Celebrations were in full swing in Kiltealy N.S. on Tuesday March 15th for the raising of Our Tricolour and to commemorate the 1916 Rising. The first event of the day was the raising of the Irish flag outside our school. This great honour fell to local man Jim Cooper a former member of the Irish Defence Forces. The children, staff and Fr. Morris all stood to attention to witness the flag being hoisted and afterwards sang our National Anthem with great pride. 5th Class pupil James Aylward provided music accompaniment on the accordion.
Celebrations moved to the community hall for the afternoon where a great crowd of parents, grandparents and members of the wider community attended our commemoration of the 1916 Rising. Jim Cooper , Father Morris, Seamus Rafter and recently retired former Principal of Kiltealy N.S. Mary Kavanagh were all in attendance.
3rd and 4th class pupils gave a lovely introduction to the ceremony with a brief account of the lead up to the Rising and the care of our National Flag. Fr. Morris then spoke briefly before introducing Seamus Rafter, whos family was heavily involved in 1916 Easter Rising Events in Enniscorthy. Seamus gave a detailed account of events in Enniscorthy during the Rising. The legacy of the Rising was delivered to us by David Nolan and Dylan Purcell.
Senior pupils then read out the 1916 Proclamation and their New 2016 Proclamation which 5th & 6th Class wrote collaboratively for the celebrations.
Following this, we had music to our ears with some fantastic instrumental pieces played by all pupils from 3rd – 6th class. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed listening to our National Anthem, Inisere, The Rathlin Bog, Dawning of the Day and The Foggy Dew.
The crowd were then treated to a lovely rendition of the Song “Grace” after hearing the story and meaning behind the lyrics, read out by Niamh Armstrong.
1st and 2nd class took to the stage to recite an excellently written poem all about the Rising. They received a rapturous applause and it was well deserved.
The infants added the cute factor with their brilliantly choreographed traditional Irish group dance.
The children made some amazing art displays and there was some fantastic memorabilia from 1916, including Michael Collin’s prayer book, for everyone to enjoy.
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All the staff here in Kiltealy would like to thank the pupils, their families and the entire community of Kiltealy for attending our celebration and commemoration in what will be a great memory for all to take with them into the future.