As Seachtain na Gaeilge and the 1916 Commemorations approach the Irish Department in Manor House is a hub of activity.
On Fri 11 March we once again welcome the hilarious High Rock Productions team of Seán and Niall Mc Donagh to the school. They will do two shows for us based on the Sraith Pictiúr. One for 6th years in the morning and one for TY students in the afternoon. Each show is followed by a workshop on the Sraith Pictiúr where students get to act out the events in the various Sraith Pictiúr. Prepare to be entertained! Check out these guys on You Tube. They are fun all the way. A great way to revise those 20 Sraith Pictiúr for the oral which is coming up for 6th years just after Easter.
Also during Seachtain na Gaeilge Transition Years will have a Céilí Mór. It starts with learning the dances and takes off from there. Great exercise and great craic. Ticks all the boxes.
Gael Linns Cúrsa Cumarsáide is another favourite with transition year students. It’s a communications and media course held at Gael Linn headquarters in Dame Street. It lasts a week and students learn how to make a radio programme and a short film. And all of this ‘as Gaeilge’.
The Radio Programme
The 1916 commemorations are fast approaching and Transition Year students are preparing a radio programme ‘as Gaeilge’ to mark the event.
Three TY students have discovered they have a direct relative who took part in the events of 1916. They and the rest of the team have researched their family history and in the radio programme they tell the story.
Ruth Colbert tells the story of her grandad’s uncle, Con Colbert, who was executed on the 8 May in Kilmainham jail at just 27 years of age. The story is made all the more fascinating by Sonya O’Connor’s discovery while on work experience in Nazareth House Nursing Home in the autumn.
Nessa Lyons tells the story of James Plunkett who was her grandmother’s uncle and who was shot and injured near the Four Courts. But the story doesn’t end there.
And Rosanna O’Brien has a lovely story about Joseph Patrick Jordan, her great grandfather who at only fourteen years of age took part in the Rising.
The programme includes a few more great 1916 stories. There is music and chat all of which has seen the girls make a real connection with the events of 1916. And all of this ‘as Gaeilge’.
The programme will be recorded at Panchord Studios on Wed 2 March. It will be entered in the Seachtain na Gaeilge ‘Make a Radio Programme as Gaeilge’ competition where Manor House have been winners before. Manor House have a strong track record of winning radio programme competitions. We were national winners of the Gael Linn and Seachtain na Gaeilge competitions in 2014.
Proclamation Day: 15 March 2016
Meanwhile, back in the classroom, Irish teachers are making sure that all students at Manor House can sing the national anthem Amhrán na bhFiann for the flag raising ceremony on the day.
Orals
Students in 3rd and 6th year have recently finished mock oral exams. These were conducted in the school by the Irish Department to prepare the students for the ‘real’ oral which is now worth 40% of the Irish exam in both Junior and Leaving cert.
It is wonderful to see the level of interest and engagement among students with oral work. We have many excellent Irish speakers in Manor House and it is great to see them get credit for it.
We are also very happy with the large numbers of students in Manor House who take Higher Level in both Junior and Senior Cycles.
The ‘Cupán Tae agus Comhrá’ lunchtime chat ‘as Gaeilge’ for 6th years continues and the 6th years had a great day out at ‘An Triail’, the play by Mairéad Ní Ghráda in the Axis Theatre in November.
The Gaeltacht
The 3rd year orals are over for this year. The 6th year orals are coming up just after Easter. In preparation for orals many of our students are looking forward to three weeks in the Gaeltacht during the summer holidays where they will have fun and learn loads of Irish. Coláiste Chamuis in Connemara is a favourite with Manor House students and is highly recommended as is Coláiste na bhFiann. Check out the websites. Students also go to the Donegal Gaeltacht to Coláiste Árainn Mhóir which they very much enjoy.
It’s all go in the Irish Department, but as teachers we are so lucky to have the privilege of engaging with a wonderful student body who have a uniquely fresh and positive attitude to the learning of Irish.
Ádh Mór oraibh go léir agus gura fada buan sibh!