A Hair-Raising Spectacular of Music and Dance from the students of Coláiste Mhuire, Ballygar!

Hairspray – The Musical!
In 1992, music teacher Carmel O’Shea joined the staff of Coláiste Mhuire and was blown away by the depth of talent in her First Year music class. She resolved right there and then, to bring those talents to a wider audience and, 1995 heralded the staging of the school community’s first musical, the timeless classic, Oklahoma. In the twenty years that have passed Coláiste Mhuire has presented productions of The Sound of Music (1999), Grease (2005), Showboat (2008) and Oliver (2012) to great acclaim. Nevertheless, Producer and Musical Director, Ms. O’Shea’s guiding principle has remained the same: the musical is a valuable learning experience for the student and serves as a vehicle to show-case both the individual and collective talents of the student body. And so, everything that is special about Coláiste Mhuire Ballygar was on display with the school community’s most recent offering Hairspray- the Broadway Musical which played to full houses and standing ovations from Thursday, October 15th to Saturday, October 17th 2015 in the wonderful community resource that is the Mattie Mc Donagh Centre.
The energetic and enthusiastic ensemble cast provided the audience with a feast of 1960’s-style dance music and downtown rhythm and blues.  In 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, teenager Tracy Turnblad's dream, played to wonderful effect by gifted Junior Certificate student Lucia Daly, is to dance on The Corny Collins Show. When Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight, and meets a colourful array of characters. She then launches a campaign to integrate the show into wider society. Hairspray is very much a social commentary on the injustices in parts of American society in the 1960s. Leaving Certificate student Seán Clogher impressed with his musicality in his role as Link Larkin, Tracy’s love interest. While Ronan Mockler (6th Year), Sarah Scott, (TY), Ciara Why (TY), Tara Hevehan (TY), Joe Kerr, (TY) and Maria Mitchell (TY) were wonderful in their individual supporting roles. Shannon Collins (5th Year) gave a soulful and mature turn as Motormouth Maybelle and First Year student Niamh Bury embodied ‘Little Inez’ to perfection. The comedic talents of Leaving Certificate duo Eoin Finneran and Pádraig Bury playing Wilbur and Edna Turnblad respectively provided great amusement and entertainment to the gathered audience.
A unique feature of this production is that each student in every year had the opportunity to partake in the school musical. So too, Ms. O’Shea acknowledges that the support and assistance of her fellow staff members has been paramount in bringing the musical to fruition. Indeed, the ‘two wise men’ Carmel’s fellow teachers Eamon Madden and John O’Leary have served as set designers for all of the Coláiste Mhuire productions. This year, they were ably assisted in their duties by colleagues Miriam Cuddy, Brigitte Casey and Tom Hannon.  The school’s English department was well represented with Thelma Cunniffe choreographing a fast passed and energetic show and, Eilish Beirne assuming the mantle of Director. Laura Murray acted as Assistant Musical Director and, Evelyn Robinson, Mary Higgins, Rosemary Mc Andrew, Fiona Mc Guinness, Rita O’Connor and Bronagh Murray were in charge of Costumes and Make-up, while Ailish Nolan, Mary Higgins, Fiona Mc Guinness, Owen Curran and Helena Donoghue served as Backstage Managers.  Principal Emma O’Malley headed up Public Relations for the event, aided by Geraldine Fallon, Teresa Clogher and Anna Burke. While recent retirees Joe Costello and Brian Mc Donnell worked alongside Ita Keane, Caroline Tiernan and Michael Flanagan meeting and greeting the public during each performance. Peter Daly captured the event on camera, and Gerard Doyle on film. Parents Teresa Slyman and Therese Mc Carthy also volunteered their time and expertise in hairdressing and, the ever supportive Parents Association once again took charge of the interval raffle. Local businesses too gave generously in their support of this veritable feast of music and dance.  All in all, the community spirit and involvement which makes Coláiste Mhuire so very unique and special as a school established by the local community to serve the local community was evident throughout the event.

Here’s to the next 20 years of musicals in Coláiste Mhuire. Principal Emma O’ Malley can be justifiably proud of the level of commitment displayed by everyone involved, staff, students parents and wider community in ensuring the great success of Hairspray and proof positive that indeed, the show will go on!  

Well done Alia!

Best of luck to Transition Year student Alia Naughton who competed in the ‘Home Cook Hero’ cookery competition held in Dublin on November 7th 2015 . Alia qualified in the Top 3 nationwide in the ‘Tiny Treats’ category. The competition was screened on TV3 last week. Congratulations Alia and her dedicated teacher Ms. Evelyn Robinson, we are very proud of you! Pictured Alia Naughton with her teacher Evelyn Robinson and Catherine Fluvio.



Coláiste Mhuire is the Best in the Business!
Six students from Coláiste Mhuire, Ballygar achieved top grades in Junior Certificate Higher Level Business and were placed in the top 8% nationwide in last year’s state examinations in this subject area. As a result students and teachers were invited to attend the Junior Certificate Business Studies Awards ceremony hosted by NUI Galway’s College of Business, Public Policy and Law in conjunction with Business Studies Teacher’s Association of Ireland on the 14th October 2015. The following students from Coláiste Mhuire, Ballygar all received an award: Ciara Why, Hugh Daly, Maria Mitchell, Laura Farrell, Brian Maloney and Sarah Scott.  Congratulations to all of the students and their teachers on their excellent performance.

The Numbers All Add up in Coláiste Mhuire as Maths Week is Celebrated!
Maths week was recently celebrated by the Coláiste Mhuire learning community, with all students actively participating in puzzle, quizzes and riddle competitions. Students teased their brains with sudouku in Maths class with great prizes on offer all week. Transition Year’s helped to organise a table quiz for First Year students and congratulations to Mark Dowd, Paddy Downey and Daniel Kelly, the overall winners, who all went away with a goodie bag. A massive thank you to Ms. Tiernan for all her hard work in ensuring the success of the week.

Coláiste Mhuire participates in Forbairt and Mike Hughes Teaching and Learning Seminar

Coláiste Mhuire is participating in this year’s Forbairt programme which is organised by the Professional Development School’s Team (PDST) to build leadership capacity in schools for the enhancement of teaching and learning. Ms. Emma O’Malley, Mrs. Aisling Mc Alpine, Ms. Mary Higgins and Ms. Rosemary Mc Andrew all attended in-service recently and are working towards initiating a project which will be of benefit to teaching and learning for whole school community. Watch this space for updates!
Ms. O’Malley, Mr. Madden and Ms. Cunniffe also represented Coláiste Mhuire at a teaching and learning seminar in Galway which was presented by Educationalist Mike Hughes. Mr. Hughes is a well-known and highly acclaimed educational trainer and author. He is a former Principal in the UK and has developed a reputation as an inspirational and innovative thinker in the field of teaching and learning. We look forward to putting some of his principles into practice within our learning community in the near future.


Brian is the Brain
Congratulations to Fifth Year student Brian Maloney who achieved third place nationally in his Junior Certificate Woodwork exam. Well done to Brian and his teacher Mr. John O’ Leary.