Congratulations to the 6th class children who saved some of their Confirmation money to donate to Monaghan SPCA. The photograph shows the children presenting the cheque to Sinéad from MSPCA in Emyvale. Their money will definitely be put to good use and will benefit the many animals waiting to be rehomed in the shelter. Maith sibh rang a sé.
Confirmation Class 2014
A massive congratulations to the 6th class children who made their Confirmation in St Tierney's Church, Roslea on Tuesday 13th May 2014.
Walking Tour Of Monaghan 2014
On Thursday
12th June, 5th and 6th class went on a walking
tour of Monaghan Town. We got a bus to Monaghan Museum. We met Pauline who
would be our tour guide for the day outside the County Museum.
Monaghan County Museum
Firstly
Pauline told us some facts about the Museum. The Museum moved to its current
building in 1986. The building is made up of two three-storey houses built
about 1860, with dressed stone architecture and a parapet. We know it was
originally two houses because there are two doors. Monaghan County Museum is
one of the longest established regional museums is Ireland. It opened in 1974.
It was the first professionally staffed County Museum in the Republic Of
Ireland.
Park Street
Following
this, we took a short walk to Park Street. Park Street is one of the town’s
older streets and was originally known as Clones Street. This is because it is
the road that leads to the Clones Road.
Market House
We then
gathered outside the Market House. The Market House was built using the local
grey limestone in 1792 to designs by Samuel Hayes, a well-known amateur architect
for the first Lord Rossmore. It is thought to be one of the most delicate and elegant
18th century buildings in the north.
The Market
House provided a common space for the exchange of produce. Grain, pork, meal,
butter, flax, hay, poultry and grass-seed as well as fish, clothes and toys
were bought and sold here. Livestock was more generally sold at fairs.
Sometimes a market house had an upstairs, which was used to house a court or
assembly rooms. Originally the Market House did not have an upstairs but when
they decided to renovate the building they built an upstairs.
Church Square
We then
proceeded to Church Square. Church Square is a fairly modern square created in
the 1830’s and known then as the New Diamond. The square also shows off a
unique feature of the town’s architecture – the rounded corners. These can best
be seen at the Round House Bar opposite the Church, in the Bank of Ireland and
in the curved junction of Church Square and Dawson Street (Dinkins).
The Courthouse
We were very excited to visit Monaghan
Courthouse next. The courthouse was built in 1830 to designs by Joseph Welland
at a cost of £10,000. The stone used is from the mountain quarry at Eshnaglogh
in the north of the county. The court house was built on the site of the old
jail of 1778 that was remembered for one notorious Gaoler, by the name of Johnny
Short. He released pickpockets for the day on market and fair days and then
took a percentage of their takings! During the civil war (1922-23) a company of
the National army stationed in the courthouse was attacked and bullet marks can
be seen on the pillars.
We were very lucky to be given the opportunity to enter the
courthouse and the cells. A man called Paddy firstly brought us into one of the
courtrooms. He explained where the judge, jury, defendants, newspaper
reporters, lawyers and members of the public sat. We then got the chance to sit
in each of these areas. After this we went down to the cells. There was only a
toilet, sink and bed made out of concrete in each cell. We were surprised to
see that there was blood on the walls and lots of graffiti. We also visited the
judge’s room and the room where the lawyers meet the defendants before the
court cases.
Monaghan Memorial and
St Patrick’s Church
Our next stop was
outside the door of the Courthouse at the Monaghan Memorial. This was made to
remember the 7 people who died in the Monaghan bombings on the 17th
of May 1974. It is a permanent memorial made of bronze, limestone and glass
optics. It was designed by Ciaran O’Cearnaigh from Dublin. It was unveiled on
the 30th anniversary of the Monaghan bombings on the 17th
of May 2004.
A short distance away was St Patrick’s Church. This was built
by William Farrell in the 1830’s. It was built in a very pretty style known as
Regency Gothic. The Tower clock was erected in 1902 to commemorate the
coronation of Edward VII. St Patrick’s is the Church of Ireland parish church.
