The children from First Class to Sixth Class had a special treat today when they got to watch a performance of The Secret Garden. The Sixth Class children had a “back stage” session with the cast afterwards who gave them lots of inside information on the performance which has left them very excited for their own performance of Matilda in June!
Congratulations to Conor, in Fifth Class, who represented St. Paul’s in the Spelling Bee Meath county final.
Following a school based competition between all the children in Fifth and Sixth Class, Conor was the last student standing after spelling all of his words correctly. This meant Conor would represent St. Paul’s in the county final, which was held in our school. Conor had the support of his class in the PE hall and did extremely well, getting to the second last round. Well done Conor!
Spelling Bee
We are delighted to have raised €1,487 on Daffodil Day, which was donated directly to the Irish Cancer Society. Many thanks to everyone who donated money, and a special thank you to our Student Council who worked very hard selling pins, daffodils and raffle tickets on the day.
There was great excitement in school today when we had our annual visit from the Easter Bunny. He had lots of fun visiting all of the children and he even left a little treat for the children to find in an Easter Egg Hunt!
Ms. Cowley’s Junior Infants
Ms. Ruane’s Junior Infants
Ms. O’Sullivan’s Junior Infants
Ms. Kennedy’s Senior Infants
Ms. Bagnall’s Senior Infants
Ms. Hession’s Senior Infants
Ms. Prendiville, Ms. Moore & Ms. Mullen’s 1st Classes
Ms. Burke’s 2nd Class
Ms. Hamilton’s 2nd Class
Ms. Egan’s 2nd Class
Ms. O’Riordan’s 3rd Class
Ms. Smyth’s 3rd Class
Ms. Bates’ 3rd Class
Ms. Brennan’s 4th Class
Mr. Duffy’s 4th Class
Ms. Ní Chinnéide’s 4th Class
Ms. Broderick’s 5th Class
Ms. Ní Mhurchú’s 5th Class
Ms. O’Reilly’s 5th Class
Ms. Dennehy’s 6th Class
Ms. Kieran’s 6th Class
Mr. Harte’s 6th Class
Ms. Talty & Ms. O’Connor’s Classes
Today, Ms Broderick’s class visited Kilmainham Gaol. Our tour started at the front gates of Kilmainham Gaol. Here we were met by our friendly guide called Lisa.
Lisa began the tour by bringing us to the chapel inside the gaol. Here she told us the captivating story of how Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford were married just hours before Joseph was executed due to his participation in the 1916 Rising. Following this, we were led through the old and new parts of the gaol. As we walked through the gaol, we were able to experience a real feeling of what life was like for a prisoner in Kilmainham. The cold and damp conditions the prisoners felt were evident due to the many windows and little or no heating in the prison. Our guide informed us that the prisoners mainly survived on porridge, bread and stew. She also told us that prisoners were kept in their cells for 23 hours per day and were only allowed one hour to exercise and empty their chamber pots!
When we reached the east wing of the gaol, many of the cells were open. There were many plaques stating the prisoners’ names that slept in these cells during the lifetime of the prison. Some of these were Joseph Plunkett, Eamon De Valera, Edward Daly and Countess Markievicz. The children were fascinated to see the size of the cells.
Another famous cell inside the prison is that of Grace Gifford. She was imprisoned during the Civil War, after her husband’s death, for her promotion of Sinn Féin policies through her work as an artist. The cell in which she slept contains a painting of the The Blessed Virgin and the Christ Child.
Our tour ended in the Stonebreakers’ Yard. Our guide explained to us that it was in the Stonebreakers’ Yard that fourteen of the leaders of the 1916 Rising were executed in May 1916. Today this is commemorated by a plaque and two crosses in the yard.
Kilmainham Gaol
Stonebreakers’ Yard