June 2016
Hurling Final
On Tuesday the 21st of June, our school’s senior hurling team played in the final in Croke Park. In the final it was Drimnagh Castle against Diswellstown of Castleknock. In the previous encounters between these two schools, Diswellstown came out as victors. The atmosphere around Croke Park was unreal. The first five to ten minutes were scoreless until Diswellstown’s star player broke the scoreless spell with two points in five minutes. From then to half time Castle was on the ball repeatedly, hitting a few easy chances wide or at the keeper. With two minutes left in the first half Richard Delaney scored a point from 20 yards out. At half time it was 0-1 Drimnagh to 0-6 Diswellstown. At the break Mr Stapleton gave a mood lifting speech along with Mr Neville. The referee threw in the ball and Castle was on the attack almost immediately. An unlucky miss meant Diswellstown were straight on the counter attack. Cian Cosgrave made a few spectacular blocks and catches. The ball was in the Diswelllstown square when Oísin Rooney scored the first goal. With five minutes left Castle were two points down. Rhys Kennedy came on to score a goal which would have put us in the lead, but the referee disallowed it saying the ball was out of play. Diswellstown countered with a goal and a point which wrapped it all up. Although we lost, Mr Stapleton and Mr Neville said they could have not been any prouder. Thank you for reading the last blog I will ever do in Drimnagh Castle.
By Conor Forrester
School Sports Day
It was sports day on Wednesday, so everybody had a chance to win medals and run. We had 100m sprints, cross country and relay competitions. Every time someone finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd their class got points. At the end of the day, Mr. Stapleton’s R12 class accumulated the most points. Room 27 helped and set up the track (with the help of the teachers!!!) and we were unlucky to lose. This is my last ever blog, I thank you for reading them and goodbye!
By Aaron Allen
Delphi- School Tour
On Monday 13th of June we went to Delphi. Delphi is in Connamara, Mayo. It is an adventure resort. Some of the boys from 6th class went to Delphi, including me. At 7:20 we got a train from Hueston to Portarlington, then we got a bus to Delphi. When we arrived at Delphi we were shown our rooms. We stayed in a small hotel and each group from 6th class had their own room. The activities in Delphi were great, we went surfing, kayaking , rock climbing and abseiling. We were fed breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper for the three days. At night we went on night activities, we walked through the woods blindfolded and went on a nature walk etc. Everyone enjoyed Delphi and thanks to the people at Delphi for letting us stay. Thanks for reading.
By Ryan Carr
May 2016
Senior Hurlers Reach the Promised Land!
On Thursday the 26th of May 2016 our schools senior hurling team played their very important semi-finals match in Whitehall, Dublin. The team came out on top with a well deserved victory over Holy Family, Swords. The date of the final is undecided but should be on the 20th or 21st of June. If the hurlers win in Croke Park it will be the first time a Drimnagh Castle hurling team has ever won a hurling competition. We are playing a school from Castleknock which beat us in a previous match. Last year the senior hurling team came second by losing in Croke Park, so hopefully this year we can go one step further. Everybody in our school wishes our senior hurlers all the best in the final, they will be with us all the way through. Thank you for reading this month’s blog.
By Conor Forrester
Drimnagh Castles First Ever Cricket Team
On Wednesday the 27th of April, it was an historic day for the school, as their first ever cricket team set off for their first ever game in the Pheonix Park. I was on the cricket team, so I had an eyewitness account of the game. The team was a mix of 5th and 6th classers, with 6th class boy Akhil Jacob as the captain. We won the toss and chose to field as opposed to batting. The other team managed to score 23 runs while they were batting, but we smashed 34 runs as we ended up winning the game 33-24 against Scoil Colm. I got one run and one wicket. We progressed to next round of the tournament, where we will play a school from Malahide.
Crazy May
May was a busy month for pupils and staff in Drimnagh Castle. Here are a few of the notable events that took place in the school…
A fireman came into the 4th classes and talked to them about fire safety.
A policeman came into the 6th classes to talk to them about road safety and the rules of the road for a cyclist.
A man came in to talk about internet safety.
The senior hurlers won their semi-final to get into the Dublin Hurling Finals.
The 2nd classes made their First Holy Communion.
All of the classes played their Castle Cups.
