This newsletter gives us theopportunity to celebrate and recordsome of the achievements and workof the school. These achievementsand work are many and varied andwhile all are not covered here, I thinkit is fair to say that this newslettergives us a good insight into workthat has gone on in the school thisyear.

There were many achievementsthis year in all areas of school life,sporting, cultural, business, scien-tific, charitable and social. Thecontained activities cover many of

these.Our congratulations and apprecia-

tion is offered to all the pupils andteachers who organised and partici-pated in so many extra curricularactivities. The time and effort ofstaff and pupils enriches the wholeschool community.

Nora Forrestal retired this yearafter 26 distinguished years serviceto the school. We wish Nora a longand fulfilling retirement.

My thanks to all who havecontributed to this newsletter and inparticular to Ms. Tina Kennedy who

has done trojan work in putting ittogether.

We also congratulate Shay Bannonon his secondment to work withD.E.S. on the Leadership Develop-ment Programme.

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochasagus mo chomhgairdeas a chur iniul do phobal na scoile i gcoitínneach go mór mór do na múinteoirí ad’oibrigh chomh díograiseach sin.

Go n-éirí go geal le daltaí, muinte-orií agus tuismitheoirí Ardscoilamach anseo.

Pat Power

Last year’s European Young Consumers Award winners (1st in Ireland and 1st in Europe) the Clonmel High School recently travelledto Strasbourg to see at first hand the workings of the European Parliament as part of their prize for their winning project entitled “A

European Champions return homeEuropean Young Consumers Award Winners

HIGHSCHOOLCBS (Clonmel)

Ardscoil na mBraithreCluain Meala, Co. Thiobraid Arann

NewsletterChristian Brothers’ High School, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

Telephone: 052-24459 Fax: 052-25320 Email: ardscoilnamb@eircom.net

May 2002

SOCCER — A ROARING SUCCESS

The running of two teams this yearproved to be a roaring success with theU-15 and U-17 providing many delight-ful memories for the year.

Firstly the U-15’s. The team wasdrawn in what was possibly the toughest

group in Munster and with only two teamsto emerge from five it seemed that theodds were stacked against us. Our first

match was away to Cashel, a 2-0defeat. It was an unfortunate result inthat the match could have gone either

way. (Cashel were to win all their games so it left twoteams fighting for the runner-up spot). Our next match,away to Waterpark, resulted in a 1-0 victory. This was swift-ly followed by two more victories at home against Tramoreand Tipp Town. With three straight victories it was clear thatthe team was growing in confidence and stature. We wererewarded with a last 16 match against Carrick V.E.C., againone of the favourites. Two down on the day after twentyminutes, a somewhat fortunate goal scored by Kevin O’Donnell gave us hope. The second half resulted in anunbelieveable turnaround with the High School scoringthree times. Carrick were awarded a penalty, which wasconverted with ten minutes to go. A nail biting finish ensuedwith the High School holding on to go through to meet DeLa Salle, Waterford in the quarter-finals.

On the day despite taking the lead, De La Salle provedtoo strong and we were on the wrong end of the 3-1 score-line.

However, the U-15’s have given great hope for the futureand with promising players coming through it is hoped to goa stage or two further next year.

U-17: This competition is different from the U-15’s in thatit’s a knock-out format. The majority of the U-17’s hadplayed for the U-15’s the previous year, so were giving atleast a year to most other teams. Undeterred, the boys setoff on what was to be a remarkable journey.

Our first match away to Colaiste Dun Iascaigh, Cahirresulted in a 5-0 win, a comprehensive victory and ensuredour safe passage into the first round proper.

Drawn away to Salesian College, (Pollakerry) was toughand so it proved. A battling, rather than spectacular perfor-mance resulted in a 2-1 victory and it was a relieved HighSchool team that made it into the next round.

Awarded a home match against St. Aidan’s, Cork City, itseemed that the Gods were against us, having again drawnone of the favourites. What resulted had to be seen to bebelieved — a 7 –1 victory. An amazing match and unbe-lieveably the outcome could have gone either way, theHigh School took their chances on the day while St. Aidan’smissing theirs.

A quarter-final home draw to Casher C.C. was ourreward. A tense match followed with a 1-0 victory and joy-ous scenes followed as this was the first High School teamto make the semi-finals in Munster. Drawn away to Nagle,Blackrock, this proved to be a difficult experience for theteam. The match resulted in a 3-2 defeat and the end of theroad. Needless to say, some tears were shed, and therewas unhappiness in the manner of our exit from the com-petition. However, congratulations are extended to Naglewho proceeded to win the final and indeed the All-Ireland.

Conclusion: It is hoped that next year a coach will beappointed to help in the training and preparations of theteams. Any parents interested in helping out are most wel-come. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all theplayers who put in a wonderful effort this year. In what isonly our second year of soccer in the High School, to reacha quarter-final and semi-final is fantastic.

We must continue this good work and next year, if luck ison our side, we must aim to go further.

We will certainly attempt to better these achievementsand with hard work and dedication from everyone whoknows what causes for celebration we may have this timenext year.

• Darius Delahunty

GAVIN PYKE –RACING HIS WAY TO

VICTORYWhere to begin is the diffi-

cult question in relation toGavin Pykes sportingachievements. Over the pastyear, as one of the HighSchool’s younger sportingheroes Gavin has won numer -ous cycling races, time trialsand G.P.’s at county, provin-cial, national and internationallevel.

As well as these, Gavin hasbeen selected as the teamleader for Ireland and Munsterteams, an exceptionalachievement indeed reflectinga responsibility and honourwhich Gavin has upheld con-sistently leading by amazingexample. One of his many2002 highlights include help-ing the Irish team to victory inthe Home International YouthTour when he not only wonthe event, but did so compre-

hensively by racing to victoryin four demanding stages.This was a race which fea-tured stiff opposition not onlyfrom Great Britain but fromGreece, Spain and a numberof other countries.

