St. Aidan’s C.B.S.,Whitehall, DublinScoil Aodháin, Fionnbhrú, Baile Átha Cliath

News UpdateNews UpdateNews UpdateWinter 2016

Transition Year Mini Company Christmas cardssales are well under way this year. The cards are beautifully designed by Art students in the school and all proceeds will bedonated to the following charities. The charitiesthis year are The Irish Cancer Society, Make a WishFoundation, Whitehall Social Services and HeartChildren Ireland. Pick up some lovely cards andhelp out these very worthy charities.

Christmas Cards

As we come to the end of another busy year we give thanks for all the goodthings that happened at St. Aidan’s in 2016. The year brought us manysuccesses in all areas of school life. Our junior and leaving certificate studentsperformed extremely well. Our sportsmen had numerous triumphs includingAll- Ireland titles in Basketball & Athletics, our dominance of Gaelic Footballin Dublin continued and our U16 Hurlers won Dublin for the first time in theschools’ history. Students were actively involved in many other activities suchas Drama, Gaisce, Debating and much charity work. A number of studentswere successful in a national poster competition run by Euroscola, as a resulttwenty four pupils and two teachers will be visiting the European Parliamentin Strasbourg next spring. Our 1916 commemorations were thoughtprovoking and inspiring and five years of hard work cumulated in theopening of our All-Weather Pitch by President Higgins. All of these activitiesas well as the others not mentioned could not happen without thecommitment of our staff, students and the support of our parents. We hopethat 2017 brings more reasons for us to celebrate success both inside andoutside of the classroom.As we enjoy Christmas we also need to be conscious of those at home andabroad whose problems and challenges do not take a break over the festiveseason. Our students do much work for charity and this raises much neededfunds and creates awareness of the difficulties that many people face. 2017will see another group of our students go to Tanzania to witness firsthand thestark poverty that many people still live in.I would like to wish all the staff and students and their families a happy andsafe Christmas and a joyful New Year.Brendan Harrington

SEASON GREETINGS

Our Student Council took on the Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal thisyear and got a great response. We put items in our boxes such as: -Stationery (pens, pencils, copies, paper, etc.) -Washing essentials (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, etc.) -Clothing (shoes, hat, scarf, socks, underwear, etc.) -Treats (sweets, toys, games, gifts, etc.)

We were delighted to receive 35shoeboxes from boys and staffthroughout the school. Theshoeboxes will go to children inneed throughout EasternEurope and Africa. In the spiritof the festive season, we held araffle for all who donated a

shoebox. Congratulations to Kevin Corr in 1 North who won the €20 One-4-Allvoucher. Thanks to all others who donated as well!!

Christmas Shoebox Appeal

Some students from 2 South taking partin the Stop Everything and Read Weekwhich took place from Monday 10th -14th October in school.On the first day all students read a storywith their English teachers called 'ASound of Thunder' by Ray Bradbury. Theremainder of the week students wereallowed time to read from 11.20 -11.40am each day.It was great to see the students reading

from books and also to draw to theirattention the importance of reading.

Stop Everything and Read Week

First Day MemoriesWriter June Considine read a veryinspiring story to the first years in theLibrary as part of their induction dayin secondary school.

Temple Street The school received a Certificateof Appreciation from TempleStreet for the money raised fromthe non-uniform day. Thanks toall the tutors and student councilfor collecting the money. We wereable to donate €300 towards anew X-ray machine which isinvaluable to the work they dothere. Well done to all involved.