The cricket team ended their first ever Leprechaun Cup campaign with a loss in Rathmines to Malahide Cricket Club.
And finally, Mr. O’Connor’s teammate from Ballyboden brought in the All-Ireland Club Championship, Leinster and Dublin trophies for the whole school to see.
That was a brief round-up of what happened in the school in May. I hope you have enjoyed my blog.
By Aaron Allen
Ballyboden Visit
A couple of months ago Ballyboden won the AIB All Ireland club title. As one of their players is a teacher in our school [Mr. O’ Connor] another player from the team came to visit. His name is Darren O Reilly. He talked about how boys can improve on their gaelic skills, and he talked about the match. The score of the match was 2-14 to 0-07,Ballyboden being the winners of the game and the title. The man of the match was awarded to Ballyboden player Bob Dwan. Thank you for reading my blog!
Santry in Full Swing
As you may know our school has a Santry team. The team train very often and when all the training is over they go to compete against other schools at Santry. If you want to join the team you have to try out and the coaches may or may not take you on the team. As our school team went to Santry last week, I carried out a small interview with one of the coaches Ms. Sweeney, hope you enjoy!
How long have you been a Santry coach?
1 year [beginners luck].
Are you happy with way the boys ran?
Of course they all put forth their best efforts and they are enjoying the experience.
What would you say to a boy who wants to join the team but is a bit nervous?
Everybody has to start somewhere. Practice makes perfect, its about having fun and participating.
How many boys approximately get picked for the Santry team?
25 of Drimnagh’s fittest and fastest.
How many coaches are there on the Drimnagh castle team?
Three teachers, Ms. Byrne, Ms. Sweeney and Ms. E. Martin.
Thanks to Ms Sweeney for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer these questions and thank you for reading!
By Ryan Carr
April 2016
Inter-cultural Food Day
On April 21st, our school Drimnagh Castle had an intercultural food tasting day. There was many foods like Indian, Polish, Irish, Pakistan etc. There was Indian curry, Pakistan rice, coddle, stew, different types of bread and much more. We had some visitors from RTE come into our school and interview some of the boys who were helping out, Michael Alabi and Richard Delaney where interviewed, and you will see a picture of Michael underneath this blog. The boys were mostly excited about RTE coming in and they all wanted to be on TV. The display of the foods was lovely and thank you all for giving the boys an opportunity to try all these lovely foods. Thank you to all the people who helped out with yesterday and made everything possible. We would also like to say thanks to Mr. Toher and his class for making this possible, and Ms Peacock, and Ms Maguire for serving drinks. If you would like to see our school on TV or if you missed a chance to see us, you can watch it on News2day on RTE player, Thanks for reading!
By Ryan Carr
Spelling Bee
On Thursday, I went to the Red Cow Hotel to participate in the Easons Spelling Bee. I was representing the school and I went to the Red Cow with two teachers (Ms.Henry and Ms.Henessey ) and my Mam and Dad. I got to the sixth round and got knocked out on the word insatiable. I got a dictionary, a t-shirt and a goody bag with two vouchers, a bookmark and a pen. Unfortunately, I missed out on the inter-cultural day. I hope you have enjoyed my blog!
By Aaron Allen
Open Day
On Thursday the 21st of April, Drimnagh Castle held its annual Open Day for the new student’s that will be coming into 2nd class next year. Room 26 held an exhibition about the 1916 Easter Rising. We had a display, including the projects we have being doing. We let the boys make an Irish bookmark or an Irish flag. A slideshow of what our tour to the GPO was like was on display as a reminder that you will go on little trips during the year. Room 5 had maths games on the whiteboard to show the boys that maths can be fun too. Room 6 had a display of magnets to show that science is as fun as other activity’s we learn in school. Out in the yard Mr Toher set up an obstacle course with help from some of the boys staying back to help. After the obstacle course the boys were shown around the garden to show how you can take an interest in gardening and take part in different areas of school life. Thank you for reading this blog and come back next month to take a look at my next blog!
By Conor Forrester
Fun Run!