Gavin’s many other victo-ries include:- Rás Luimní,Kingdom Bar, Kelly Pharmacy,Bill Hyland, Rás Duhallow(three stages), Ken O’Keeffe,Mulllingar G.P., Munster Time-trial, Tom Sheehan, MeathG.P., All-Ireland League, JohnDrumm, Irish Championships– 500m timetrial, sprint,scratch race, Munster Youthtour (four stages), and theManchester Tour (fourstages).

Throughout the year Gavinwas sponsored by Tom HoganCar Sales and by ‘South TippToday’.

As well as attaining awards

on the track this year Gavin

was awarded a Mayoral

Reception in the Clonmel

Town Hall and also won a

Cidona Tipperary Sports Star

Award for Cycling.

On Thursday, 21st March, the HighSchool Chess Team travelled to playagainst Community School, Castlecom-er. They lost the overall match by 3-2although the games were quite close.The games were all very competitive andtook most of the 50 minutes to provide aclear cut result. The High School playerswere: Ken Hogan, Simon Murray, MikeHeverin, Mark Noonan and Brian Carey.All players were reasonably pleased withtheir performances.

On Friday, 22nd March, the High

School Chess Team 2 played at home toSt. Mary’s Newport. St. Mary’s, Newport,had already beaten the High School inFebruary. On this occasion, the Clonmelboys came out on top. They had 3 winsout of 5. The High School was ably rep-resented by: Brendan Walsh, Niall Con-don, Philip Bannon, Peter Heverin andPhilip O’Reilly.

Well done, boys.Team 2 have already beaten Rockwell

College away.

ESB – Checkmate Chess Competition

ESB – Checkmate Chess CompetitionCheck Mates at the High School. Back row (left to right): Simon Murray, AaronNoonan, Brian Lanigan, Mike Heverin and Tom Drohan. Front row (left to right):

Philip O’Reilly, Brendan Walsh, Peter Heverin and Ken Hogan.

Jumping stars ofthe future

Kevin Tobin, Evan Morrissey and Jonathan Black-more represented the school in this year’s equestrainInter-school Show Jumping Championships. Thesame team also competed in this year’s Inter-SchoolCross Country Championships. The conditions onthe day were very bad and the team did well underthe circumstances. The team would like to thank PatWalsh for his help.

On 18th November 2001, 6th Year student MichaelBrennan took first place in the Patterns Section andsecond place in the Sparring Section in the National OpenTae-Kwon-Do Championships in Naas. On 24thNovember he won a silver medal in the Sparring Section

From 2nd-6th April,2002, Kevin Fennessy andJason Cockburn, compet-ed in the National BoxingChampionships held inDublin.

In his semi-final Jasonwas narrowly beaten 9-7while Kevin won his semi-

final and final.U-14 semi-final Jason

Cockburn lost 9-7U-15 semi-final Kevin

Fennessy won 17-7U-15 final Kevin Fen-

nessy won 7-0.Congratulations and

good luck for the future.

Michael Brennan— Tae-Kwon-Do

champion

Kevin Fennessy— All-Ireland Box-

ing Champion

The High School (Clonmel) capturedthe Cusack Cup when they defeated Kil-lenaule in Fethard on Wednesday, 22ndApril.

The High School played with thestrong wind in the first half but failed intheir attempt to gain a big advantage bythe break. At the interval the Clonmelboys led by just two points with thescoreline reading 0-9 to 2-1. At this stageit looked as if Killenaule with the windat the backs for the second period wouldgo on and win.

After the break the Clonmel side start-ed to play more determined and com-bined football and gradually they woredown Killenaule.

Kevin O’Callaghan, Tony Ryan and

supply of ball to the forwards.The pace of Ian Fraher was decisive in

attack and he was well backed up byDaniel Lynne, Ian McCormack, ConorO’Hara and Sean O’Donoghue.

This was a real gutsy performance bythe Clonmel boys and they showedtremendous heart when the chips weredown and the odds looked loadedagainst them at the interval.

Team: Neil Doyle, Darren Nolan, TonyRyan, Liam Pollard, Sean Ward, ConorMorrissey, Robert Dower, Kevin Har-ney, Jordan Corbett, Conor O’Hara,Daniel Lynne, David Lonergan, SeanO’Donoghue, Brian Melbourne, IanFraher. Subs used: Kevin O’Callaghanfor Brian Melbourne; Ian McCormack

Tipperary Colleges u-15 ‘A’ Football Final…

High School raisetempo in secondhalf to take title

HIGH SCHOOL (Clonmel) 1-12KILLENAULE 3-4

CUSACK CUP WINNERS 2002The High School under 15 ‘A’ county football champions following their victory

over Killenaule (1-12 to 3-4) in the final played at Fethard.Back row: Brian Melbourne, Jordan Corbett, Sean Lonergan, Ian McCormack,

Conor O’Hara, David O’Gorman, Stephen Kennedy, Mark Tobin.Middle row: Tom Conway (coach), Sean Keating, Kevin O’Callaghan, Killian

Rouse, Daniel Lynne, David Lonergan, Derek Moore, Conor Slattery, Robert Dower,John Geoghegan (coach) and Pat Power (principal).

Front: Conor Morrissey, Eoin Twohig, Ian Fraher, Darren Nolan, Tony Ryan, KevinHarney (captain), Neil Doyle, Sean Ward, Liam Pollard and Aidan Myers.

How wrong your percep-tions can be!• By Andrew Matthews

To be honest, when I first heard about the FriendshipClub I said “no way is that for me”. Going up to St.Lukes’s to play games with and to talk to psychiatricpatients was never something I thought I would do. I justhad visions of padded rooms and straight jackets whenI thought about a mental hospital.

Even after we were told about everything that goes onI had no intention of putting my name down to go, that isuntil a friend said he was thinking of putting his namedown. It was only then I started to think about it anddecided to participate.

I guess, thinking back, part of the reason I wanted togo was to see what it was like and if there really werepadded rooms and straight jackets.

On our first night we didn’t meet any patients but wedid meet some of the students who were involved in thevisits the previous year. They told us what to expect andthings that we should and shouldn’t do.

On the first night we were due to meet the patients Iwas very close to staying at home and making up someexcuse as to why I wouldn’t be able to go. But, I didn’t.I said I would go for the first couple of nights at least andthen I would decide if I would quit or not.

