up Senior A & B
Cluny Senior B team V’s
HCK: Cluny win 42—17
Well done girls!
Cluny Senior A team
recent win Cluny V’s
Dakley
Cluny Win 44-40
Great Match Girls!
ST.
JOSEPH
First round of the National
Cup saw Cluny up against local rival Loreto Dalkey in
Cluny’s Home court. Dalkey
ended up avenging their 2011
quarter-final defeat by Cluny!
Amay Aita-Carroll was the
guiding light for the Dalkey
team while Cluny’s Grainne
Fay provided the steely determination such encounters
require! The two neighboring teams
have developed a healthy Rivalry. Former Cluny stand out Emma Lennon
dropped 18pts. On Dalkey and literally spoiled their party plans cake &
all!! Since then things have been a bit
more contested between the two
schools. The coaches Dalkey Steve
Cahill and Cluny’s Ed Randolph think it
has been good competition between
the two schools and both sets of supporters and players have friends that
they know since primary school days.
Dalkey, up against two tall forwards
in Ashley Byrne and Alex Plenderlieth,
certainly had their work cut out while
Grainne Fay and Julia Buckley showed
plenty of thrust down the middle for
the Cluny cause.
Crucial Amay Aita-Carroll, for Dalkey
had one of those
games where everything seem to go
in for her. Cluny
had opened up a
lead with fastbreak baskets from
Emma Finn and
Emma Nolan. But
Dalkey
wouldn’t
Go Way! At the
half time break
Cluny lead 24-20.
OF
CLUNY
The second half started with a three
point shoot from Dalkey’s Leanne
Morley to level the game after that a
determine driving score came from
Grainne Fay, it was to be Cluny’s only
score during the third quarter. Dalkey
went on to out score Cluny 32-28.
Both teams started the fourth quarter
slowly having difficulty scoring. Carroll
started to covert free throws for
Dalkey and Becky Carroll score a three
point shot to eat into Dalkey’s lead.
But free throw shots down the stretch
kept Cluny from getting Close. Alex
Plenderlieth scored a basket with one
minute forty seconds and Cluny were
only down by 3pts. 36-33 a Jennifer
Dunne basket put some more distance between the two teams. Alex
Plenderlieth scored two more baskets
but time ran out. Cluny exit’s the Cup
by the score of 45-39 at the hands of
their close neighbours Loreto Dalkey.
The girls were disappointed and will
see Dalkey soon after mid-term break
in the league fixtures looking to reverse the lost in the Cup. The Senior B
team will be starting their league
matches in the South Dublin league
after the mid-term with matches
against Mt. Anville, Dalkey, Muckross,
and St. Andrews. The team is lead by
a group of 5th year students mainly
Hazel Nolan, Tara Keenan , Ella
Browne, Anouk Fitzsimons which the
team will look for leadership and experience in this seasons league. The
rest of the team is made up of some
very talented Fourth Years Lara
Quinn, Eve O’Driscoll and Eimear
Boyle. The team should make the
quarter-finals of their league.
Good Luck Senior B team.
Mr. Ed Randolph
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Sports News
Hockey—October 2014
The competitive hockey season has been
underway for some weeks now with most
teams having played at least one League or
Cup match. As is usual, the leagues start a
few weeks after returning to school so
preparation starts as soon as possible with
training and Saturday matches. Some of the
players also did some preseason training in
readiness.
Our Senior teams have had mixed fortunes
so far. The Senior 1s performed extremely
well in their opening game against St Killians. They played with great courage and
determination and were very unlucky not
come away with something from the game.
Their second game against Teresians saw
them coming second. The Senior 2s have
begun very well beating both the opposition from St Andrews and St Columbas
comfortably.
Our Juniors have begun the season well The As giving a very good display in their
Cup game against Mt Anville. Although suffering a loss, they played very well and
hopefully that experience will stand to
them in future games. This was followed up
with a 2-2 draw with Holy Child Killiney,
Cluny scoring with the last shot of the
game.
The Juniors 2s have had a very impressive
season so far, defeating Holy Child Killiney,
Teresians and Rathdown in friendly games,
Their first league game saw hem beat Loreto Dalkey, before they came up against a
stronger Wesley team in the next round
losing 0-3.
The Minor teams look to
be shaping up well and
will begin their league
games after midterm.
We have some new
players this year who are
settling in very well and
making very good progess.
Junior Squad 2014/2015
First years are playing the new 8 v 8 format
again this year, and have begun the season
very enthusiastically. Two games are played
on half a pitch at the same time thereby
encouraging more playing time for the players. So far the first years have played
against Teresians, Mt Anville, Holy Child
Killiney and Mount Temple and have acquitted themselves very well with teams
having victories against all 4 schools.
I would like to wish all our teams well for
the remainder of the season.
Ms. M Seymour
First Years V’s Mt Anville
25
PAGE
26
Sports News
Badminton Mixed Doubles Tournament
Photo: Winners of
the Winter Round
Robin 2014
This year the U19’s team played a
mixed doubles tournament in De La
Salle College Churchtown in May
2014.