On Friday the 22nd of April,our school had a fun run. Last week was a busy week for Drimnagh Castle primary, we had food tasting,we had RTE come in to film us for News2day and we had to do a lot of preparation. But lets get on to the fun run. Every year our school gives a fun run card to each family in our school, basically if there is two brothers, only one of the brothers gets a fun run card and they share it. The whole point of the card is that each boy has to try and raise a small bit of money,to fund PE equipment in our school. The fun run is an obstacle course which all the boys have to take part in, the fun run ,as its name says is fun, they get to use balance boards, do a bit of boxing, walk across benches, just basically like any obstacle course. After you do all the obstacles, you have to do one lap of the pitch. Some boys do extra and try and challenge each other to see who can do the most laps. That’s all I have to say, thank you for reading my blog!
By Ryan Carr
6th Class GPO Visit
On the 15th of April, the three 6th classes went on a very special tour to the GPO. The tour was called the GPO eyewitness tour, which showed us the history and aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising. We got the 123 bus into O’Connell Street and back to the school. We were shown around the GPO by a very enthusiastic tour guide by the name of Dara. We were taken down stairs to a room full of replica guns and some slideshows. There was a short movie re-enacted by some of the staff which showed us the view from both the rebels and the British Empire. We saw some of the letters which were written during the Rising. One of them was from a very young boy around the age of 3 or 4. His letter said “Thank you Daddy for choc love Baby”. The description beside the letter said that this letter was found in the fathers pocket when he was shot. The baby’s father didn’t let go of the letter from the day he received it to the he died. I would recommend going on this tour, which would be a great day out for all the family. Thank you for reading this month’s blog.
By Conor Forrester
Dublin’s Fittest School
On Friday the 15th of April, 10 boys out of Drimnagh Castle CBS went to represent our school in the Dublin’s Fittest School competition in Blanchardstown IT. The ten boys that were picked to compete were; Conor Forrester (captain), Michael Alabi (vice captain), Adam Roche, Oisin Rooney, Bradley Rogers, Richard Delaney, Clayton Foran, Adam Smallhorne, Mark Brennan and Moses Alabi. We won the endurance race which was when all the boys link up and run around a cone from end to end multiple times. In handball, we won 4, drew 2 and lost 2.We all had to squat against a wall for as long as we possibly could. Conor Forrester set the South Dublin record of 31 minutes and 36 seconds. The boys will be returning to hopefully claim the prize of being Dublin’s Fittest School in a week or so. Thank you for reading this month’s blog. I will let you know how the boys got on in my next blog!
By Conor Forrester
March 2016
100 years ago, the 1916 Rising took place in Ireland and for this months blog, we wanted to tell everyone about the various activities and events that were happening around the school. On the 14th of March, we held our own Proclamation Day at school to commemorate the Easter Rising of 1916, classes organised singing, dancing, musical performances and more…. read below to learn about the highlights of the Drimnagh Castle’s very own 1916 centenary celebration.
The Proclamation – Old and New!
As most of you know there was a Easter Rising in 1916 in Ireland, and one of the leaders, Padraig Pearse, read out The Proclamation at the G.P.O. To commemorate this joyous occasion, our school decided to make it’s own Proclamation. Each class (2nd, 3rd, etc.) chose a topic to write about, like anti racism, inclusion etc. and one boy from each class got picked to add his ideas to this new version of the Proclamation. There was so many great entries but only the best made it into the final edition. We even had our own special 7 signatories, the 5 boys from each class; The other bloggers, Conor and Aaron, will be writing next about more 1916 activities and the flag ceremony. Here is a picture of the real proclamation of 1916 and our new school proclamation 2016! Thank you for reading.
By Ryan Carr
Proclamation Day
As today was Proclamation Day and all of our classes had been practicing some songs and dances, a few of them got the chance to perform before the flag was raised. Beforehand a select few classes had done the Céilí Mor. The activities ran from 11:30am until 12:35pm and were a joy to watch. In one of the shows, three of the teachers, Mr. Grehan, Ms. Martin and Mr. Briody, played the violin, the accordion, the tin whistle, the banjo and the harp. Go raibh maith agat as léamh mo bhlag agus tá suil agam go dtí an iar an mhí seo chugainn!