The first night was really nothing like I expected. I hadvisions of old people being wheeled in and sitting for anhour without saying anything. In fact I couldn’t havebeen more wrong. There were people there that werenot much older than me, for some reason I expected allthe patients to be old, so this shocked me a little.

Also, some of the people were very easy to have aconversation with and you could really have a lot of funplaying games with them. There were a couple of nightsthat the patients spent most of the hour singing, whichwas a surprise as I thought they would be more quietand withdrawn.

Over the weeks and months I have really stoppedthinking of them as psychiatric patients that I am doing afavour for by going to the hospital one night a week tovisit and play games with.

There are nights when I think the students get morefrom the hour than the patients. I think I see them moreas friends, I go to have a good laugh with rather thanpatients I am going to help. Some nights I laugh more inthe hour in the hospital than I do in the rest of the week.

Most of the patients are easy to get on with and are alot of fun to be with. I was not expecting any of thesethings.

Also, my time in the hospital made me think andrealise just how lucky I am. No matter how hard thingsare or how hard you think things are there is alwayssomeone worse off than you. My time in the hospitalwith the patients has shown me how lucky I am and howmuch I have to be thankful for. Seeing some patientsreally puts things in perspective for you.

On saying that, I really enjoyed going to the hospitalevery week. It has opened my eyes and changed theway I look at psychiatric hospitals and the patients inthem. The visions I had of the hospital and patientsbefore this couldn’t have been further from reality. It justgoes to show how easily people can form a view ofsomething without knowing anything about it.

Health Education Pro-gramme

During this past school year our Health EducationProgramme has been supported by many organisationsand individuals on many different levels, from in-classtalks to year group workshops.

One of these speakers was P.J. Fitzpatrick, a memberof the Order of Malta Ambulance Corps who gave a veryinformative talk on first aid to all 2nd Year students.

The South Eastern Health Board provided resourcesand representatives who spoke with individual classesthroughout the year. Through a locally based initiativeagainst drugs we were given the opportunity to invite a

ting drama was very effective.We were also especially grateful to Dr. Richard Barr

and his “Love for Life” team who travelled down fromLurgan to introduce us to their work-shop on relation-ships (and sexuality). This was their first visit downSouth and prooved to be a great success. We look for-ward to inviting them and many more of these speakersback to the school during the next academic year.

Transition Year 2000/2001– European Young Con-

sumers Award and Trip toEuropean Parliament

While we were in Transition Year we entered a com-petition called The European Young Consumers Award.The competition is given a new topic each year andwhen we entered it, it was called “How to Promote a Bal-anced Diet”. For the competition we compiled a maga-zine on the topic with various articles on healthy eating.We also made two plaster cast models, one represent-ing healthy, the other being the opposite. We were sentnews that we had finished in the top 10 and that wewould have to go to Dublin to find out where in that 10we had come. We couldn’t believe it when we werecalled out in first place, firstly in Ireland and then remark-ably we heard that we had come first in Europe as well(the first Irish school ever to do so).

Our prize for winning the competition involved a trip toStrasbourg to participate in a mock European Parlia-ment. On the 29th January 2002, we embarked on ourtrip. When we got to the European Parliament we simplyhad a wonderful time. We saw exactly how the Parlia-ment operates at first hand and got to meet so manyother young people from various countries acrossEurope.

In the Parliament we were split into groups and eachgiven a topic to discuss. The group would then draw upa proposed legislation, when everyone then returnedinto the main Parliament Building, these legislationswere voted on. It was a great experience and thor-oughly enjoyed by all.

Careers opportunitiesCareer outing. Our first career outing was

to UCC, one of Ireland’s most beautiful universities.Forty students travelled for a very comprehensive openday during which lectures were given on the variouscourses. Stalls representing each degree in the univer-sity were set up and the pupils were given the opportu-nity to talk with students who were doing the course andthe people who could be their potential lecturers. Indoing this the pupil makes an actual connection on theLeaving Cert.

The Tipperary Institude in Clonmel was our next portof call. Again the interest was large with about 45 pupilstaking part. On arrival we were given a talk on the rangeof courses offered and the advantages of a campus assmall as TI. We were then given a tour and shown thearray of impressive computer equipment available to theprospective student.

The Cork Institute of Technology had the privilege ofhosting a full bus-load of the high School’s finest. Thefacilities here again were excellent with a great runningtrack, gym and library. Presentations were given on theindividual courses being offered.

This was followed by a combined trip to Limerick tak-ing in the three institutions there: University of Limerick(U.L.), Mary Immaculate College (M.I.C.) and LimerickInstitute of Technology (L.I.T.)

We arrived at U.L. at 10.00 a.m. to go on the collegetour. This was impressive for a number of reasonsincluding the new 50m pool, the actual size of the cam-pus and the choice of restaurants, shops and generalservices offered to students.

Student Investment Chal -lenge

like to enter the Student Investment Challenge which

was being organised by the ‘Irish Independent’ and

Setanta Asset Management. The competition gave each

competitor C100,000 to invest in various stocks and

shares.

I invested most of my money in a company called

Parthus who gained 71% over the course of the compe-

tition.

The final results were printed in the Business section

of the Irish Independent on Monday 15th April, 2002.

The results showed that I had finished seventh with my

investment gaining 48%.

Vincent de Paul Christ-

mas Hamper CollectionOnce again our St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Ham-

per Collection took place. A lot of organisation and effort

goes into the running of this event and I would like to

take this opportunity to thank all the staff and pupils who

helped ensure yet another successful collection this

year.

This has proved to be a particularly beneficial experi-

ence for the student body as it helps them realise that

there are less fortunate families in our locality and that if

everyone helps in a little way, then it can make what may

have been a difficult Christmas somewhat easier.

Students were invited to bring in non-perishable food

along with any games, toys etc, they may no longer use

at home. Each and every year that I am involved in this

I have been overwhelmed by the response from the stu-

dents and staff. A special thanks also to parents who

help out by giving food to the pupils to bring in.

On behalf of Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Clonmel

and myself, thanks yet again for your continued support

and long may it continue.

