A Lyrical Leaving

20 May 2024

The beautifully decorated School Hall provided the perfect setting for the fitting finale to the Graduating Class of 2024’s time at St. Conleth’s. Sixth Year Form Teachers Mr. Lonergan and Mr. Coleman presided over a poignant celebration which mixed prayers, music, words of wit and wisdom and a considerable amount of style. Some of the graduates have been at the school since Junior Infants (the Big Four!) while others have joined along the way, but all involved seemed full of bittersweet emotions at leaving a place which for them had very much become a second home. Mr. Gallagher’s opening liturgy once again reminded us all of the ethos which helps make St. Conleth’s such a welcoming place and the speeches and awards which followed both recalled the good times of the past and the promising deeds of the future. Music has long been at the heart of everything we do at St. Conleth’s, including our graduation ceremony. In both the religious ceremony and the awards and speeches event that followed, with maestros Ms. McGuinness and Mr. O’Neill pulling the strings, music was the perfect accompaniment for the prayers, thoughts and memories… especially, now that we have a new PA-purchased sound system!

Of course, this being St. Conleth’s, where we are never at a loss for words, the musical challenge was more than met on the rhetorical front by Captain Ciara Thornton, Vice Captains Turlough Dineen and Matthew O’Leary, Principal Donal ODulaing and PPU representative Ronan O’Kelly. All the speeches captured perfectly the nostalgic nature of the evening and Fergus and Emilio’s carefully composed slideshow provided the perfect backdrop for their musings. Of course, awards were also on the agenda and you can see all our winners and their prizes in a later article. The evening and the music culminated in the rousing whole-class rendition of ‘Piano Man’. And then it was outside for the graduation class photo on the immortal steps of No. 28 Clyde Road and on to a classy dinner for students and teachers and surely some classier activities afterwards. For specifics of those later nocturnal celebrations you must, carefully, check social media, but for pics and video of the ceremony and dinner, look below!