November Prayer Service
The Ursuline Prayer Service of Remembrance took place on Thursday, 21 November in the Sr Ursula Memorial Hall. The school community of staff and students, including some of the Ursuline Sisters, gathered together to remember and pray for deceased relatives and friends. The theme for this years’ service was ‘Ní imithe uainn atá said, ach imithe romhainn’, ‘They are not gone from us, but gone before us.’ In preparation students and staff members recorded the names of those they wished to remember on Three Spiral shapes or Celtic Treskeles. Seven of these were made by Mr English in the Technology Department, one for each year group and one for the staff. These where then presented at the altar by Clodagh Ryan, Mary Kate Cahill, Sheena Wright, Aoife McCormack, Kate Fahey, Gemma Fitzgerald and Michelle Slattery at the beginning of the service. The music was provided by Junior Orchestra under the conductorship of Ms Deborah Quinn, who opened the prayer service with their version of the Simon and Garfunkel classic The Sound of Silence. The responsorial psalm was sung by Meadhbh McCormack, Sixth Year, accompanied by Sixth Year flautist Louise McConnon. The First Year Choir provided beautiful accompaniment and sang the service to a close with the Sean Keane song Never Alone with Sarah Brett and Aoife O’Donoghue playing the tin whistle and the low whistle for the verses. Fr Jim’s words in the homily that no one should grieve and suffer alone captured perfectly the poignancy and purpose of this prayer service. Thanks to everyone who contributed in any way, the readers, Ava O’Dwyer, Laragh Griffin, Sophie Tooher, Aoibhinn Murphy, Lucy Keane, Grace Forde and Lucy Joyce and to the RE and Music Departments. Also to Vincent and Brian who got the hall ready for the service. Everyone’s effort is very much appreciated in what is a very special service in the school’s liturgical calendar.
Certified Irish Angus Beef Schools Competition
Congratulations to the three Ursuline teams who have qualified for the Munster Final of the Certified Irish Angus Beef Schools Competition which will take place after Christmas in Moorepark, Fermoy. Ruth Maher, Lily Duffy, Róisín Fercombe and Amy O’Connor are investigating the role of women in agriculture and their positive contributions to the sector, with a view to seeing what measures can be taken to increase female participation in the industry. Orla Carey, Grace Moore, Molly Hayes and Mary Ryan are researching ruminant animal diets and how their emissions can be mitigated, along with exploring how grazing beef cattle helps maintain grassland areas. Margaret Gaynor, AobhaMinogue, Isabella Jones and Sarah Rochford are examining emissions across all aspects of Irish agriculture, from farm to fork and promoting the merits of Ireland’s sustainable pastures, based on the farm model of production. Good luck to all as they prepare their projects and presentations which they hope will earn them a spot in the All Ireland Final in CrokePark later in 2025 with a view to being one of the five top teams in the country to win five Angus calves to rear.
Small Things like These Cinema Trip
Ursuline Fifth and Sixth Years had a midweek, midmorning trip to the IMC in Thurles on Wednesday 20 November to see a special screening of Small Things like These starring CillianMurphy. All Senior classes are reading the Claire Keegan novella as part of their comparative question in English. There was plenty of praise and critical appraisal of the adaptation in which main character Bill Furlong makes a lone stand against the town’s Magdalene Laundry. Thanks so much to Kelly and the staff of the IMC for accommodating the group and for the complimentary popcorn and drink which added hugely to the enjoyment of the occasion for the students and their teachers. Many thanks also to Ms O’Sullivan for organising the cinema trip.
TY Think Languages Day
The four Ursuline TY classes had a great day learning words from lots of different dialects and sampling cultural delights from around the world on Tuesday, 19 November with the annual Think Languages Day. The morning started with a treasure hunt around the school and the rest of the day included an escape room, workshops in sign language, Chinese writing and guest speakers from UL. In the afternoon there was food sampling from other countries to end a thoroughly enjoyable Think Languages Day. Thanks to the UCT international students who gave presentations and the Modern Foreign Languages Department who organised the event. The following day on Wednesday, 20 November a group of Ursuline students took part in the Fluent Futures event in UCC as a follow up to Think Languages.
LGFA
The Ursuline U16.5 footballers put in an excellent display on Tuesday, 19 November to beat the Presentation 2-11 to 3-5. This means the Juniors are now into a Munster semi-final. Melanie Flannery was ever reliant on set piece duties and scored a personal tally of 1-6. Emily McGrath was dangerous in attack while at the other end Ava Geoghegan was exceptional in defending and breaking forward. Other scorers included Claire Fitzgerald 1-0, Emily McGrath 0-2, Sophie Moynihan 0-1, Amy O’Connor 0-1 and Alice Butler 0-1.
Camogie
The Ursuline Junior A Camogie team progress to a Munster semi-final after a home win against fellow Ursuline’s from Waterford on Tuesday, 19 November. Thanks to Durlas Óg for the use of their grounds and facilities. Also congratulations to the three Ursuline Sixth Year students who were part of the Munster Interprovincial Post Primary Camogie team, Orla Ryan, Clodagh Ryan and Isabelle Carr.
Geography Club
The members of the Ursuline Geography club took it upon themselves to feed the birds around the school last week. They wanted to highlight the importance of feeding our feathered friends in the cold winter frost.