• Darius Delahunty

Young ScientistsTwo 2nd Year students, Kevin Fitzsimons and Craig

Mullins were chosen to represent the High School in the

Young Scientists Exhibition. They presented a project

entitled Seawater for Transport Fuel. It was a great

experience for the boys and they got a good insight into

science and its applications in our world today.

The High School has had an acute interest and

involvement in the Expo over the years and we encour-

Credit Union Website Competition Winners — Left to right: John Geoghegan(teacher), Simon Murray, Mark Noonan and David Conde.

Credit Union Euro Website Competi-tion

The Credit Union Euro website competition was firstbrought to our attention by Mr. Geoghegan early in 6th Year.It required us to create a website which would introduce theEuro changeover in a simple and interesting way. We wererequired also to include a simple countdown to the launchdate of the Euro and a currency converter which would con-vert IR£ to €. This was achieved very simply using a smallbit of javascript from within a HTML document.

One small but effective development team consisted ofmyself, David Conde, as scriptwriter, Simon Murray asHTML developer and Mark Noonan our editor/ contentprovider. We spent several weeks working on the projectwhich consisted of about six HTML documents of simpleand well presented information. This included launch infor-mation and dates, graphical representation of the euronotes and coins, a realtime countdown to the launch dateand an easy-to-use calculator. All this work eventually paidoff. We received €100 each from the Clonmel Credit Unionand funds were also presented to the school for ourachievement. Overall we thought it was an enjoyable andvaluable experience which we would recommend to futureclasses. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr.Geogheagan for bringing it to our attention, overall help inthe matter and for making the whole thing possible.

PHIL ROBERTS lived inClonmel for 16 years from1980, where he helped toestablish what is nowknown as Clonmel BaptistChurch.

Setting up a publishingcompany in 1993 calledTentmaker Publications,he decided to reprint ‘MyClonmel Scrapbook, out ofappreciation of the townand its residents.

Returning to England in1996, he continues to pas-tor a church and publishbooks.

The name Tentmaker istaken from the ApostlePaul’s practice of makingtents to support himself

Clonmel Scrapbook’, thepromise was made todonate IR£2 per copy tothe High School and Lore-to Convent. That promisehas now been fulfilled.

‘My Clonmel Scrapbook’will continue to be avail-able, as a new print run isunderway.

Our photo above showsPhil Roberts presents acheque from the proceedsof ‘My Clonmel Scrap-book’ to Pat Power, princi-pal of Clonmel HighSchool. Also included arestudents Lee Morrissey,Michael O’Sullivan andGus Slattery.

Welcome windfall for HighSchool from ‘My Clonmel

Scrapbook’

Young Entrepre-neur Scheme

The Young Entrepreneur Scheme is a businesscompetition run locally by the Tipperary South RidingEntreprise Board. Students are required to make aproduct, sell it with a view to making a profit and pro-duce a business report.

This year the High School won all the stages rightup to the county final.

Robert Dower (2A2) produced fire logs from recy-cled materials and he won the Intermediate countyfinal.

Rory Hanrahan and Morgan Walsh (1A2) won theJunior category with their nail and thread pictures.

The three students will now represent their schooland their county at the All-Ireland finals which takeplace in Dublin on the 14th/15th May.We wishRobert, Rory and Morgan the very best of luck andwe know that they will make us very proud.

BELOW: Siobhan Ryan, co-ordinator Y.E.S. CountyFinal; Rory Hanrahan, Morgan Walsh and Thos Hayes,

manager, South Tipperary Enterprise Board.

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For the annual school show 2002, the 5th Year studentstook a trip abroad HMS American – and what a roller-coast-er ride it turned out to be! Any trans-Atlantic journey on anocean-going liner is going to have its ‘ups and downs’ — butwhen the passenger list contains socialites, social climbers,gangsters, flappers, clergy of dubious spirituality, a nightclub star, four angels whose demeanour is anything butangelic, a gangsters’s moll, star-crossed lovers and across-dresser.

To say that the present crop of thespians in 5th Year wereup to the task in hand would be a gross understatement.They positively revelled in the high shenanigans much tothe delight of the audiences.

Hope Harcourt was given a spirited performance by Ais-ling Healy whose beautiful voice was especially captivatingin the poignant “I’ve got you under my skin”. Keith Greenewas a Jack-of-all-Trades as the lover of Hope in the manydisguises he had to adopt as a stowaway abroad the ship.His singing, dancing and comic timing (not to mention anassortment of accents) were a joy to behold.

Reno Sweeney, The Caberet Star, was given the fulltreatment by Tara Ryan – a singing and dancing Tour DeForce. Her duet with James Kelly (Sir Evelyn Oakleigh)was one of the shows highlights – “Let’s Misbehave”.Indeed, James made the part of Sir Evelyn his very ownand every nuance of the character was expertly projected.

Laura Nugent as the Snobbish Mrs. Harcourt was so deli-ciously over the top – just what the part demanded. Speak-ing of OTT. Where does one put the performances ofMoonface Martin and Bonnie as depicted by Conor Hoganand Dervla Anderson. Here we had two characters wellrealised – Conor as the hapless Public Enemy No. 13 andDervla as the man-devouring you-hum-it-I’ll-dance-it-bimbo.

The Tycoon Elisha J. Whitney (Kevin Walshe), Bishop(John David Duggan), two Chinese (Thomas O’ Mahoneyand James Hogan) Captain (Alan Fogarty), Purser (BarrySheehan), Steward (Pieter Vos) all performed admirably,highlighting the old maxim ‘there is no such thing as a smallpart’.

I must not forget the four angles (Ciara O’Keeffe, MarianRyan, Marguerite Flynn, Jenny Arrigan) whose every sinu-ous appearance on stage was a highlight. They can takeme “Back to Manhattan” anytime!

The chorus sang and danced their hearts out especiallyimpactive was “Blow Gabriel, Blow”. The sets wereadmirably realised by Dolores Burke, Maureen Purcell andteam.

A special word of praise for the dancers and their team ofchoreographers led by Roslyn Rochard.

Finally it was a great privilege for me to work with such afine group of young people and to work in tandem with twovery talented musical directors in Olga Gannon and TammyHocman.