Dawson Monument
1854 saw the outbreak of the Crimean War. Colonel Dawson of
Dawson Grove, County Monaghan died in the war at the battle of Inkerman. The
Dawson Monument is made of granite and was erected in his memory in 1857. It is
located at the junction of Church Square and Dawson Street.
The Diamond
We strolled across the road to our next stop. The Diamond was
the original market place of early Monaghan. It was always known as The Diamond
like most squares in the northern towns. The south side of the Diamond marks
the line of the old stone castle of Monaghan. In later times this was the site
of Monaghan’s oldest printing houses – the early 19th century
premises of Robinson and Duffy.The
printing tradition was maintained when A.W Holmes founded the ‘Northern
Standard’ in the same area in 1839.
The Rossmore Memorial
We then proceeded to The Rossmore Memorial. This Memorial was
originally a drinking fountain which was erected in memory of Henry Robert
Westenra, 4th Baron Rossmore, who died in an accident at Windsor in
March 1874. The fountain was designed by an unknown architect in 1875.It is
made from red sandstone with granite steps and is perhaps the best-known
landmark in the town.
Eight grey marble columns support the canopy, which has lots
of carvings. The eight letters ROSSMORE are strung around the top. The Memorial
replaced a 17th century market cross which now stands in Old Cross
Square.
Birthplace of Charles
Gavan Duffy
Our next stop was at a wall plaque erected in 1974 at Number
10 Dublin Street. This marks the birthplace of Charles Gavan Duffy, Monaghan’s
most famous son. Charles was a Prominent nationalist, writer, editor and
statesman. Charles Gavan Duffy was born at 10 Dublin Street on the 12th
April 1816. He died in Nice, France in 1903 and is buried at Glasnevin
Cemetery, Dublin. He is buried in Glasnevin and not Monaghan because all the
important states people of Ireland are buried in Glasnevin.
Dublin Street
Dublin Street is narrow curved street that was completed by
the mid-18th century. The local grey limestone, found so often in
the town, is well preserved here. There are 13 passage ways or entries,
sometimes arched over, set at right angles to Dublin Street. These entries are
a feature of Monaghan and are often marked on old maps. In the past the
passages and entries were busy and active living places in which generations of
families were reared.
Old Cross Square and
the Market Cross
One of our last stops was Old Cross Square. This was formally
known as The Shambles. It was the centre of the butchering trade and the
Shambles River was used as a disposal point for waste which is not environmentally
friendly at all.
Today the most noticeable feature of Old Cross Square is the
Market Cross. This is a unique monument to have in an Irish town. It originally
stood in The Diamond but was moved to make room for the Rossmore Memorial which
was erected in 1875. This cross is like many Scottish examples and has a
sundial on top. The many sided headincludes four cups with metal fingers above that threw a shadow onto
painted lines that have disappeared through time. The head was upside down
since it was moved from the Diamond, but when Old Cross Square was renovated
recently, the head was placed the right way up.
First Monaghan
Presbyterian Church
Across the road from the Market Cross is the First Monaghan
Presbyterian Church which was our last stop on our walking tour. There are two
churches in one here as most of the original church which was built in 1827 is
incorporated in the present building constructed in 1901. The nave of the old
church now forms a church hall underneath the building. We can see that there
are two churches on top of each other, as the lower church has a different
texture of stone to the top one. Also both churches have a different style of
windows which means that they are from two different times.
The walking tour was really interesting and good fun. We
learned a lot about the History of Monaghan which we did not know before. We
now have many new facts to share with our friends and family about our native
town, Monaghan.
A sample of our recent artwork
We had great fun experimenting with clay and made these beautiful candle holders for Mother's Day. We painted them in really bright colours and were thrilled with the results.
We also painted wooden egg cups for Easter. It was great fun and the crème eggs tasted delicious too!!!
Clogher don Óige Retreat 2014
A visit from our local Pioneer's Club
Clones Credit Union Quiz
Congratulations to the four quiz teams who took part in the Clones Credit Union quiz last Friday night in Largy College. They represented the school extremely well and showed off their general knowledge skills by answering some really tough questions. They did themselves and Scoil Mhuire proud. Have a look to see if you could answer some of the questions asked:
What colour flag signifies a surrender or truce?