Remembering at Christmas Gilbert Hughes RIPFormer colleagues and past pupils of St. Aidan’s will remember Gilbert Hughes with great affection. We were all saddened tohear of his passing on May 13th of this year. When I began to reflect on his career and write about him, I was immediatelyimbued with his warm, open hearted, genial spirit and the benign influence he had over all aspects of school life.Mr. Hughes joined the teaching staff as a maths teacher at the foundation of the school in 1964. He was appointed DeputyPrincipal in the early 1970’s and served under six different Principals from Br. Loughran to Br. Cashel. This was a time ofburgeoning staff and student numbers, and building construction. In the St. Aidan’s 25th Anniversary CommemorativeMagazine, Gilbert described the early days in the Larkhill pre-fabs in his own amusing way “during the winter months inthis wide open yard, gales used to sweep over and under the two precious classrooms. This was followed by flooding somuch so that our little school resembled Noah’s Ark; birds above, cats and dogs below and an abundance of donkeyswithin!”.Mr. Hughes played a pivotal role in the everyday life of the school. He was an intelligent, soft spoken and eminentlypresentable Deputy Principal - Gilbert was noted for his dress sense! His qualities as an administrator ensured that allaspects of school life ran smoothly. Together with Br. Coffey he would commandeer a classroom in July or August and usethe blackboard to make out the timetable for the upcoming school year. Technology took over in the 1990’s.Working assiduously and effectively away from the limelight Mr. Hughes spurned any notion of self importance. He wascautious in his deliberations and decisive in his actions; this made him ideally suited to his job. At the same time, Gilbert wasalso a sensitive, caring person and was surely affected from time to time by the pressures of school life. However he neverspoke ill of others, he was not a person to hold grudges and he never betrayed a confidence. Above all, Gilbert was discreet.In essence Gilbert was a family man. He made a clear distinction between his private life and his working life. He will livelong in the memory of those who knew him. We extend our condolences to his wife Dolores and his three children, Aoife,Ciara and Declan and to his extended family and friends.Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.TPW July 2016.

TY recess 2016

When I first heard about the trip to recess in Connemara I was anxious.While I had gone away on holidays with a class before, I had never done solike this. I was a bit nervous as I didn’t really know my new class yet.However, all my worries were soon forgotten as soon as I stepped on thebus. We arrived after four hours or so and picked our rooms. We were toldour chores and the fun began. We all combined really well and had a greattime doing activities such as kayaking, surfing and my personal favouritewas orienteering. I especially loved the orienteering due to being able towork in a group and getting to know people while having fun and gettinglost. We also took part in activities such as bingo and quizzes. By the end of thetrip I had made loads of new friends. I also learned a lot more about myfellow students as a whole. I was sad to leave a place that I was onceanxious about going to and really enjoyed my trip. I am now lookingforward to all the other trips we will do especially the one to Italy afterChristmas.Philip Young TY

President Opens All-Weather Pitch

We were very fortunate tohave the President Michael DHiggins officially open theall-weather pitch on the 13thSeptember which is shared byour school and St. Kevin’sfootball club. He was veryimpressed by thispartnership, to see what canbe achieved when you joinforces and work together. In

his speech in the new sports hall he said “You can do so much together whenwe share resources so that the maximum amount of people get the greatestbenefit.” The opening of the pitch by the President was a culmination of five years ofplanning and construction which began when officials from the clubapproached the school about installing an all- weather pitch in 2011. Now as aresult of this, no matter what the weather conditions are there will be no needto cancel training sessions and games, which prior to this would havehappened a lot due to our unpredictable weather. It is a credit to all the people involved and they should be very proud of whatthey have achieved for the benefit and joy of others for many years to come.

Check MateThe U19 chess team took on CUS at home on the 21st ofNovember with Mr. E Carthy the team coach. This was their firstcompetitive match of the league and in the history of St. Aidan's,but impressed the opposition managers highly, especially DarrenKitching who really put it up to Irish International Luke Scott fornearly two hours. Aaron Forrester fought his way back from a difficult positionagainst CUS' second in command to make a fight of it and tensionwas high. James Jacobs fought bravely in his first competition for the schoolbut not without undue risk. Having taken a convincing lead, herepeatedly harassed his opponent, who fought back well toeventually beat James in 39 moves. In the end, experience won the day and St. Aidan's finallysuccumbed to the rated and more experienced players of CUS. Anexcellent competition with both sides showing ispirational levels ofsportsmanship. The team players on the day were Darren Kitching,Aaron Forrester, Eric Redmond, James Jacob and Jash Hurrynag. Well done to allinvolved.