• Michael O’Donoghue

BON VOYAGE 2002

Pieter Vos, Alan Fogarty and Barry Sheehan.

Keith Greene, Tara Ryan and Conor Hogan

Shane Dolan, Alan Pollard, Kevin Dempsey, Danny Madigan, Ian Browne,John Ryan, Richard Carroll, David Conway and Cathal Flynn.

U-16 High School CBS Badminton Team — Back row (left to right): Declan Rix, Conor Morris-sey, Mark Tobin, Shane Barry, Cillian Rouse. Front row (left to right): Brian O’Sullivan, William

May, Conor Walsh, Eoin Cass. (Absent from photo: Michael Feeney).

This was the first year theHigh School enteredschools competition and theteam acquitted itself verywell. We entered the U-18developmental league andthe O’ Brien Cup. The boysfinished top of their divisionin the league and were beat-en by Templemore. in thequarter-final of the cup. Welldone all.

Firstfor Rugby

Athletics — Back row (left toright): Andrew Mullins, KieranFox, David Ryan, David Harte,Michael Mulvihill, Tim Ryan,

Brian English, JonathanBurke. Centre row (left toright): Ms. O’Connor, JeffO’Hanrahan, Sean Martin,Richard Fenton, Richard

Power, Zack Guidera, Christo-pher Daniels, Mr. O’Sullivan.Front row: David Lorrigan,Donal Lynch, David Foley,

Kevin Dahill, John Lyne, LiamRedmond, Rory Sheehan,

Back row (l-r): John O’Reilly,Willie O’Meara, John DavidDuggan, John O’Donnell,

Daryl Makem, Oisín Ó Cuin-neagáin, Cathal Flynn, David

Prendergast.Middle row (l-r): Mr. Bannon,Tom Conway (coach), AidanFoley, Robert Ryan, StephenMcGrath, Sean Phelan, AlanMarshall, Thomas O’Mahony,Kevin Cronin, Paul Lonergan.

Front row (l-r): AnthonyKeane, Andrew Matthews,

James Quigley, DavidConway, Gus Slattery, P.J.

Mulcahy, Brendan Leo,Thomas Kiely and Michael

Scully.

SchoolSports on

Friday,May 17

The School Sportswill be held on Fri-day, 17th May 8.50 -3.30 Three musicgroups from theschool will provideentertainment duringlunchtime 12.50 –1.40 All parents arewelcome.

‘Jump forJoy’

BasketballChallenge

raises€1,000 for

charityA special thanks to the

students in 2nd Year whotook part in the Kellogg’sJump for Joy BasketballChallenge. This year thestudents raised C1000 forOur Lady’s Hospital for SickChildren, Crumlin, Dublin.The funds are used to pur-chase vital equipment forthe hospital as well as fund-ing research projects.

1st and 2ndSouth TipperaryLeague Winners

—Back row (left to right):T. Cahill, J. Corbett, D.Moore, D. Bolger, D.Harte, J. Cagney, S.

Ward.Middle row (left to

right): J. Shanahan, S.Kennedy, B. McDonnell,R. Fenton, B. Dillon, S.

Browne, C. Keher.Front row (left to right):D. Lorrigan, A. O’Reilly,

J. Lyne, T. Ryan, C.Aylward, S. Gleeson, S.

Keating.

U-18 Hurling —Back row (left to right):

Michael Dillon, PaulRyan, Liam Lawlor,

Michael McHugh, OisinÓ Cuinneagáin, Shane

Kearney, SeamusLawlor, Barry Hanley,

Maurice O’Gorman, TomO’Mahony. Middle row:Jerry Shanahan, Oliver

O’Gorman, DerekMcGrath, Paul Shana-han, Paul Johnson,Tony Ryan, PadraigKelly, Brian Mulvihill,Thomas O’Gorman,Colm Keher. Front:

Simon Wall, AnthonyKeane, Brendan Flynn,

Aidan Barry, IanBrowne, Peter Hally,

Patrick O’Donnell, SeanPhelan, Eoin Ryan,

Brian Carroll.

Basket-ball

(2001-2002) —Back row: Barry Hanley,Mark Tobin. Front row:Miss O’Connor, WilliamDarmody, George Bar-rett, Tim Ryan, DavidO’Meara, Mr. Ryan.

We’ve certainly done a lot this yearand I think that everything that has beendone has been very worthwhile.

The first thing I have mention is, ofcourse our trip to Delphi. It was a funand enjoyable experience as everybodygot to know everybody else. The activi-ties were great and were based a lot onteam effort. It was a great couple ofdays and it helped the class to bond – abond that has held throughout the year.

Early in the year we also had a drivingand safety course. This was run byHynes Driving School and we all learnedsomething of the basics. We learnedhow to drive, about the 999 services andthe importance of road safety.

For our Home Economics class wetook a trip to Ballymaloo CookerySchool and met Darina Allen. We hadthe chance to see her fruit and veg-etable gardens and we also had a sam-ple of hebs from the herb garden. It wasa very interesting day out.

Safety is very important, as we allknow, and for this our class was given aFirst Aid Course. This involved a C.P.R.exam, and exam on the functions of thehuman body and how to treat somecommon infections and life threateningsituations. From this we got a certifi-cate of completion and more important-ly a learning ability which can be usedfor life.

Ability to communicate is a very vitalasset to have after leaving school andfor this the class did Public Speakingand Communications Exams. It was agreat experience for all involved andeverybody received first class honours,which was a great achievement.

Some of the class also took part in theConcern Debates, which also helped uswith our public speaking. We did well tobeat Rockwell in the first round and youcould really see that the debating andcommunication skills for each personimproved in every round.

In Art we have been learning about theImpressionism and this year the classwas taken to the Impressionist Art Exhi-bition in Dublin. This was very good andI felt that after the day everybody had abetter appreciation for art. To sell artyou need to be a good businessmanand this is exactly what one of the stu-dents (Matthew) did for the Y.E.S.Everyone participated and six in partic-ular (Stephen, David, Aidan, Des,Matthew and P.J.) were successfulenough to reach the county final. Thiswas a good achievement because itrequired a good business mind.

