Ursuline Junk Kouture 2024
The Ursuline Thurles has ten hopefuls entered in the 2024 Junk Kouture competition. The teams have worked hard on their sustainable fashion attire for the last number of months, bringing their outfits from an initial idea, to drawings, to sourcing rubbish to use as materials, to designing, making and finally modelling ten very different and unique dresses. ‘Shades of Blue’ was designed by Ella Heaney, Alanna Maher and Ciara Collins. They used children’s books, loofah’s, recycled wool and leather to create a gorgeous dress complete with train. Sophie Coughlan, Ciara Corcoran and Florineae O’Donnell brought archaeological survey flags, blinds, sandbags and buttons together in a vibrant burst of floral design named ‘Blossom of Time’. They accessorised it with a hat, necklace and earrings. The circus was the theme chosen by Maria Taaffe, Marta Suska and Nikola Blaszczyk. ‘Make ‘Em Laugh’ consists of a discarded tent and umbrella as well as onion bags and milk bottles which were transformed to resemble a big top, complete with spinning carousel headpiece. The riches to rags to riches tale of Cinderella is the basis for ‘Stuck at Midnight’, with Aisling Stanley, Róisin Phillips and Ciara Ryan turning medical masks, hair nets, hospital bedsheets and CDs into a fairy tale delight. Flowy pink material and hundreds of pearls were worked into a striking oriental look by Valeria Ulianova, Christine Wong and Holly Kiely. ‘Not Your Culture’ is made from a foam mat, jewellery, a recycled dress and curtains. Oceania is heavily influenced by Spanish culture and the team included both Irish and Spanish exchange students, Síofra O’Loughlin, Maria Aguilar and Sofia Casado. Their flamingo style dress was designed using cast off denim, wood, CDs and material from discontinued curtain sample books. The heavy, black plastic curtain used on trucks, called tautliner, was one of the main materials sourced by team members Aoife Coyle, Ellen Jordan and Rhianna Dollard. From this they produced a bodice and skirt which was further embellished with washers and seatbelts and topped off with a mitre-like headpiece. ‘Limitless Model’ shows that lorry parts can be transformed into a thing of beauty. Inspired by the success of Tipperary jockey Rachel Blackmore, trio Anna O’Callaghan, Julia McHugh and Sophie Quirke, worked with silks, rosettes, horseshoes and saddles. They made a diadem and Lady Liberty style dress in silver and different blues, which they named ‘Race to the Finish.’ Lily Murphy, Tessa Kearney and Emma Fogarty brought together baling wrap, bottle caps, a tennis net and aluminium cans into a contrasting light/dark couturier creation. They completed their look, called ‘Chiaroscuro’, with an eye-catching butterfly sash design that they continued on to the high collar at the back for a dramatic throwback to the sixteenth century. ‘Vision Zero’ is a dress that has a strong road safety message. Created by Tara Johnson, Christina Whelan and Caitlín Cussen using copper wire, seatbelts, bike wheels and high viz jackets, they finished their figure hugging, fish tail purple and black entry with a spectacularly high headdress. The finished Ursuline Junk Kouture collection of 2024 was showcased to the school and parents on Thursday, 18 January, with the models taking to a specially build runway in the Sr Ursula Memorial Hall. It was a very exciting school fashion show where the audience got to see the amazing things that can be done with apparently ‘useless’ stuff. Well done to all teams on producing Junk Kouture entries of such a high standard and to the teachers who helped and supported them, Mr English, Ms Annette Flanagan and Ms Erica Flanagan. The teams now await results to find out if they have qualified for the South East Regional Final and soon after the All Ireland Final.
Garda Youth Leadership Awards
Congratulations to the three Ursuline students, Lucy Purcell, Fifth Year, Ellen Cullen, Fifth Year and Sophie Rowland, Sixth Year, who were recognised for the generous contributions they make to their communities at the Garda Youth Leadership Awards on Thursday, 8 February. Lucy was nominated for her leadership skills and sporting abilities. She is committed to many teams in the Ursuline, her clubs, Thurles Sarsfields, Peake Villa, Tipp Talons and her county, Tipperary and plays or has played at a high level in camogie, Gaelic football, soccer and basketball. She is unwavering in the time and dedication she pours into the sports that she is involved in, giving a hundred per cent. Fellow Fifth Year student Ellen was nominated for her volunteerism with several programmes run by Meithel House. In her spare time, she gives unstintingly, helping out where she can and interacting with the young people with Down Syndrome who avail of the services. Leaving Cert student Sophie was nominated for her courage, strength and positive outlook on life and for her involvement with the Youth Club in her parish. Sophie throws herself wholeheartedly into anything she undertakes with a great attitude and has a really optimistic outlook. The ceremony was held in the Garda College Templemore and students could be nominated by their school or community with eligibility across a number of categories and disciplines. The Ursuline students enjoyed a very informative tour of the College before being presented with their individual awards.
Athletics – The South East Munster Cross Country Schools Competition
The South East Munsters, which act as a qualifier for the Munster Schools Cross Country, took place on Thursday, February 8, in Waterford. The conditions left a lot to be desired with rain making the ground very sticky and uncomfortable to run in. The Ursuline first team, the Minors, consisting of Orla Pamplin, Leah O’Connell, Sarah Kelly, Ella Maher and Lauren Sheehan, finished in fourth place as a team. Orla lead the race at times and eventually finished in a very credible sixth place followed in by Leah, Sarah, Ella, Lauren and Phoebe, who can all be very proud of their performances.
The Junior team, led by Eleanor Kiernan with Emma Murphy, Millie Kearney, Éadaoin Carroll, Sarah Delaney and Aisling O’Donoghue, just missed out on team qualification. Eleanor qualified as an individual due to an outstanding run which saw her lead the race to finish in second place overall. Emma Murphy ran a fine race followed home by Millie, Éadaoin, Sarah and Aisling.
One of the performances of the day was from Doireann Lynch in the Intermediate race. This is her first race at this level, over an unforgiving course. Her placement in ninth out of the 28 finishers marks her out as one to watch out for in the future.
In the final race, the Senior 2500m, Orla Ryan lead by example in qualifying for the Munsters with her 13th place finish. Aoibheann Fogarty had a good run to finish in 18th place. Isabelle Carr had a real baptism of fire in her first X-Country at this level and her 22nd place brought the team home in fifth position overall.
Cross country is a difficult and demanding sport. Great credit is due to all of our girls who stood on the start line to compete in these conditions on Thursday. Well done to you all. Special mention to the supporters who were really vocal in their support and most helpful in looking after the girls pre and post race.
Rugby
The Ursuline minor rugby squad were in action last week in Thurles RFC. They played two games against Borrisoleigh and Bandon. There was some great rugby played by the UCT girls with some playing in their first competitive game. Well done to all and to Ms Fahey for her continued hard work promoting the sport within the school.