With the rise of Buskers’ Corner, and the now

Glastonbury-like line-up of the annual School

Concert, it is clear that music is now at the heart

of what we do at St. Conleth’s, and it is fitting

that it plays such a significant role in our

Graduation Ceremony. Future graduates, howev-

er, will find it difficult to match the pure class of

2014: In both the religious ceremony and the

awards and speeches event that followed, music

was the perfect accompaniment for the prayers,

thoughts and memories, from Matthew Collins’

delicate opening piano piece through the rather

shockingly good, plaintive notes of the Backdoor

Boys to the whole class rendition of ‘Shine’. →

St. Conleth’s Times June 2014

Parting Class

→ Of course, this being St. Conleth’s, the musical challenge

was more than met on the rhetorical front by Captain James

Lardner, Girls’ Captain Aisling Foster, Principal Donal

ODulaing and PPU President Ronan ’3 Minutes’ O’Kelly. Their speeches

captured perfectly the bittersweet nature of the evening, and Sean Moriarty

and Will Hamilton’s picture-shows provided the perfect backdrop for their

musings. The serious business of awards also had to be decided, and this

year the usual painful decisions were compounded by the fact that there

were multiple contenders for each award, and some worthy students

finished second or third in several competitions. Alas, without a PR-STV

system in place, it is first past the post! Catherine Prasifka was honoured

with the Woods Bowl for her dark ‘closing chapter to an Irish novel’: late

Rowling in style, indeed! Robert Byrne earned some recompense for two

years of early morning Latin and scooped the John Kelly Award with a

exposé on the delightful personal lives of the Roman emperors; Alan King

confounded the stereotype of the anti-social lab rat Science ‘type’, winning

the Galileo Thermometer with good grace, as well as considerable

knowledge; and Matthew Collins spoke up against the ruling patriarchy in

Irish, French and Spanish and accepted the Linguist Award; Ross Duffy

took home the Geography Prize, as well as the respect of every teacher;

Jack Kirwan, whose brush-stroke is as sweet as his voice, won the Art

Prize; and David ‘101101’ Hassett took the Math Prize, having spent many

an English class in preparation! Our male sports captains Daniel Foreau,

David Macken and Robert Cahill were joined by Ariana Coyle, who cap-

tained girls’ basketball and golf, and added the Sports Award itself. And it

was rather appropriate that the biggest prize, the Bank of Ireland Pupil of

the Year Award, was won by musical maestro Evan Kennedy!

Wall of Fame

The variety contained in the following list of

awards is proof that St. Conleth’s recognizes

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences! (clockwise)

Students of the Year, who obviously put together

an impressive mix of said talents: 1: Aviral

Shukla, Tómas Clancy; 2: Harry Mansfield and

Gavin Nugent; 3: Ross Murphy and Ross Duffy;

5: Paul Mooney and Isabelle Connolly; Junior

Music Prize winner (over much competition, as

noted!): Cian O’Connor; Masters of Math (as rec-

ognized by the Irish Math Teachers’ Association

and the Kangaroo Competition): Oisín Carroll,

Alex Kennedy, Ralph Swords, Gavin Roche-

Griffin, Stephen Allen, Jacq Herbots, Michael

McKay and Brendan Connor (as well as Paul

Mooney); Junior Linguist Award (with a penchant

for comparative grammar): Harry Swords; Junior

Science Award (yet least likely to blow up lab):

Sean Keane; French Award (pour une meilleure

pronunciation): Rory Smyth and Simon Pettitt.

When Mr. McGrath was a young

man, and wandering the streets of

Greenwich Village in bellbot-

toms and lambchops, searching

for his lost shaker of salt and the

basement tapes, he endured two

seminal and controversial mo-

ments in musical history: Dylan

plugging in and the Beatles con-

sciously de-grouping. He now

must add a third: Evan Kennedy,

singer/strummer/picker/roadie/

rapper/drummer/guru supreme, is

leaving St. Conleth’s for a bigger

stage! There has not been an

event at the school in the last six

years which Evan has not brightened with his multi-facetted talent and his effort-

less cool. And this McCartney/Lennon hybrid had some pretty significant associ-

ates: From Jack Kirwan’s vocal purity through Robert Cahill’s growlsy crooning

to Jarlath Dolan’s matinee looks and moves, the Class of 2014 will be missed,

musically, indeed. All is not lost, however, as the Fay/Sheridan Hit Factory keeps

churning them out. Indeed, our concerts and Buskers’ Corners are standing room

only, on stage and in the audience: Fifth Years’ rock-band Side-

winder, with Theo Kelly, Daniel Barry, Conn O’Cléirigh, Sean

Allen and Megan Jones, are being pushed themselves by First

Years’ Unity, including

Charlie Downes, Harry

Rooney, Joe Gallagher,

Pierce Roberts and

Eoghan Fitzmaurice. →

(a young Evan Kenendy)