This year we have taken part in theToastmasters speaking course toimprove our self-confidence on thepodium and speaking techniques. Ibelieve that the whole class benefitedfrom this experience and did very wellwhen speaking in front of the parents.After this no one in the class will haveany trouble speaking in front of an audi-ence,

We have also seen two plays put onby the Galloglass group and had a work-shop on each. In the workshop we

year the class also gave somethingback. The class put on the play ‘Junoand the Paycock’ as part of a competi-tion in Macroom. It was a great actingexperience and some of the studentswere congratulated on their perfor-mances.

We were also taken to MountjoyPrison early this year to learn about theprisoners and to realise that they havefeelings just like us and that they areGod’s children as well.

We also had a retreat to Mount Sion,which was very interesting and it was avery different experience.

This year the class was also asked todo some voluntary work. One of thesewas the Early Reading Intervention Pro-gramme. This involved going to Ss.Peter & Paul’s Primary School anddoing reading with the first class pupils.It was an enjoyable experience for bothFirst Class and the Transition Yearbecause we got to know each pupil andtheir individual skills.

We were also offered the chance thisyear to do voluntary work for the Noo-nan Centre for Disabled Children. Everyweek, half the class would go swim-ming for a half an hour or so and Ibelieve the centre was very grateful forour enthusiasm and contribution.

We also did Faith Friends Programmewith the Sisters of Charity and Presen-tation Convent Primary Schools. Wehad to learn how to communicate withthe children and keep them active forthe whole duration. It was interesting tosee the reactions and answers thatsome of the kids had for us and I thinkthat both groups enjoyed it.

In P.E. class we did a lot. At the start ofthe year we went horse riding with Dav-erns School of Horse Riding. It was anunusual thing to do and it was morepleasing than I though it would be. Iprobably would never have had theopportunity to partake in this sport with-out Transition Year.

We have also participated in a SoccerCoaching Course with Darren Murray(a coach from the FAI). It’s greatbecause we all like soccer and at theend we got the opportunity to coach forourselves with the involvement for theFirst Years.

Transition Year, above all things hasgiven me the chance to learn about afuture career and I am now able to focusmyself on different paths after LeavingCert, which makes it invaluable in thisregard. The one thing that has helpedme the most in this regard is the twoterms of work experience that we havehad during the year. This gave eachpupil a chance to view at least two pos-sible careers for after school life andwas very beneficial. For the end of theyear we have planned to go to theGaeltacht and some of us are also doingan interview exam for public speaking.

I am very pleased with the way things

Our Transition Year exploitsby Stephen Casey

Budding Masterminds???Congratulations to Diarmuid Bolger, Paddy Kelly, PadriacBurke and Gearoid O’ Donnell who won the South Tipperary

This past academic year has been another busy one forthe Religious Education Department. Existing programmeslike our Peer Ministry and Faith Friends initiatives havecontinued successfully in 5th Year and TYO respectively.Both involve preparing the participants to work with groupsof younger people in faith formation days.

Liturgically, our start of year was overshadowed by theterrorist attack in New York. Two days later, the wholeschool joined in a prayerful response to the violence. Weare currently planning an end of year celebration of theBicentenary of Edmund Ignatius Rice on the 9th May nextand our 6th Year Graduation Mass will be held two weekslater, on the 23rd May.

The lack of appropriate retreat programmes meant thatwe had difficulty providing annual retreat opportunities forour 6th and 3rd years. However, the first years receivedtheir retreat from last years Peer Ministers. Our secondyear classes recently spend a day away in both Mt. Sion(the first Christian Brothers School) and in Callan (EdmundRiceís birthplace).

In a new departure, our 5th year students had an oppor-tunity to travel to both Mountjoy and Croagh Patrick as partof class courses on Social Justice and Celtic Spirituality.

We are looking forward to next year, when we hope tohave our new prayer room finally up and running.

Religious education —Another busy year

The Croagh PatrickExperience

This years 5th Year students studied a module on CelticSpirituality which looked at all the particularly Irish ways ofexpressing a faith in God: God is nature, God is close by usevery minute of the day, God is our strength and our pro-tector.

What better way to experience Celtic Spirituality than toundergo one of Ireland’s Age Old Pilgrimages and follow inthe footprints of St. Patrick himself?

It was 7.30 am on 25th May when we congregated out-side the walls of a still sleeping High School, to begin thejourney to Westport. Four and a half hours later we caughtour first glimpses of the task that lay ahead of us — the rip-ple of nervous laughter at the sight of Croagh Patrickreflected the hopeful disbelief that the teachers were joking!Surely it was some other mountain from some other win-dow in the bus that we were aiming to reach?

Stocked with water and food for our picnic at the summit,we began our journey as a determined and enthusiasticgroup. The weather was in our favour and we were blessedwith clear views. Even when the going got really tough, itwas reported that a certain student could be heard singing“Ain’t no mountain high enough…”

Two hours later we basked in a sense of achievementand soaked up the view of Clew Bay. After a ceremoniouscreation of a pile of stones — representing each HighSchool Student who made the pilgrimage, we paused inprayer for special intentions. So close to the heavens, wewere well placed to experience our God through the beau-ty and the power of nature. Not even the rain that came forour journey down the mountain could quell our spir-its! A day never to be forgotten!

“From my membershipof The Peer MinistryGroup I gained both lead-ership experience and ahuge infection in self con-fidence. I learned how towork as a member of ateam and how to use thestrength, and cope withthe weaknesses of eachmember, so that we couldcarry out the tasks of PeerMinistry”.

David Conde, 6th YearStudent – The HighSchool, Clonmel.

Over the past ten yearsPeer Ministry had becomean integral part of bringingthe ethos of Edmund Riceto life in the context of TheHigh School in Clonmel. Itstarted as a small group of12 5th Year students beingfacilitated in discussionscentering on faith devel-opment. The potential forleadership within such agroup was soon realisedand with training whichextended into early 6thYear, these Peer Ministersbecame facilitators for theretreats of incoming 1stYear students.