By Aaron Allen
Flag Raising Ceremony
On Tuesday the 15th of March all the schools across Ireland had a Proclamation Day. As part of this we had a flag raising ceremony in the school garden. Mr Briody, who hails from the red hand of Ulster, raised the flag while Mr Howard assisted him. When the flag was being raised all the boys and all the teachers sang Amhrán na bhFiann our national anthem. The ceremony was similar to when the Irish tricolour of green, white and orange was raised over the GPO. Tuesday was a special day for all of us in Drimnagh Castle. This day will go down in history forever. I wish you all a great Easter and a great centenary celebration of 1916.
By Conor Forrester
February 2016
Interview with Mr. Briody- Blue Stars
Mr. Briody took some time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions about this years Blue Stars.
What do you say to the players after a training session?
We tell the boys when we are training again and not to forget their gear. We also give the boys some “homework” to do from the training session. E.g Solo, Block.
What do you think is the best way for a player to improve?
Practice. Practice. Practice! The only way to improve is to get a ball and practice your basic skills. You can do this by yourself or with friends but the best way is to get out and join your local club!
What is the Blue Stars playing style?
We have a very young team this year so we are still working on our basic skills. By the time games come around, we hope to move the ball quickly out of defence and let the ball into our forwards early, with good kick passing.
How many players are you going to pick for the panel?
We will be reducing the number of players on our panel after Easter; however we will still hope to keep around 40 boys for next year’s team.
Are you happy with how the Blue Star boys are playing?
The boys who are not involved with the Senior or Junior Hurling team are training very hard and getting a great chance to impress myself and Mr. Toher. They are very enthusiastic and willing to listen to what the managers have to say which is a very important trait to have!
By Ryan Carr
Interview with Mr. Neville- Senior Hurling
Mr. Neville took some time out of his very busy schedule to answer some questions about this years Senior Hurling team.
Last month the senior hurling started back. I was very lucky to interview the very busy Mr Neville. Here are some of questions that I asked Mr Neville.
How many boys are on the panel altogether?
“The panel has between 25 to 35 boys altogether.”
What is the squads main goal, other than winning?
“Our goal is to give every boy a chance to play and experience what playing as a team can achieve. Winning in Croke Park would just be a huge bonus.”
When is the championship starting back?
“The championship is starting back in early April.”
What is the chance of us getting to Croke Park?
“In my opinion there is a great chance of us getting to Croke Park because the team is made up by some very skilful hurlers.”
What league are we in this year?
“The school is in the Dublin South-West Johnston Mooney and O’Brien league.”
We all wish the best to our school in this years competition, and hopefully we can go all the way this year. Thank you for reading this months blog , have a great Easter.
By Conor Forrester
Chinese New Year in Drimnagh Castle
In our school, we have a lot of pupils from China. So, in honour of them, we invited them and our inter-cultural committee to room 27 for a Chinese New Year celebration. It is always something to look forward to every year. We had traditional Chinese food and I can guarantee you that the boys will have tried something that they would have never ever tried before or learned something new! This year is the year of the monkey! I hope you have enjoyed my two blogs this month.
By Aaron Allen
Seo Linn Visit!
On Tuesday February 9th, an Irish band visited our school called Seo Linn. They went around to the 4th and 5th classes (who obviously had a great time!) and then to the hall, where they performed a concert for the whole school. They sang songs like the song from the Eir ad and Walk The Moon’s Shut Up and Dance. The group first came to fame when they sang Avicii’s ‘Wake Me Up’ and have since performed on the Late Late Show and released their single “D’Aon Ghuth Amháin”. I think it’s fair to say that the pupils really enjoyed the visit based on their reaction. I hope you have enjoyed my blog and I will be back posting next month.
By Aaron Allen
January 2016
Padraig Pearse Museum Visit
Last month, the three 6th classes went on a trip to the Padraig Pearse Museum in The Hermitage in Rathfarnham. In the museum, there was many artefacts, many of which were his father’s sculptures and paintings that the family received as gifts from artists and some very talented pupils.
When we were there, we noticed that the family had a lot of book cases full of old and rare books. A few of us noticed that they had a few Shakespeare books in one of the book cases in the principals office. The museum is also said to have the table on which Robert Emmett was beheaded!!! The museum had a separate room which had many stuffed animals and even some animals were alive!
That is my blog for January and I would highly recommend visiting the Padraig Pearse Museum. It has lots of facts you might know and many you won’t. Thank you for reading.