A Work of ArtOn Tuesday the 22nd ofNovember, my art historyclass went on a trip toIMMA to see the LucianFreud Project exhibitionand in the afternoon TheHugh Lane Gallery,located in CharelmontHouse on Parnell squareNorth, beside the Gardenof Remembrance. I foundit to be an excellentexperience to see fantastic

pieces of art presented in such a pristine, wellcatered way, showing off their grandeur and sheerbeauty in craft and skill. The tour guide was veryopen to discussion and friendly, while alsoshowing a great sense of love and appreciation forthese works. This made the experience all themore enjoyable and memorable. I thoroughlyenjoyed seeing works by artists whose work Ihave only seen before in a textbook. I couldappreciate them much more then I would havebefore. One painting in particular I liked is called,“Les Parapluies,” by Pierre-August Renoir. Anexceptional piece of a busy Parisian street duringa rainy day, that took a 5 year period from 1881-86to create. I look forward to visiting this galleryagain in the future and exploring other galleriesaround Dublin and abroad.Ethan Butler 6th year

The European Parliament Strasbourg in Spring

Congratulations to Rodrigo SoberonPena from 5th year on winning aterrific prize for the school with hissuperb poster. The theme of theEuroscola Poster Competition was toshow a snapshot of everyday life inEurope, as the 1916 Rising wasunfolding in Ireland. A group of 5thyear and TY students from Mr. A ONeill and Ms. D Mc Quaid’s classentered the competition in whichRodrigo’s winning entry secured atrip for 24 students and 2 teachers totake part in the Euroscola programmeof the European Parliament in

Strasbourg on the 30th March 2017. Euroscola is a EuropeanParliament program that gives young people the opportunity todiscuss their expectations and ideas on the progress of Europeanintegration and to share this day with young people from otherEuropean Union countries. There is great excitement about theupcoming trip and we are very proud of Rodrigo on his superbposter and also to the other students that took part in thecompetition. Strasberg here we come!

RUN IN THE DARKSome staff members took part in the Run inthe Dark, which took place on Wednesday16th November at 7pm in town, doing a 5k or10k run. In over 50 cities worldwide, theywere part of a living light show flowingthrough the streets like lava. Those samepeople were helping to fast-track a cure forparalysis as part of the Run in the Dark. Welldone to all involved!

When It All Adds UpThe Maths Department ran a 1styear quiz for "Maths Week"which ran from 17th -21stOctober. It took place in the oldsports hall and great fun washad by all involved.

Scary GuysThe students appeared in some very wonderfulHalloween costumes on the day of the October mid-term break. Terrific to see how creative they can be,also the fact that there were great prizes to be had forthe most creatively dressed encouraged them all themore to dress up. Well done to all involved.

OFF THE RAILSIn October the Transition Year pupils led by chiefinnovator and site foreman Mr. J Cunningham and Mr.ODeneher TY Coordinator took to the rails. The teamworked on improving the visual appearance of ourschool. This involved about sixty student’scleaning/sanding/painting all the railings at the front,which needed an urgent facelift. A smaller group carriedout other gardening and cleaning tasks around theschool.Great to see in our boys a sense of community spirit, toexperience working as part of a team and to see whatcan be achieved as a result.The pupils were great to work with, taking pride in

their work and as a result the school is now lookinggreat. Well done to all involved.

TY Visit The Irish War MuseumThe entire TY group and some of their History teachers Ms. ZKennedy, Ms. M Ryan and Ms. A Brennan went to The IrishWar Museum on the 29th November. On arrival when we weresplit into three smaller groups. One group went for the actualtour of the museum and got to see all of the artillery of WorldWar One and Two. The second group went upstairs to see theweapons, clothes and uniforms the soldiers had to wear torepresent their country in war. We also got to hold some of theweapons that they had at the museum, as you can see in thepictures shown. While these groups were having fun looking atthe weapons, tanks, etc,the last group were having the time oftheir lives getting to see these in action. We got to see ourteachers shooting these weapons. Soon after we were shownhow the trenches were used in wartime. We then went to see atank and were driven around in the tank which was the highpoint of the tour that everyone enjoyed. After the hour or twoin the one section the groups were swapped around soeveryone got to see and do everything at the museum. Thestudents really enjoyed the war museum and learned so muchat the same time. By Robert Coffey TY