LET IT BE

→ Of course, there continue to be

more informal couplings and

groupings, often reflecting that

special Conlethian lack of bor-

ders: 1st Year Stephen being

backed by 6th Year Evan and 3rd

Year Daniel Barry while he sang

Don’t want to Miss a Thing is

just one such highlight. Other

memorable musical moments:

Robert Cahill and Sadbh Malin

duelling through a flawless Fairytale of New York ;

Second year talent such as John Moore, Edmund

Tucker, Jonathan O’Connell and Bernard McDonnell

becoming mainstays of the scene; the brothers Barry,

Tony and Johnny, bringing their roguish charm to the

stage; Daniel Barry accompanying anyone and every-

one and no-one on the piano; Matthew Collins and

Cian O’Connor keeping it classical on the strings;

and who can forget the undoubted rhythm of Oisín

Carroll’s juggling spectacular!

T(R)Y Experimentation is the name of Mr. Bolger’s TY game

and anyone who came to the grand finale performance

of The Mikado saw a group of boys who all were

willing to try something new. (We assume that the

cross-dressing was new…) Michael McKay, Rian

Boyle, Simon Ghose, Philip O’Hanrahan, Robert

Cripwell, Richard Hogan, Sean Frison-Roche, Noah

Brabazon and JP McGilligan Award-winner Daniel

Gilligan took the leads in Ms. Fay and Mr. Gallagher’s

hilarious production, but every lad and lass gave it

their all, and parents and teachers were well-

impressed, as they were with the presentation of the

array of accomplishments from this year: Build-A-

Bank National Finalists and Best Digital Bank Win-

ners; the Blue Shield ’Bully’ Programme, Mini-

companies galore, various work experiences from the

High to the Food Courts, Christmas Fair, Miki’s EU

junket, law seminar, photography, bridge, cooking…

Daniel was joined by Elliott Browne and Shane Mo-

lamphy in being singled out for special achievement,

with Elliott being honoured for his tireless efforts in

ICT and photography and generally keeping the school

running, and Shane showing the spirit and camaraderie

implied in an award named for Neill Quinlan. Daniel

himself scooped the big one for best TY student, but

all of the boys deserve accolades for a year well spent.

St. Conleth's brought the clash of the

native ash to Herbert Park, the very

heart of ascendancy culture. For once,

bowls, croquet and polo were not the

order of the day, as the Irish Depart-

ment of ODulaing, Fay and Ahern led

our annual Seachtain na Gaeilge occu-

pation of D4's undulating greens. A

great afternoon was had by all, and though the poitin was scarce, the craic, and lattes, were

flowing! Our Irish debaters, Aisling, Matthew and Luke Tuohy also did us proud, making it

into the second round of the Gael Linn debates. The French Department of Mr. Porzadny and

Ms. Cohen responded to this modern language challenge with typical Gallic flair: Les Jeunes

Professeurs are always at the cutting edge technologically, with their www/Skypebook/

Facetweeting activities, and it pays dividends: Débatteurs Français Daniel, Megan, Theo and

Conor made it to the Finals, with both Daniel and Conor winning best speaker awards along

the way. Mr. Porzadny also joined Mr. McGrath and Mr. Maguire on a little jaunt to the sunny

climes of southern France over Easter; along for the trip were fortysomething First and Second

Years, who enjoyed the cuisine, the culture and the outdoor adventure of the locale. Sadly,

Mr. Porzadny will have a new partner in French next year, as Ms. Cohen sets sail to exotic

ports. She will be missed sorely by students and staff alike. Au revoir!