By Conor Forrester
Healthy Eating in Drimnagh Castle
In our school we have a healthy eating policy. You are not allowed to bring in fizzy drinks or sweets. You should have no crisps, southern fried, pizza, ice cream, garlic bread etc. An example of a healthy lunch would be a brown bread sandwich with any sort of un-cooked meat in it and any fruit or vegetables. With this and our cross country we hope to our pupils will go on and do something great in the future.
By Aaron Allen
Cross Country Running
As you may or may not know,every year 3rd 4th 5th and 6th class do cross country.Cross country is where you have to do a certain amount of laps of our gaelic pitch,according to which type of class you are in.There is 3 types of races in cross country,1st race 2nd race and the 3rd race,the first one race 1 is the highest one,race 2 is the slightly lower race,and race 3 is the slightly lower race than 2.If your in 6th class you would do more laps than all the other classes,because your the highest class,so according to what year your in you do more laps.At the moment the sixth class cross country is underway,and they are doing their races.If they want to graduate they have to complete every race.There are about 30 boys in each race,and theres 3 races so there is approximately 90 boys, doing each years cross country.Thanks for reading my blog.
By Ryan Carr
December 2015
School Xmas Plays
On Tuesday, all of the classes performed their plays in front of the school and then on Wednesday, in front of their parents. Most of the classes had been practicing for two weeks and, in my opinion, it was all worth it. I thought the plays were brilliant. TV Tuesday, Cinderella, Cinderfella, The X Factor Christmas Special and My Family, to name a few of the plays. I hope you have enjoyed my blog.
By Aaron Allen
Behaviour Draw
On Monday, we had our bike draw. The bike raffle is where there is a bike for every grade of class,there is one for 6th,5th,4th,3rd and 2nd class. 5 students won, each winning for there category of class.There was also some prizes given out to anyone who made a good slogan/picture for the anti bullying campaign,which Ms N Martin was in charge of. We couldn’t leave the teachers out, so for being great teachers ,some of them received prizes. Here you will see some of the prize winners.Thanks for reading.
By Ryan Carr
School Debating Group
As you may know we have a debating group/team in our school, ran by Ms O’Connor and Ms Timbs, where you learn how to debate.Its really good for your general knowledge and really helps you,for when your going to secondary school.A few weeks ago we went to St Agnes`s Crumlin to debate against their debating group/team,it was a good experience and it was our team/group`s first time debating against another school. The team/group enjoyed it and are looking forward to debating against more schools in the new year.Thank you for reading this blog.
By Ryan Carr
Hurling Eliminator
Each year Mr Howard and Mr O Neil hold a competition for the junior hurlers to show of their skills .It is called the Eliminator. There is a four week period from the end of November to the middle of December. The final took place last week were we saw ten boys from 4th class compete against each other to win, and ten boys from 3rd class battled it out to win. There was amazing prizes up for grabs such as a new hurl, a grip, a sliotar, a Dublin flag, a pair of Dublin socks and a Dublin hoodie. The winner from 4th class was Tadgh Higgins from Room 15. The winner from 3rd was Seán Begley from Room 7. Don’t be too disappointed if you don’t win, I know what pressure the boys were under because I was in the same situation two years ago. They always have next year. Thank you for reading. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. Best of wishes for 2016.
By Conor Forrester
November 2015
6th Class Boxing Tournament
On Tuesday, the 5th and 6th classes went to The National Boxing Stadium on the South Circular Road. Our 6th class boxers who fought on Tuesday had made it through the bronze, silver and gold levels of the school’s boxing program. It was a great atmosphere at the stadium and we went through the mini-tournament unbeaten. All in all it was a great day for the school, especially the 5th and 6th classes.
By Aaron Allen
School Trad Group
We have a trad group in our school, ran by Ms E Martin, and they peform at special occasions like Christmas concerts, special occasions etc. There are 12 members in the trad group. Instruments such as tin whistles, cajon and banjo are played in the trad group.They have learned 3 songs in total: ‘Irelands Call’, ‘Is Cuma Cé’ and ‘Ní na Lá’. The Trad group have sent Irelands call, to the Irish rugby team!!!