How many points is the pink ball worth in snooker?
What is the rabbit in 'Bambi' called?
Which King used a sword called Excalibur?
What is a baby deer called?
What is the fourth prime number?
Which leader of the Greek Gods ruled from Mount Olympus?
What is the last letter in the Greek alphabet?
What did Prince William and Kate call their baby son?
In the Mr Men books, what colour is Mr Worry?
Catholic Schools Week
Last week marked Catholic Schools Week 2014. This year's theme was Catholic Schools: Places of Faith and Learning. To mark this special occasion, we held a Prayer Service in the school hall. Many children read prayers and others held up symbols representing the different aspects of life in Scoil Mhuire, Magherarney. We also sang two beautiful hymns.
5th and 6th class also made St Brigid's crosses out of rushes. They were tricky at first but we soon got the hang of it!!! We attached our crosses onto a piece of card which briefly told the story of the St Brigid's cross. It had a lovely prayer to St Brigid printed on it as well which we can say with our families at home.
Doodle 4 Google
Well done to Hazel who recently took part in the "Doodle 4 Google" art competition. Google use the homepage logo designs to celebrate different people, events or special dates. These Google 'doodles' are usually created by web designers. However, every year Google hold a competition for students from Junior Infants to 6th Year to design their own doodle. The theme of this year's doodle was 'My Adventure . . . '
At present, the judging panel are in the process of judging the entries received. To thank Hazel for entering her lovely piece of artwork, Google have sent her a certificate. We are all keeping our fingers crossed and hopefully we will receive good news soon.
Slán Leat agus Go Raibh Maith Agat Laura
December saw our SNA Laura complete her last day in Scoil Mhuire, Machaire Áirne. It is hard to put into words what a huge loss Laura’s everyday presence will be to our daily school community. Her happy, kind disposition and eternal sense of fun will be missed by pupils and colleagues alike and her thoughtfulness, consideration and practicality will long be remembered. Her contribution to both the pupils’ experience of Life in Scoil Mhuire and the teachers’ daily working life is quite simply unquantifiable.
Primary Schools Debating
This year for the first time fifth and sixth class are preparing a team to participate in the Primary Schools' Team Debating Competition. The team representing Scoil Mhuire, Magherarney consists of speakers and researchers. While a lot of hard work lies ahead of us we are very much looking forward to the experience. Presentation skills, oral language development, research skills as well as debating skills are but a few areas that such an activity develops. The objective of the competition is to enrich children's cognitive and language abilities not to mention encouraging confidence.
To date we have completed Round I of the competition where the motion was, 'Homework is a waste of time'. We were opposing the motion much to the delight of all our teachers! It was a very close contest with some great speakers on the proposing team but we just edged ahead and are really happy to have progressed to Round II. While we were nervous it was a really great experience.
Our second debate was 'Climate Change is Not My Problem', and our school debating team was opposing this motion. Lots of research convinced us that Climate Change is indeed very much our problem however sadly we did not convince the adjudicators on the day and after taking over 40 minutes deliberating they announced that the proposing team had won by a single point. However our view remains unchanged! We were not convinced by their arguments!
The debating experience was a good one and certainly helped our research skills, persuasive writing skills and public speaking skills.
Our Senior Debating Team
Listen to us practicing our second debate
Opening & Speaker 1
Speaker 2
Speaker 3
Closing
One Book, One County reading initiative
5th and 6th class recently took part in a reading initiative run by Monaghan County Library called ‘One Book, One County’. The overall aim of this initiative is to get as many young people reading the same book at the same time throughout the county. The book chosen was ‘The Twelfth Day of July’ written by Joan Lingard. This book explores cultural and religious identities, questioning who we are, why we follow or not follow traditions, who are our neighbours? We really enjoyed reading this book. Keep an eye on our webpage for some of our book reviews which will follow shortly.
A Sample of our Book Reviews
Title of the
book:The
Twelfth Day of July.