Seachtain na Gaeilge:

L’année des Français

The exodus from one side of Dublin 4 to the other began at break-time, and though we lost a

few stragglers in the 'Ringer', most of the students eventually arrived at Irishtown Stadium,

ready to enthusiastically take part in one of our most eagerly anticipated yearly rituals:

St. Conleth's Senior School Sportsday. All the usual suspects were there: Mr. Keenan, our strong but silent Commander of All

Sports; Gavin 'Gav' Maguire, witty yet deadly efficient Master of Ceremonies; the Parents' Association, cooks and partisans su-

preme; various teachers, now old hands at their various athletic stations; and, of course, hordes of Tuck Shop-fuelled adoles-

cents, bouncing up-and-down with adrenalin and competitive zeal. This last group spent the day, or at least the mid-afternoon,

running, jumping and throwing things with glee and then cheering (and laughing) as others took their turns. The most important

competition was saved until last: We see above the once-again victorious Staff Soccer Team, having just vanquished a motley

group of callow Sixth Years. In the states, there is a saying: ‘”Gotta love a trier.” It sums up perfectly recent Sixth Year

performances. Highlights were Willie ‘Stonewall’ Malone bellowing out orders from between the sticks and Pierce

‘Any Body Part Will Do’ Aherne inheriting the scoring touch of Gerry Dunne and the subdued celebration of Alan

Shearer. And of course, our little known TY student, Mark, and Saturday morning French teacher dominating midfield.

Overall, A fitting flourishing finish for our retiring field general: The Great 'Ooh Ahh' Pat McGrath!

‘A’ for Effort!

The exodus from one side of Dublin 4 to the other began at break-time, and though we lost a

few stragglers in the 'Ringer', most of the students eventually arrived at Irishtown Stadium,

ready to enthusiastically take part in one of our most eagerly anticipated yearly rituals:

St. Conleth's Senior School Sportsday. All the usual suspects were there: Mr. Keenan, our strong but silent Commander of All

Sports; Gavin 'Gav' Maguire, witty yet deadly efficient Master of Ceremonies; the Parents' Association, cooks and partisans su-

preme; various teachers, now old hands at their various athletic stations; and, of course, hordes of Tuck Shop-fuelled adoles-

cents, bouncing up-and-down with adrenalin and competitive zeal. This last group spent the day, or at least the mid-afternoon,

running, jumping and throwing things with glee and then cheering (and laughing) as others took their turns. The most important

competition was saved until last: We see above the once-again victorious Staff Soccer Team, having just vanquished a motley

group of callow Sixth Years. In the states, there is a saying: ‘”Gotta love a trier.” It sums up perfectly recent Sixth Year

performances. Highlights were Willie ‘Stonewall’ Malone bellowing out orders from between the sticks and Pierce

‘Any Body Part Will Do’ Aherne inheriting the scoring touch of Gerry Dunne and the subdued celebration of Alan

Shearer. And of course, our little known TY student, Mark, and Saturday morning French teacher dominating midfield.

Overall, A fitting flourishing finish for our retiring field general: The Great 'Ooh Ahh' Pat McGrath!

Conlethians just do not stay put. Above we see Pro-Consul Peter

Gallagher with our Sixth Year Leaders at the opera, a much-

enjoyed tradition started by Mrs. Kelleher years ago. We also see, above and below, our Trini-

ty and UCD entrance scholars from the Class of 2013. Christopher Swords and James Clarke

are pursuing degrees in Maths and Psychology at Trinity. Not pictured is Conan Quinn, hon-

oured by the Faculty of Law. He was absent on the evening because he was involved in univer-

sity debating, a common Conlethian alumnus pursuit. Cillian Murphy and Paul O’Dwyer were

honoured similarly at UCD by the Schools of Business and Law. The story behind our certifi-

cate-wielders below? Well...they came! They spoke! They conquered! The St. Conleth's Clas-

sics and Latin students are like snow leopards: they are few; they lurk in the shadows of the

early morning; they are endangered; but when they decide to venture out of Room 2 and go on

the hunt... watch out! At the Annual Classics and Latin Teacher Speech Competition at Trinity

College, the motley gang of breakfast clubbers and ruin

enthusiasts smote some heavy competition from Gon-

zaga, Clongowes and John Scottus to walk away away

with the laurels and the lucre. Robert Byrne and Conor

White finished First and Second with their precise yet

passionate Virgil in Latin Recitation, and Christopher

Costigan stunned the audience with Jason's emotional

last plea from Medea, taking First Place and a cheque

for 50 euro, marking one of the few times that money

has actually come out of TCD! The phalanx followed

up by splitting into three and placing 3rd, 8th and 12th

out of 32 teams at the Ides of March Table Quiz. We

also see Andrew Wheeler of the Class of 2012 receiving

his rare Gold Gaisce from President Higgins and the

semi-finalists of Ms. NíAonghusa’s in-house Chess

Tournament: James Tempany, Miki and Mati Remi and

Phillip Carroll. Mati beat

Miki in the final, a gruelling

1 1/2 hour match. Mr. and

Mr. and Mrs. Remi must be

very proud! And (above)

Harry ‘Mr. Initiative’ Mans-

field congratulates Alex

Kennedy and Tony Barry

for winning his inspired

World Book Day ‘Spot the

Teacher’ competition.