Basketball BlitzThe u19 Basketball team started the season in excellent form continuing on from last year’s success. They haveenjoyed victories over any Dublin league team who have challenged the All-Ireland Champions withcomprehensive wins over local rivals Ard Scoil Rís, Malahide Community School, St. Fintan’s Sutton, St. PaulsRaheny and Ashbourne. An unbeaten record, led by top scorers and Irish Internationals Brian Ashton and MattTreacy, gave them a number one seed into the Dublin knockout stages, where their reputation earned them abuy straight into the semi finals. Their quest to retain the All-Ireland cup started at home against a surprisingly strong Pres Athenry side.Nervousness was evident throughout the team as early lead changes showed no clarity of who would come outon top. Contributions from outside shooter Brian O’Connor and Cameron McCormack helped the lads push onand secure a first round victory. The second round proved a harder task as the team travelled to Kerry to takeon Killorglin. A thrilling, high scoring encounter saw the lads down at half time with a lot of work to do, but anoutstanding individual performance from Matt Treacy gave them the boost they needed. The game went downto the wire and key free throws from Brian Ashton, Emmet Lawless and Cameron McCormack made certainthat they would leave with a win, 94-92 . Next up was the Quarter finals at home against local rivals Malahide. The away side showed lots of fight asmotivation from the loss earlier in the year spurred them on. A strong inside presence from Stephen Canningproved difficult to deal with for the away side. Some questionable fouling from Ciarán Mchugh broke up theplay and ensured some well needed breaks for both teams. The depth of St. Aidan’s was a major factor as CianAuguste and Eric Redmond chipped in off the bench in anyway that they could. The reigning Champions werewell in control for most of the game led by an inspiring display by Cameron McCormack that earned himEvening Herald Sports Star of The Week. U16 Stars Adam Power and Calum Sheridan had their first taste ofU19 basketball with some well earned minutes off the bench. The lads closed out the game with a comfortablescoreline of 87- 59, and now they look forward to an All-Ireland Cup Semi-Final in January. The U19 basketball team would like to thank all the support and help they have been given all year by Ms. CPeoples and Coach Randall Mounts and also to all the supporters who have come to cheer them on.

Bright Start For Both Of Our Soccer Teams Our U-17 and U-19 soccer teams have had hugely positive starts to theirrespective campaigns, both each winning their first two games. It is particularly pleasing to see the new players such as Aaron Malone,Jack McMahon and Eric Andrews settle seamlessly into the team,replacing the influential past students like Eric Whelan and JamieLennon. It is hoped that this year we will win a competition at both age groupsand get closer to achieve our long term goal of being the No.1 soccerteam in the country!

Senior FootballersFor the first time, our senior footballers made their debut in the NorthLeinster League as a mean of preparation for the A Championship. Itproved a worthwhile exercise, with wins against Scoil Dara (Kilcock)and St Pat’s (Navan) as well as a draw with Edenderry CS meaningwe finished a respectable third in the group; this despite beingdecimated by injuries. However, it is of course the championship that really matters and thelads proved this with a brilliant away victory against PatricianSecondary School, Newbridge on Friday 25th. Despite being threepoints down midway through the second half, the team rallied tooutscore their opponents 1-6 to 0-2 for the remainder of the game,

securing a deserved four point victory. St Mel’s of Longford are next up in a home draw which should attract alarge and vociferous local support.

