Celebration time in Boolavogue NS
THERE were scenes of celebration and nostalgia in Boolavogue hall recently as a community event was held to mark the 60th anniversary of the opening of the local national school on its current site.
The ‘new’ school was officially opened for the 1958 -’59 academic year and as part of the anniversary event a photographic display was in place depicting the history of the facility and those who passed through it over the last six decades.
For the event members of the community were invited to the hall to view the archives, where they were also served refreshments from St. Cormac’s Parents’ Association.
In the run up to the celebration 5th and 6th class students, led by their teacher, Mairead Boyle, gathered hundreds of photographs from people around the Boolavogue area as part of their work for the Junior Entrepreneur Programme.
The class used the images to create 60-year memorial booklets which were sold around the community.
To showcase their project the pupils also assisted the Parents’ Association with Sundays celebrations.
Speaking about the anniversary celebrations school principal, Avril Mullery, commented: ‘It was a wonderful afternoon in which generations of past pupils returned to their alma-mater and lamented on old times’.
She also said it was an ‘exciting chapter’ in the history of education in Boolavogue as the school is currently at planning stage for the development of a new classroom, support room and additional toilet facilities.
Ms Mullery thanked everyone who attended the anniversary event and she praised the pupils for their hard work in the run-up to the celebration day.