Around Town

Yes, the only students scoring low numbers at St. Conleth’s are

the members of the golf team! Above we see Ariana Coyle tak-

ing a selfie with the winning Leinster Ladies’ Golf Team. Aria-

na has also golfed internationally for Ireland and is off on schol-

arship to join the Penn State Nittany Lions. The male support-

ing cast of our school golf team are also seen, displaying that

quintessential debonair flair in posture and attire, as well as

pitch and putt. Matthew McCormack has made the All-Ireland

Ski Racing Team and went off in January to compete very well at the European Lev-

el. Below you see Patrick Cahill tacking in the European Sailing Championships: he

and brother Cian have been competing at the top level for years. The

Cahills typify that well-mannered, successful yet modest type of Conlethian. Not

pictured, and hopefully not angry enough to make a point of it, is Phillip Cripwell,

steadily climbing the ranks in Junior, and now Senior, Irish Fencing. Athletics are a

recent field of endeavour for Conlethians, but judging by recent results at the East

Leinster’s, it is off and running. Below you see

our eager First Year participants but the real

stars were Mark Gilleran winning bronze in the

shot-put and Harry Morris and Tim Leary quali-

fying for the Leinster’s outright in Cross Coun-

try, and the latter following it up likewise in the

800m. Winning the ‘Eddie the Eagle’ Prize for

Effort and the Zelig Award for Ubiquity was

Tony Barry, who

entered no less than

seven events at the

competition, which

apparently has a

strict ‘three event

maximum’ policy.

And you thought

we were just a bas-

ketball school!

Well Below Par

After celebrating a Year

Mass with Fr. Michael, Mr.

Sheridan and Mr. Gal-

lagher showed their ecu-

menical spirit and led their

Religion classes on a trip to

the mosque in Clonskeagh

where they enjoyed a taste

of Islamic culture and prac-

tice. Their reception was

very warm and the experi-

ence was quite informative,

as the students learned that

there really is not that

much difference between

the two traditions. Both,

for example, obviously

value the educational and

moral development of

boys! Hopefully not plan-

ning for the next crusade,

First Years also took part

in the now legendary Cas-

tle Competition. Conor

Bourke won first prize

overall and Stephen Allen

took the Best Digital De-

sign. Now that will have

the Saracens shaking in

their boots!

That would be an ecumenical matter...

As Mr. ODulaing so elo-

quently said: there is no

teacher in the history of the school more

often and more warmly sought by re-

turning alumni than Pat McGrath. He is

also the most

photographed

teacher in the

annals of this

paper, such is his

dedication, en-

thusiasm and

sense of adven-

ture. He will be

dearly missed in

staffroom, class-

room...and

McCluskey’s!

...and where is Mr. McGrath?

Ho-um… wow!

Matthew Collins

and Christopher

Costigan opened

the year with victo-

ries in both the

UCD and the Trini-

ty Maces and one

could almost become overcome with the monotony of

such familiar results if it was not for the absolutely scin-

tillating oratory once again wielded by last year's Leinster

and All-Ireland Finalists. The rumour that Matthew

needs merely to arch an eyebrow and Christopher has only to display his trade-

mark smirk to win a debate is a slight exaggeration: The boys did actually need

to speak! And boy did they...just ask the 61other teams involved, who eventually

slumped into speechlessness themselves. The team that gave

them the toughest fight was St. Conleth's own Conor White

and Daniel Gilligan, and there-in lies the rub. Conleth’s de-

bating is ever-strong because it is ever-renewing. The news

that Matthew, Christopher and Daniel were to be three of the

five person Irish Team heading to the Worlds in Thailand was

thrilling, but we probably also had a case for the fourth spot!

At the less than global level, we have not done too shabbily

either: Our Junior team of Sean Pettit and Oisín Herbots

made it the Leinster Final and Harry Mansfield and Simon

Pettitt were not far behind. Back home, in the cauldron that

forged such rhetorical mettle, Matthew and Christopher brave-

ly split up to try something new and the team of Conor and

Daniel won both the Bouchier-Hayes Plate and the Gardner Cup. Matthew did, how-

ever, in our last glimpse of these greats at the school level, edge out Christopher for

the individual Kinlen Cup. Oisín Herbots showed a common touch and political cool

to win the O’Connor Cup, and appropriately received his trophy from that old

smoothie, Kevin Roach. First Year Alex Kennedy snatched the McCarthy Cup ahead

of strong competition, showing that the cavalcade of Conleth’s debating glory will

continue for some time yet, and received a handshake from a past Irish Team Cap-

tain, Paul O’Dwyer. Mr. Carvill even had time to host the Annual St. Conleth’s

Mace, which we had the

good grace to let some-

one else win! Where will

all these boys end up?