The Trad Group have performed for the Army, they have performed for inter-cultural week and many Christmas concerts. Here you will see pictures of some of our fantastic trad group the students.
By Ryan Carr
College Week
College awareness week is a week where pupils from 6th class and secondary learn about college .College awareness week started on the 23rd and ended on the 29th of November. College students visit many schools,and give presentations about college.My class was visited by three college students, Luke Kelly,Kevin Sullivan and Dylan Colbert. Kevin and Luke are both past pupils from Drimnagh Castle. Kevin works in Trinity College, Luke studied accountancy in D.C.U and Dylan is a doing a PHE in Maynooth University.Thank you for reading my blog.
By Ryan Carr
Gaelic Football Leagues 2015
Each year our school holds a Gaelic league so Mr. Toher and Mr. Briody can shortlist the boys who impress them the most to go forward to the blue stars. The league went on over a three week period. The four teams which made it through to the semi-finals were hot-favourites Wexford , an on-form Offaly team, a fierce Leitrim side and our comeback kings Carlow.
In our first semi-finals we had Wexford vs Offaly. In our second semi-final we had Leitrim vs Carlow. The two teams who came out on top were undefeated hot-favourites Wexford managed by Mr O Neil, Ms Timbs and Ms Byrne assisted by Conor Forrester and Adam Roche, against a fierce Leitrim side managed by Mr Howard, Ms Tarpey and Ms Lawler assisted by Bradley Rogers and T.J Gill.
Wexford were led by captain Daniel McGill and vice captain Jamie Smith. Leitrim were led by captain Moses Alabi and vice captain Ashton Keogh. The final was an action-packed match which had Wexford come out on top with a score of 2-7 to 1-00 though harsh weather conditions meant the game had to be played over 2 separate days.
There was also an award ceremony which saw the winning team awarded with the trophy. The M.V.P was given to Martin Collins from Carlow. The man of the match award was given to Reece Kavanagh from Wexford. The most improved award was given to Mark Brennan from Dublin .The rising star award was giving to Sean White from Wexford .The league was great fun and it might inspire more boys to join a G.A.A. club.
By Conor Forrester
October 2015
1916 Flag Ceremony
Two soldiers visited our school yesterday. The soldiers were sergeants from Baldonnel Aircore and boys who had strong connections with the Irish Army gave them a guard of honor as they entered. The sergeants presented Michael Barry (6th Class) and Darragh Harmon (6th Class) with a copy of the Proclamation of Independence in memorial of the 1916 Easter Rising.Both these boys accepted the items on behalf of the school because their Dads serve in the Irish Army & Air Core. Everyone in the school made miniature Irish flags for the special occasion. The whole school was delighted because later on we were awarded no homework!!!
by Ryan Carr
Sam Maguire Visits the Castle
On Tuesday Dublin defender James McCarthy visited our school. To give you an idea of who he is here are five facts about James.
- His father won the All-Ireland three times.
- He went to school at Sacred Heart B.N.S Ballygall and St. Kevin’s College in Ballygall.
- In 2010 he won the Leinster Under-21 Football Championship and the All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship.
- He made his Dublin debut against Laois in 2011.
- He plays for Ballymun Kickhams when he’s not winning All-Ireland’s.
James came to the school and we were allowed to ask him questions about playing for Dublin. He told us that being part of a GAA club was very important to become a better player. We hope that next year he comes back again with Sam especially because he gave everybody homework off!! It has been a good week for homework in the school!! I hope you have enjoyed my first post on this school blog!
By Aaron Allen
Jumping Clay
This year Ms Timbs set up an after school art class called Jumping Clay. Ms Timbs got the idea to start Jumping Clay from seeing it take place in other countries. 104 students applied to do Jumping Clay. 88 lucky boys are participating in Jumping Clay at the moment. Jumping Clay takes place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after school in the hall and in Room 3. Jumping Clay will be continued after the mid-term break. Jumping Clay is so popular because it is fun, relaxing, educational and you get to bring something home every week. The models are made by using a jasmine scented, air drying clay and extra components like magnets or key rings. Ms Timbs, her friend Ashley and Sheila help the boys make the models. During the session children have made animals, minions, clocks etc. but to be honest you can almost make anything. Ms Timbs says that Jumping Clay is worth every penny spent!
By Conor Forrester