Cross Country Win Win!The Cross Country team and their coach Mr. A O Neill are awinning success, they kicked off last term on the 5th ofOctober by finishing first overall at the Clonliffe SchoolsInvitation. Forty two schools took part from around Irelandso the competition was tough. The star performers on theday were Dillon Paisley, Cian Hill, Dermot Buckley, DanielLacey, Cian Bolger and Sean O Leary who won the seniorrace.Next on the list was the Blackrock Invitational on the 16th ofNovember. At this event in Blackrock College the lads stillon their winning streak took the Blackrock Invitational title. A week later a former St. Aidan’s student, Mick Byrne (Classof '74) came to visit the school. Mick went from St. Aidan'sto Providence College on scholarship. He coached athleticsat Iona University for 24 years and is now head coach inWisconsin University. He gave the Cross Country team a very insightful talk onhis experiences in the field of Cross Country and Athletics.Mick told the team about his adventure from St. Aidan’s allthe way to America and eventually becoming head coach inone of the top universities state-side, Wisconsin University.Mick would have walked through the school’s corridorsover 40 years ago. He was delighted that the team was stillwinning titles decades after him. As a thank you for Mick coming, senior captain GregoryHossenny gave Mick the singlet he wore while winning theSchools Senior Cross Country title in 1974. Next up is the All Ireland C.B.S in A.L.S.A.A.

high expectations of Terenure College who were very much up for the game. Down by four points at hal g the game back to a draw with five minutes remaining. Unfortunately Terenure scored two points in the final minutes of the game and held out as worthy winners.

The next match was played in Whitehall GAA pitch and the opposition was Ard Scoil Rís. Playing against a very strong wind, points with 20 minutes played. As always, this group of players showed excellent character and fought their way back into the game. Donal Ryan was winning the world of ball at centre back, while Enda O Donnell was doing excellent work at midfield. Points from Cian Power and Mikey Noonan steered St Aidan s back into the game before a fantastic score from Enda O Donnell levelled the match. However Ard Scoil Rís proved to be too strong on this occasion and won the game by six points.

rd in the group and as a result reached the quarter final stages. St Benildus College stood in the way of a place in the semi final. With the return of key players from injury and with two competitive games played, s showed confidence and conviction. stormed into the game with points from Enda O Donnell, Mikey Noonan, Seán Lowry and Lee Gannon. A well taken goal by O Donnell with 15 minutes played ensuradvantage at half time. Lowry was on target early in the second half as he caught a Ciarán Murphy delivery and struck for goal. St Benildus asked serious questions of our defence and scored two goals in the second half. However St Enda O Donnell and Luke McCarthy, went onto win the game by three points to secure a place in the

semi final against Ard Scoil Rís.

without the services of key players due to injury. We produced a fantastic first half performance. The defence was solid with Donal Ryan and Darragh Bergin leading the way. Luke McCarthy and Keith Doran won the battle at midfield while our forwards worked some great scores. An Owen Sheridan goal with 20 minutes p point advantage at the

points from Enda O Donnell, while Mikey Noonan was on target from placed balls. With ten minutes ee points. However as bodies began to fatigue Ard Scoil Rís opened our defence and scored three goals which ended our hopes of reaching the final.

Overall it was a very encouraging year considering the competiveness of this group of young players. This was a very young senior hurling panel as some players are eligible to play, not only to next year, but for the next two to three years.

St Aidan s U16 Hurling

With a very young side, this year was a stepping stone for the future. We lost our first two matches to Ard Scoil Rís and Coláiste Eoin. The next fixture was against Coláiste Éanna which proved to be a very entertaining match. Key scores from Seáwithin reach of Coláiste Éanna at the interval. Playing with the wind, our lads showed excellent pride and character in the second half scoring five points without reply. Eddie Moran, Tom Gleeson and Seán Lowry prominent. A well taken goal by substitute Seá ith a one point advantage with only one minute to play. Unfortunately we were unable to prevent Coláiste Éanna from scoring the equalising point.

It was very rewarding for this group of players to finish with a well-deserved victory over St Benildus in the last group match. Overall, it was a very positive team performance with noteworthy displays from Seán Lowry, Josh Thorpe, Martin Jacobs and Tom Gleeson. With many of this group underage again next year, the experience gained from playing

forward.

St Aidan s 1st Year Hurling

Our 1st year hurlers competed in the first hurling blitz which took place in Abbotstown GAA Centre of Excellence. Transition year students Kevin O Sullivan and Josh Thorpe were appointed as selectors for the day, as the first year hurlers wore the St Aidans jersey for the first time. Our young hurlers displayed excellent skill and did the school proud throughout the day. Many of these players will be part of the U14 hurling team next year and will continue to develop into key players for St Aidans CBS.