Three boy teams entered from The
High School Rathgar, Sandford Park
and De La Salle College, and three girl
teams from The High School, Loreto
Bray and St. Joseph of Cluny also entered.
The girls from St. Joseph of Cluny
were Kate Doorly, Becky Hackett, Mia
Kenny and Isabelle Bailey.
The Cluny girls were paired up with
boys from The High School, Rathgar.
Each of the teams played against each
other, with the two best performing
teams playing again in the Final.
Cluny along with the boys from The
High School, Rathgar made it to the
Final and came in second place!
We each received a medal and some
refreshments as a reward for our well
-played games.
It was a great experience and we cannot wait for next year’s tournament
By Mia Kenny and Isabelle Bailey
Outstanding Junior Student 2014
Ms. White, Principal presenting
Amber Barry with ‘Outstanding
Junior Student Award’ at the Third
Year Prize Giving in September
2014
Citation for this award:
‘This student is an all-rounder who
balances study with extracurricular activities and who participated fully in the life of the
school for the academic year 20132014, this student is nominated by
her peers and by the staff’
Congratulations Amber.
ST.
JOSEPH
OF
CLUNY
VOLUME
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Deputy Principal’s Diary—Ms. Lambert
Dark mornings and evenings
pose a stark contrast to the
bright lights and energy in
Cluny! I am of course referring
to the amazing list of events and
activities that the girls are involved in and organise from
early morning when they arrive
in school to late in the evening
before they go home.
It all begins at 8.15am when Green school members drop down to the Student Entrance to check
on the collection of the Recyclable item of the
month. This month it’s aerosols. Then they visit
Junior and Senior Assemblies to make their announcements e.g. No Thrash Thursday where we
leave all our lunch wrappings at home, WALK to
School Day, Gaisce /Green Schools weekly rosters .Throughout the week they have their Society meeting and check in with classes and teachers at lunch hours and break times.
Senior Prefects meet on Tues at 8.30am. Presently they are busy organising Buddy events and
themed weeks, assembly prayers and music. Student Council get together at 8.30am Weds, An
Club Gaelach on Thurs lunch hour with Choir and
Orchestra during lunch hours too! Add to that
our library activities, Book Clubs, ABC Work,
Fresher’s Week, House Activities, Samaritan
Christmas Shoe Box Appeal, our Haiti Appeal,
hostessing at PTM’s, the school musical, basketball, hockey and badminton practice, a CBC social, debating, our school bank, mini companies
and visiting speakers, you will have some idea
how busy the girls are!
A selection of our gracious
Open Evening Hostesses
It is heartening to hear that
this energy and enthusiasm
continues after students
leave St Joseph of Cluny and
we are always delighted to
learn of the voluntary work
our students participate in
after they leave school. We were all very proud
to learn that following her work as House Captain
for Gambia in 5th yr. Therese Hussey, (who completed her Leaving Cert last summer) travelled
there to offer her time, energy and skills to volunteer and to gain an insight into life in the Republic of Ghana, West Africa. Our Haiti project
which is a joint venture between Mount Sackville
Secondary School and our own is also led by a
former Cluny Student! Go Cluny!
The impressive coverage of the 2014 Debutant’s
Ball in Image Magazine last month showed the
girls in all their glory! What a lovely evening for
all !It was a huge success thanks to all the hard
work of the Parent’s Association .The debutants
successfully negotiated the descent of the famous red stairs with their escorts and enjoyed a
fun filled evening in the Osprey Hotel.
Many thanks to the Parent’s Association also for
organising an excellent speaker for their AGM.
Caroline Casey’s presentation was a huge success
and her words made a deep impression on her
audience. Our 3rd yrs. had their Study Skills
morning thanks to Ms Dullaghan and Student
Enrichment Services and so are well focussed for
the months ahead.
Congratulations to Ms Burke, Ms Connors, Ms
Archibald and all the team involved in our recent
production of Grease. It was a wonderful production and the 4th yrs. will have lots of happy
memories from the experience. Now we have the
Christmas Carol Service to organise as well as our
Vincent de Paul Hampers and collection and our
English dept. first year performance. These are all
part and parcel of the Cluny tradition and we
look forward to them.
May I wish you and all the family a happy and
peaceful Christmas and may the New Year bring
joy and happiness.
Nollaig Shona daíobh go léir agus athbhliain faoi
mhaise.
27
Dates for your diary:
St. Joseph of Cluny Secondary School
cordially invite you to the
Annual Christmas Carol Service
on Tuesday 16th December at 7.30 p.m.
in the School Concert Hall
Refreshments will be served by the
Parents Association following the performance.
All Welcome.
Christmas
Carol Singing
Fundraiser
Friday, December 19th @ 5pm
The Powerscourt Townhouse Centre
South William Street
Fundraising for the
re-building of a Cluny School
in Haiti
ttp://www.thinkingdevelopment.org/videos/jointhinkinggirls-campaign
Come and enjoy the Christmas spirit!