Ecumenical Service and Memorial Plaque
The Golden Jubilee weekend to celebrate St. Aidan’s Comprehensive’s 50th anniversary began on Friday 14/10/2016 with an ecumenical service attended by Bishop Leo O’Reilly, Reverend ....Fr. Paul Casey, Board of Management, Principals and Deputy Principals past and present, Minister Heather Humphries, Senator Joe O’Reilly, staff past and present, parents and students.
Beautifully narrated by Leaving Certificate student Margaret McCabe there was a Ceremony of Banners where banners representing the school crest and the key words underpinning our school ethos – respect, rights, responsibility and resilience, were brought to the stage and displayed. There followed a Ceremony of Light with candles lit by Marie Monaghan and Catherine Ahearne. Marie is a recently retired teacher in the school who also came to the school when it opened in 1966 while Catherine is new to the school since September 2016. Then various symbols that capture the life, values and ethos of the school were brought forward. A short service followed with superb musical accompaniment from the school choir and musicians.
Ms. Angela Flanagan spoke most eloquently about the memorial plaque which now takes pride of place in front of the school. It was decided when we started planning for the 50th anniversary celebrations that it would be fitting to unveil a plaque to mark the past 50 years and which would stand tall on our school grounds into the future. A silver quartzite stone was chosen as it is a hard, natural stone in keeping with the local landscape and just like St Aidan’s, would stand the test of time. The jagged edges of the stone represent the ups and downs of life. Unfortunately, we all know too well that nothing in life is without its difficulties, nothing is ever plain sailing, nothing runs so smoothly that we don’t need to adjust our course and make changes. This is true also of our school over the past 50 years and indeed will be true of the future but the solid strength of the quartzite stone represents our strength and resilience as a school community to face the challenges with optimism and indeed strength to make often difficult decisions and soldier on.
The proverb inscribed on the stone “Ní hualach do dhuine an fhoghlaim- learning is no burden “stands for everything that our school represents. St Aidan’s has always endeavoured to improve the quality of teaching and learning while reducing the burden on students. St Aidan’s has always strived to provide a well- rounded educational experience for all students and has certainly lived up to the founding vision of a Comprehensive education system. The school has always encouraged all students to achieve the highest academic standards based on their own individual abilities and has always upheld the motto that learning is no burden to carry.
Finally, the school crest designed by our deceased colleague Mr David Gallagher, is inscribed on our plaque to remind us that our school, while relatively modern in its inception, still pursues ideals that have their roots far back in the history of education through the European classical tradition and in the Irish context to the scholars of the pre-christian era in Ireland..
We are grateful to Mc Mongle Stoneworks Co Donegal for designing this beautiful plaque and working with us on this project.
Beautifully narrated by Leaving Certificate student Margaret McCabe there was a Ceremony of Banners where banners representing the school crest and the key words underpinning our school ethos – respect, rights, responsibility and resilience, were brought to the stage and displayed. There followed a Ceremony of Light with candles lit by Marie Monaghan and Catherine Ahearne. Marie is a recently retired teacher in the school who also came to the school when it opened in 1966 while Catherine is new to the school since September 2016. Then various symbols that capture the life, values and ethos of the school were brought forward. A short service followed with superb musical accompaniment from the school choir and musicians.
Ms. Angela Flanagan spoke most eloquently about the memorial plaque which now takes pride of place in front of the school. It was decided when we started planning for the 50th anniversary celebrations that it would be fitting to unveil a plaque to mark the past 50 years and which would stand tall on our school grounds into the future. A silver quartzite stone was chosen as it is a hard, natural stone in keeping with the local landscape and just like St Aidan’s, would stand the test of time. The jagged edges of the stone represent the ups and downs of life. Unfortunately, we all know too well that nothing in life is without its difficulties, nothing is ever plain sailing, nothing runs so smoothly that we don’t need to adjust our course and make changes. This is true also of our school over the past 50 years and indeed will be true of the future but the solid strength of the quartzite stone represents our strength and resilience as a school community to face the challenges with optimism and indeed strength to make often difficult decisions and soldier on.
The proverb inscribed on the stone “Ní hualach do dhuine an fhoghlaim- learning is no burden “stands for everything that our school represents. St Aidan’s has always endeavoured to improve the quality of teaching and learning while reducing the burden on students. St Aidan’s has always strived to provide a well- rounded educational experience for all students and has certainly lived up to the founding vision of a Comprehensive education system. The school has always encouraged all students to achieve the highest academic standards based on their own individual abilities and has always upheld the motto that learning is no burden to carry.
Finally, the school crest designed by our deceased colleague Mr David Gallagher, is inscribed on our plaque to remind us that our school, while relatively modern in its inception, still pursues ideals that have their roots far back in the history of education through the European classical tradition and in the Irish context to the scholars of the pre-christian era in Ireland..
We are grateful to Mc Mongle Stoneworks Co Donegal for designing this beautiful plaque and working with us on this project.