The concept, the workand the popularity of ThePeer Ministry Team hasgone from strength tostrength over the years.On average 50 studentsapply for a maximum of 13places. They are given rig-orous interviews and theselection process is notan easy one – the aim ofthe facilitators has alwaysbeen to stratify the finalgroup with members vary-ing in backgrounds, abili-ty, confidence levels andmaturity. The only com-mon denominatorbetween members at finalselection is their willing-ness to commit to the timedemands of membershipof the Peer Ministry.

Throughout 5th Year thegroup meet once a weekfor one class period. Dis-cussions and exerciseshave a double focus: theformation of a team fromthe various personalitiesin the group and theexploration of issues offaith. The high point of 5thYear is a weekend retreatwhere the Peer Ministerspair off, prepare and facili-tate seminars for the restof the team on pre-set top-ics relating to faith and

as a group and learned towork as a unit.

Liam Clancy 6th YearStudent Peer Ministry1999 - 2002.

In the first term of 6thYear the team undergo anintensive training andpreparation for retreatfacilitation, which culmi-nates in their leading twodays of retreats for the 1stYear students. the themeof the retreat was peaceand involved an experien-tial exploration of the cre-ation of peace in our livesthrough case study, picto-riography, art work, roleplay and the Sacrament ofReconciliation.

In recent years the PeerMinistry has been furtherextended to include orien-tation and induction of 1stYear students. The PeerMinisters prepare for andrun a number of lunch-time workshops in theweeks leading up to theOctober Mid-term. Theworkshops are entitledSchool Orientation (goingthrough rules, signing inand signing out proce-dures, access to schoolresources… etc); SpecialProblems (e.g. dealingwith bullying); MakingHomework Painless (lar-gely one to one help onorganisational skillls) andStudy Skills.

This year the Peer Minis-ters linked with the Par-enting Programme beingrun for the parents ofjunior school students.They facilitated a two hourreflection on dealing withconflict on the domesticfront. Lively discussionwas prompted by roleplays designed and per-formed by the Peer Minis-ters. Not only did the 6thYears present their owninsights as adolescentsbut parents were alsointrigued by the linkswhich the Peer Ministerscould make between thesuggestions made by par-ents for the creation ofPeace in the home andthose suggestions whichthe first year students hadmade (and tabulated) dur-ing their own retreats.

The high profile and thework of The Peer MinistryTeam within the communi-ty of the High School

ScienceEvents

2001/02October 2001:A group of sixth year stu-

dents visited U.L. on a sci-ence open day where theyhad a chance to view thefacilities available and carryout practical work in thelabs.

November 2001:I.S.T.A. Senior Science

Quiz. Two teams of 6thYears represented theschool and were third andfifth in the regional final ofthe competition. The thirdplaced team qualified for thenational final in Trinity Col-lege Dublin on 24/11/01.

The teams were: PeterHarrigan, John O’ Reilly,Vincent Thompson, JasonConnery, John Kennedy,Niall O’ Gorman.

5th Year Science quiz:A group of 5th Year stu-

dents sacrificed the chanceto watch Ireland play Iran inthe World Cup play-offs torepresent the school at ascience quiz in Waterford,which was organised as partof national Science week.The teams were: Ahad Ali,Niall Condon, Edward Hick-ey, Matthew Whelan,Michael Bourke, StevenByrne, Derek Newport,Pieter Vos.

January 2002:Two second year students

were chosen to participate inthe ESAT Young Scientistscompetition. The project,presented by Kevin Fitzsi-mons and Craig Mullinswas entitled “Hydrogen

Adult Education— AcademicYear 2001/’02This was the third year

that the High School hasbeen involved in adulteducation. Classes ranfrom September –December and February– April in Computers,French, Sign Language,Woodwork, Irish, Reflex-ology, Adlerian and Par-enting. Over 300 peopleattended night classesthis year. The success ofthe night school haslargely been due to theexcellence of the tutorsand to Phyllis Dempsey.

Many thanks also toTina Kennedy whoorganised the ParentingCourse.

PEER MINISTRY GROUP —A tremendous learning experience

MUSICThe Music Department hosted a visiting ensemble

for the Cork School of Music on 18th October, 2001.Jessy Creedon and his students entertained us withlively classical guitar music. Then this term we alsohosted a workshop in Celtic Rhythm and Body Per-cussion, facilitated by Artscope. Klabbs and Sarahhad the 5th or 2nd Years up doing Samba (Rio! style)to finish.

The Brass Band is in full flight every Thursday.Newcomers are welcome.

Stephen and David make an impactExaminations were held by the Leinster School of Music and

Drama, Dublin for our Transition Year students. The majority of thestudents sat for both Grade 5 exams, and all attained honours orfirst class honours.

Stephen Casey was awarded two silver medals, having achieved95 marks in both exams and David Lyons was awarded a silvermedal for his high marks in his Public Speaking Exam.

DRUGS/SUBSTANCEMIS-USE POLICY

The Board of Management of the High School is in theprocess of developing a Drugs/ Substance

Mis-use Policy based on consultation with all the partnersof the school community. The policy will include practicalguidelines and procedures on how to deal with drug relatedincidents arising in the school.

A Steering Committee was set up to look at how best toformulate such a policy. It was decided that all partners ofthe school community, students, parents and staff be sur-veyed on the issue. The information collated from thesesurveys has proved invaluable in the policy formulation.

As part of the Steering Committee we are indeed fortu-nate to have the assistance of Mr. Johnny Casey (Sub-stance Mis-use Co-ordinator for the South Tipperary Com-munity Care Area) and Ms. Sinead O’ Mahony-Carey (DrugEducation Officer with the South Eastern Health Board).

Johnny and Sinead gave talks for parents and for the staffof the school.

These talks included the following:* Understanding the young person in today’s world.* Drugs awareness.* Recognising the signs.* Drug education.* Managing alcohol, tobacco and drug related

incidents.

Arising from these talks, parents, teachers and studentswere invited to make submissions and inputs.

At present a draft document is being discussed.It is envisaged that the policy will be in place for

August/September 2002. The policy is one whereby reviewwill take place on a regular basis due to the ever-changingnature of the drug culture.

