CLASS ACTS

For some, school will forever be known as “the best days of their life”. For others, those years of study and exams couldn’t end soon enough. We asked some well-known faces to share their back-to-school memories, and what they were really like as students

KATHERINE LYNCH Comedian What type of student were you?

I was a very distracted student. I really liked my teachers and a lot of them liked me. We are still friends, some of us. My classmates were great too and we remain lifelong pals. I had great fun in school, but I definitely found it hard to concentrate on anything but messing with boys and laughing. My class was a little like the breakfast club.

Did you go on any school tours?

I remember we went on a school tour in national school to the Aillwee Caves in Co. Clare. We were bored stiff. We were in red tour uniforms and decided to tell a group of American tourists that we were a school for orphaned girls. We said that our fathers gave us up as we couldn’t work the farm. We made quite a few bob as the kind Americans were very generous and were very taken aback with our “poverty stories”. We still talk about that one. In secondary school, we went to Knock. It was our Leaving Cert year and let’s say it wasn’t holy water we were drinking on the bus. That was a bit wild kissing boys behind the basilica! I think there could have been an immaculate conception on that trip.

Do you still meet up with your former classmates?

I’m still friends with my class because I’m from a small town. We all meet up a lot when we go home to see family in

Mohill, Co. Leitrim. I find reunions to be painful. They are so contrived and people are on their best behaviour. I prefer when we meet organically and aren’t in a big posse.

What were the teachers like in your school?

My English teacher, Mr Canning, and my History teacher, Mr Gaffey, are great pals. They go walking a lot so I still meet them regularly around Mohill town. We always stop to have a chat. My school experience was fun. I loved the people, but didn’t like being in the class too much. I guess that’s the same for a lot of people.

What is your favorite and your worst memory of school?

I still have a recurring dream about my Leaving Cert – it’s awful! I arrive to do my exams and go into the cloakroom to take off my coat. I’m in my jumper and tights with no skirt. It’s funny to say it now, but the panic in the dream is nightmare stuff. I have to sit my exams in my tights as there wasn’t time to go home. My finest moment was when I was picked for the U14 Longleitross basketball team in first year. Normally, it was for second years, but the coach thought I was good enough. That is my favourite memory as the coach called me out in front of all the class and I was chuffed.

Teresa Mannion RTÉ News reporter Can you remember your first day of school?

I went to primary school at Mother of Divine Grace in Finglas. People think I’m from the west of Ireland, but I’m actually a northside Dub. I can remember wearing a navy uniform with a red dickie bow. I was very selfconscious of my mother waiting around for me, I wanted her to just go. There were girls crying and clinging to their mother’s legs, but I put on a very brave face. It was a lovely school and it would be the equivalent of what a DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) school would be today. Crates of glass bottles of milk and boxes of salt and vinegar Perri crisps were delivered every day. The crisps were just amazing! We had them with a white sliced pan and that was a standard lunch. I had a friend called Celia

Hickey and she also lived on my road.

Did you ever get into any trouble at school?

Everyone took it in turns to change the water in the goldfish bowl in the classroom. I remember when it was my turn, it was a very big responsibility. A girl, I won’t mention her name but I still remember who she was, told me to walk quicker. She called me a “slow coach”. Of course, I dropped the bowl and I can still recall the fish tossing and turning on the corridor floor. I burst into tears. I couldn’t believe she had made me speed up and then I dropped it.

Did you ever win any prizes?

I used to tell stories at lunchtime. I’d tell the girls these tall tales about this other life I lived. There used to be an annual countrywide writing competition and I won it in fourth class. The teacher went to call out the prizes and I won a camera. It was a big moment for me. When I went to secondary school I had a piece published in The Irish Press. It was announced over the intercom that I had been published and I won five guineas.

One of the best memories of childhood is certainly the school trips, can you recall any days out with your classmates?

We visited the Hill of Tara and Newgrange. It was fabulous and there was huge excitement over going off for the day. I had a picnic packed and a few bob for treats. We put our crayons and paper over the relics to get the imprints. We didn’t go much further than County Meath.

Were you in any school plays?

An American-Irish priest used to visit the school and I can still remember him strumming the guitar. He sang Kumbaya, My Lord for us and he added in a verse to say “Come by Finglas, Lord. Come by Finglas.” That really stands. He Is Lord was another big song – we used to give that welly! We had concerts every year, but I could never master doing the splits. I used to desperately try to do it, however it never happened for me. I managed to do a headstand though and it was a big moment in the Christmas play.