Well, two of our past

auditors, Barry Ward and

Frank Kennedy, were just

elected as councilors.

Watch this space!

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How would you like this guy staring down at you at tip-off of an Under-15s

game? Well, pity the Scots then… Mark Gillleran scored 14 points for Ire-

land in an international match against our Celtic brothers, and blocked and

altered numerous shots en route to a 67-44 victory. Mark Ryan also made

news on other courts: playing at the top senior level for UCD-Marian and,

perhaps, about to ply his trade where it all began: the heartland of the good

old USA. Back home, things were tough in the B League, but Sixth Year

stalwarts David Macken, Oisín Carroll, Cian Cahill and Luke Tuohy never

gave up and fulfilled all our fixtures with plenty of pluck and a good bit of

style (Oisín’s famous trey!). MVP Shane Byrne led the U16s into battle, ably

backed by a small but dedicated group, including co-Most Improved Players

Christian Farrell and Sean Pettitt. Our Second Years suffered a bit from ‘big

man’ syndrome but MVP Harry Mansfield and MIP Luke Treacy never threw in the towel, and

importantly, showed up for training. The First Year team gave us great hope for the future:

MVP Eoghan Fitzmaurice was in a class by himself but MIP Pierce Roberts edged out a group

of four or five deserving players. They lost in the Dublin Plate Final, but for a team with no

club players, they did exception-

ally well. Let us see the great

enthusiasm and numbers for

training continue! Our girls

once again overcame the limita-

tions of our small selection pool

and made it to the Semi-finals of

their league. Great fun was had

on the various road-trips, includ-

ing a memorable flying column

trip to Finglas. Ariana Coyle led

as captain and was the jugger-

naut guard but everyone on the

small squad had to chip in and

did, from Chloe Stanley’s, Me-

gan Jones’s and Catherine Prasi-

fka’s tenacious ‘D’ to the silky

moves of the Spanish Duo of

Andrea and Carmen, to the lithe

movements of Ellen and Megan

all over the court.

Hoop du Jour

(→ from back) That remark isn’t

fair to the Second Years who have

stuck it out and taken their lumps,

knowing that their time will come.

MVP Aonghus Hegarty and MIP

Cian O’Mahony played for the JCT

but also led a small but dedicated

group of Second Years who made

some

bright sparks of their own in its shadow. Gav wants to

see the big numbers back on the pitch come Septem-

ber! Assistant coaches Shane ‘Big Daddy’ Robertson

and Buhli ‘Bush’ Mxunyelwa may be watching! Mr.

Sheridan and Mr. Kilcommons’s First Years showed

plenty of spirit and effort this year, with Tomás Clancy

and Hugh Downes earning notice, but with numerous

players in the running for the honours. And a very

young SCT, made up of mostly TYs, impressed Mr.

Trenier and Mr. Bolger with their ‘Doggettness’ under

adversity. The future looks bright for them, too.

Alumni let it be known: ‘Gotta love a trier” is no long-

er the motto of St. Conleth’s Rugby!

Back in the mists of time, when

Mr. Trenier was still a single lad,

buck-leppin’ over bales of hay in

pursuit of sheep, and Mr. Bolger

was taking his first tentative da-

ting steps at the Naas

Supermac’s, Gavin Maguire was

already holding a chunk of Lein-

ster metal. I remember it clearly:

my classmate, and rugby captain,

lying prone on a stretcher, like an

ailing Roman emperor on his litter, mustering the strength to

hold aloft the Leinster Shield in utter and spectacular triumph.

Years pass, photographs yellow and Donnybrook Fair be-

comes an empire, but finally we may have had a moment to

match that legendary afternoon. Gav’s JCT boys totally had

the best season ever (contemporary intonations) by a St. Con-

leth’s JC Team: They made no less than three

finals, losing very narrowly to Moyne and

Blackrock (Seconds!) and retaining the League

title by beating Gorey 17-7. MVP Nicholas

Foreau was helped mightily by MIP Colin Duffy

and a whole squad of dedicated and talented

players. Apparently, these mostly Third Years

are so fierce that some Second Years are waiting

till they get promoted to the SCT before they

venture onto the practice field! (over)→

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