It is a policy that has been designed for the benefit of theschool and with this in mind we would like to thank all those

cation. The Peer MinistryTeam give selflessly oftheir talents to help easethe introduction of thenewest members to theschool community. Theirwork is rooted in, andinformed by, reflection ontheir faith. This year’s

group look forward tofacilitating work shops onPeer Ministry for studentsfrom other schools at TheEdmund Rice Awards inTallaght in May.

As our name suggests the Parents Advisory Councilprovides an advisory and consultative role, to the HighSchool, it organises and assists with numerous schoolactivities during the school year.

The Parents Advisory Council is open to all parents andguardians of students attending the High School. Ourcommittee is elected at the AGM held in September everyyear. New members would be very welcome. The Council iscomprised of 42 members representating all the years in theschool and organised into many sub committees so thateveryone gets to use their individual talents. The schoolprincipal and deputy principal are ex-officio members of theCouncil and the teaching staff have a representative at eachmeeting.

Our chairperson is Sandra Corcoran, our Secretary isGabrielle Egan, our Treasurer is Liam Bolger, and our PROis Anne Heverin.

Sub Committeesv Regional C.B.S.F.: We are affiliated to the National Fed-

eration of Christian Brothers’ Schools and our regional rep-resentatives are Anne Morrissey and Eddie Lanigan. Theyare our voice on the National Council.

v Social Issues Committee: This committee comprised ofMary Stafford, Alice Foley, Margaret O’Keeffe and PaulaMadigan strive to bring to the parents for discussion, topicswhich incorporate many social issues. They organised awonderful talk in the school on dyslexia earlier in the yeargiven by Martin Murphy and Orla Callen Terry, which proveda popular topic with over 100 people attending.

v Mock Interviews Committee: Anne Heverin, Judy Mor-rissey, Fionnuala Roche, Michael Hogan, James Cass, Mar-jorie Walsh, this committee assisted the guidance counsel-lor in arranging mock interviews for the Leaving Certificatestudents held on 4th December 2001.

The Edmund Ignatius Rice Bursary Fund Committee: Thiscommittee organises the funding for the bursaries which aregiven out by the school every year providing funding forpupils going on to third level education. It is comprised ofKathleen Shaw, Mary Connolly, Mary Stafford, CarolineMaher, Sandra Corcoran, and Crena Connolly.

This year a table quiz was organised by the committee, itwas in Allen’s, Irishtown, on Holy Thursday night. We had amassive turnout on the night, and the total amount raisedwas €1,122. Our thanks to John Kane for setting the ques-tions, to Crena Connolly for your role as M.C, to Liam Bol-ger and team for correcting and tabulating the answers, toall the people who donated spot prizes (there were over 50spot prizes!), to all the parents and the friends of the school

who attended and to the extended committee for all supportgiven. Thanks also to Eileen May whose idea of a Support-ers Draw proved a great success, and congratulations to ourwinners who were Mary Fenton and Patricia Power, bothparents of pupils in the school.

v Tom Flaherty Memorial Fund: Joan Guidera and JoanConnolly. The proceeds of the raffle at the bursary night isbeing used to organise a memorial to Tom Flaherty, a formermaths teacher in the school who inspired many pupils overhis long teaching career. This year €465 was raised towardsthis fund, and again thanks to all who contributed.

v Centenary Committee: Mick Mullane, Eileen May. Thiscommittee is involved in the organising of the celebrationsfor the Centenary of Edmund Ignatius Rice.

Other events supported by the Par-ent’s Advisory Council:

v The School Show: This year “Bon Voyage” was won-derfully performed by the pupils of the High School and thePresentation Convent and on the five nights of the show thecouncil provided supervision of the pupils and support to theteaching staff. This involved the supervision of the dressingrooms and the front of house, and help ensuring the smoothrunning of the nights.

v The Schools Policy on Drug and Substance abuse: Wesupported and attended the meeting held in the school topromote parental involvment in this policy. The speakers onthe night were John Casey and Sinead O’Meara from theSouth Eastern Health Board, who helped outline the needfor a policy in every school.

v The Centenary Celebrations 2002: Three representa-tives of the Parent’s Advisory Council, Sandra Corcoran,Crena Connolly and Gabrielle Egan, attended the Eucharis-tic Celebrations held on Sunday, 7th April, 2002. in Dublin.The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Connell and wasattended by many bishops including our own Bishop WilliamLee, Waterford & Lismore, priests and lay people fromaround the world attended the with 31 countries represent-ed. The main theme of the day was “Remembering the Past,Living the Present, Seeking the Future.” It was a very mov-ing tribute to Edmund Ignatius Rice.

Finally this as you might imagine is a summary of the workcarried out and supported by the Parent’s Advisory Councilthis year so far. I would like to thank all the members of theCouncil for their time, enthusiasm and support over the year.Not all the names of the members are mentioned but allcontributed to the running of the Council. I hope to see you

The Parents’ Advisory Council2000-2001

A TRIBUTE TO NORA FORRISTALThe year 2002 marks the end of

a very fruitful and fulfilling careerfor Nora Forrestal in the HighSchool and the beginning of a longand happy retirement.

Nora moved from Scotland toClonmel in the early seventieswhere she soon joined the HighSchool Staff and became the ‘ProfPar Excellence’ in the FrenchDepartment. Her sense of humour,positive and dedicated approach toher career and her in-depth knowl-edge of her subject provided an

approach and an ability to organisethe French Department that wasequal to none. She always madejoining the Department a pleasurefor new members, who were wel-comed by her “a bras ouverts”.

While we all envy Nora in herdecision to take early retirement,nonetheless she will be genuinelymissed by staff and students of theHigh School. Luckily, we in theFrench Department still have ourregular coffee morning and chat to

Retirement from the High School after 26

years has its pros and cons. How nice it is to

watch television on a Sunday night without

having to think of corrections or preparation for

French classes for the following week. Like the

Lotto winners, it’s grand to turn over in bed in

the morning when everyone else is rushing to

make the 8.50 deadline. On the other hand, I

really miss the chat in the staffroom and get -

ting all the latest news. In spite of the constant

classroom struggles to impart some French, I