Large gathering expected for St Senan’s 50th anniversary

PREPARATIONS have been stepping up a gear for St Senan’s 50th anniversary celebrations, which will take place on March 3 and 4, with past pupils now based in foreign countries expected to return for the festivities.
Deputy principal Margaret Murphy said that a number of events have been planned. “This was the first Catholic school to be established in Shannon and it opened up on February 1, 1962 and Carmel Kenny was the first principal. The school started out in the community hall but it moved into the new building in the mid-’60s.”
A golden jubilee booklet will be launched on the night of March 3 at Wolfe Tones, which will have pictures of students and teachers, past and present.
Ms Murphy said a large crowd is expected at the event. “All the teachers are coming back and there are about 60 or 70 and there are past pupils coming who are based in Europe, America and England.”
The event will kick off at about 8.30pm and there will be music and food available.
The celebrations will continue on Sunday morning, with a mass being said by Bishop Keiran O’Reilly and after this there will be a tree-planting ceremony at the school, which will be followed by refreshments. Ms Murphy said it would also give past pupils a chance to have a look at where they spent much of their childhoods.
“It’s an opportunity to look around the school and revisit their old haunts, the ­playgrounds where they might have played or the wall they hit a ball off or whatever.”
Ms Murphy said that the school attempts to offer a lot of activities to its pupils. “We try to do as much extra-curricular stuff as we can. We have got six Green Flags and four science awards and we are after getting our first active flag.
“A lot of the past pupils would have done very well in business and in their careers in general.”
She said pupils also take part in hurling and football, Féile na hInse and the school’s accelerated reading programme.