Author:Joan Lingard
Publisher:Puffin
First
published: 1970
Number of
pages: 127
Genre: Fiction
The plot:The book
is about Catholics and Protestants playing tricks on each other. Will this just
be a couple of kids messing about or something bigger?Will meeting each other
change their lives forever? Why don’t you read this book and find out.
The main characters:Sadie, Tommy, Kevin and Brede.
My favourite character in this story was Sadie.
I choose this character because: Sadie never gave up on what she believed in. She
never let anyone push her around, and whenever there was a fight you would
always find Sadie in the middle of it.
I liked this book because:There was
always something exciting and intense in each chapter and I wanted to read on.
I think this book was amazing.
My star rating for this book
excellent****
By:
Shannon
Book Review
Title
of book: The Twelfth Day of July
Author:
Joan
Lingard
Publisher:
Puffin
First
Published: 1970
Number
of Pages: 127
Genre:
Teenage
Fiction
The
Plot: The Twelfth Day of July is based on the
troubles in Belfast in the 1970’s. Two streets - one Protestant and one
Catholic, side by side. The Protestants and Catholics don’t get on well
together. They have different thoughts about different religions. Find out how
the McCoys and the Jacksons deal with this in the book “The Twelfth Day of
July”
The
main characters in the story were : Kevin and
Sadie.
My
favourite character in the story was: Kevin
I
chose this character because: He was
always doing brave things that most people wouldn’t do. He was always looking
for an adventure.
I
liked the book because: it contains a lot of
adventures and mischief. It’s funny at times and sad at times. I liked it
because you never knew what was coming next.
My
star rating for this book: **** Excellent
By Gary
Halloween Safety
Just before Halloween a member of An Garda Síochána came into our class to talk about the dangers associated with Halloween. She showed us a DVD about bonfires and fireworks. We must be very careful with these as they are so dangerous and we must ensure that there is always an adult present to handle and light fireworks. We saw photographs of injuries that fireworks and bonfires have caused to young people our age. Although the photographs were horrible, it thought us that we must be so careful and not take any risks at Halloween. Here are some more tips we learned about having a safe and spooky Halloween:
Keep pets indoors on Halloween night as they are sensitive to noise.
Costumes can be flammable so be extra careful around candles or lanterns.
Sparklers should be held at arm’s length and be careful when they go out as they are still hot.
Never go trick or treating alone or never split up from your friends.
Only go to houses where you or your friends know who lives there.
Don’t go into any house – stay on the doorstep.
Stay in well-lit areas and carry a torch.
Take care crossing roads – it may be hard to see the road properly in a costume.
Although Halloween is about looking spooky, be careful not to frighten the elderly and respect your neighbours.
Dylan had us a-maize-d!!!
During October, in Science class, we were learning about plants and the main functions of the different parts of a plant. Dylan and his Dad brought a maize plant to school and Dylan thought us everything he knows about this plant. It was very interesting. Maize is also known as corn. It is such a tall plant and we were amazed at how long the stalk was. Dylan told us it can grow up to 15 feet tall!!! Ears of corn grow along the stalk but you cannot see the kernels of corn inside as they are wrapped in a tight covering called a husk. Dylan told us that 4 – 5 ears of corn but only 2 – 3 leaves grow on the stalk. We can eat many parts of the plant. We can eat the corn on the cob or we can eat the kernels which are called sweet corn. Dylanand his family don’t eat any part of the plant however. They harvest the plant and chop it up to feed their cows. Thank you Dylan for teaching us about maize. We really enjoyed it.
"Me and my bike" art competition.
Congratulations to Hazel who won the ‘Me and My Bike’ competition run by Clones Credit Union. As winner of this section, Hazel was then put forward to the Monaghan Credit Union section of the competition and came second in the county with her beautiful picture shown above. It was a very close final with judges unable to pick a winner. In the end a coin was tossed between Hazel’s drawing and another drawing to decide on the winner. Well done Hazel.
Cumann na mBunscoil football
Boys' Cumann na mBunscoil football team
Congratulations to Scoil Mhuire, Magherarney’s boys’ football team who represented the school very well in the Cumann na mBunscoil Gaelic football league. They played five very exciting games.