On Friday 12th September we celebrated the opening of the school year with mass in St. Mary's Church, Ballygar. We try to have mass each year as close to the 8th of September as possible, as this was the date on which the school started and it is also recognised as Mary's birthday. It is a very important date in our calendar as it signifies new beginnings and also reminds us of our Catholic ethos.
This year we had extra special celebrations as we formally acknowledged the contribution Tadhg O' Connor made to the setting up of our school. St. Mary's College was founded in 1948 with just 41 pupils and two teachers. We owe our existence to Tadhg's vision and initiative. He came to the town as a potato inspector and he saw the need for a second-level school in the area. He duly went about setting up one. This was a huge endeavour in the late 1940's. There was very little money in the area and he met with local resistance, including that of the clergy.
On Friday we co-celebrated mass with Tadhg's family and also the first classes of our school. Tadhg's daughters, Mora O' Connor and Nollag Piggot, and sons, Tadhg and Rory, recalled proudly the entrepreneurship, determination and good humour their father demonstrated throughout his life. Afterwards we unveiled a plaque to Tadhg, which now hangs in the hallway outside of our Principal's offices. Speeches were also given by: Shay Cleary, former Vice Principal; Pat McDonagh, former Principal; Jimmy Mulrooney, first class member; and Emma O' Malley, current Principal.
Afterwards refreshements were served in our refurbished Home Economics room and our past pupils nostalgically recalled their days in St. Mary's College.
It was a really lovely way to start the school year and it was fabulous to meet all of our past pupils and hear their fantastic stories.
Well done to all of our staff and students and especially to Mr Eamon Madden, who was the driving force behind the celebrations.
