Transition Year English Evening 2025

 

This week we had the 30th Transition Year English Evening, the longest-established TY event in the College. It was planned primarily as a celebration of pupil work across the year, with an external guest speaker. There is no competitive element.

This year we were delighted to welcome back a former teacher, Mr Paul Reidy, who has been working at St Andrew’s College in Booterstown for 26 years, where he is head of Senior Cycle English. The event was compèred by Mr Kirwan.

There were eight readers of their work from the four sets; Mr Reidy’s comments on them follow each in brackets. Anna Hart kicked off with a narrative piece called ‘The Watcher’ (full of atmosphere and detail, tense and capturing fear very well, with a twist at the end). She was followed by Kayra Mbanefo with ‘The City That Dreams’ (a vivid phrase in the description was ‘like brushstrokes on a canvas’). Third was Issac Fang with ‘The Hidden Book’, a dense and interesting piece on body/mind (intriguing, getting across the thoughts of a teeming brain). As a total contrast, Isobel McKinley wrote ‘Testimonies’, an honest and personal piece about her relationship with religion (writing about character growth in a way which was gently wise).

Lexi Hunter’s ‘Underwater’ was a highly descriptive essay (very well written, with a strong sense of colour and cinematic). Alice Castagna’s ‘The Pulse of the Unknown’ on her time in London was next (a strong sense of nostalgia, and very good on the sounds and smells of the city), followed by Alice McCarthy with ‘Animal Farm at School’ (a version of the novel which was very humorous, with a touch of Lord of the Flies). Finally, Ferdia Murray provoked lots of laughter with ‘My First Love’, which started with lots of suggestive images which revealed themselves as references to his air fryer (very funny).

Mr Reidy then spoke a little about his time in the College from 1994 to 1996, his moving on to work for Concern in Rwanda, and then his return to teaching, which has become his career. It is indeed, he stated, a privilege to be a teacher, helping children learn. He concluded by reading out the names of the pupils who were awarded Premier grades this year,

Peter Dix Memorial Prize for Poetry

Congratulations to Stella Borrowdale, who has been awarded the Senior Poetry Prize 2025. The trophy marks the life of Peter Dix, who was killed in the Lockerbie bombing; the trophy is shown, and is on display in the Library. The sculptor is Joe Sloan.

 

Stella's poems were on the theme 'Forgotten People', and here are two pieces from her portfolio:

Penelope

She unweaves her shroud in darkness at sundown in solitude.
Candles are forbidden in this shrine.
Midnight interrupts - leaving space for prayer in His name:
Three words spoken three times, one syllable.

Specific breaths are taken, reserved only for this moment.
Three minutes delegated to His memory in her mind.
Aglow with finest offerings: two libations; a golden kylix
sits quietly at His setting, no name inscribed.
 
Absence shapes this deity, yet she prays He will be here.
No responses are required in this shrine.
His hand and word together are sufficient in her mind;
He speaks the words; she burns for ten more years.

To question is to be human, yet she removes her dampened veil
Lest this man beneath her stairwell be the one.
This deity is damned: bound to slay one hundred men
For one more hour to forget His forsaken wife.

Marigold

The year slips away after September
And again it will happen in March
As the last puddle dries. I try to remember;
Did you shudder when it fell dark?
Is there any freedom in knowledge?
Or are there wounds heard in the sound
Of a voice that isn’t yours,
Spoken watchdogged all around

This clock was never ticking,
Long out of use with no sense of time.
I have no strength; you have no freedom,
But you can laugh—I gave you mine.
In the heart of my desires,
You are more than fleeting shadows;
Solid and substantial,
Allowed escape from wildflower meadows.

Tomorrow will be summer,
But it won’t ever be the same
Since you left your precious garden
In monsoon, which you call rain.
A chrysanthemum on the sill,
A marigold in the mirror,
Hidden carefully so only you can see the damage.
You tend to her so softly, attempt to form connection,
Yet a flower with no mouth can’t help you manage

To speak the words you wish were spoken,
Words you kept inside your head
For the benefits of hidden comforts in the sound:
The sound you crave - of darkness,
So you’ll leave your greenhouse in the rain.
By August, I will promise to never write about you again.

 

Voices of Poetry 2025

 

As happens annually, and has done for about 40 years since former Head of English Mr John Fanagan initiated the event, Voices of Poetry took place on Sunday evening, the last major event in the BSR of the school year.

And as happens annually, many pupils and a handful of staff read or recited short poems in a variety of languages under a single spotlight in a darkened hall. It is a moment for attention and listening, a pause in the busy-ness of school life, and a celebration of our diversity. Mr Girdham presented the evening and introduced the speakers.

 

Violeta Mykhalova opened confidently with a Ukrainian poem about summer, appropriately as the holidays get close. An utterly different language is Akrikaans: Kasimir zu Bentheim used to live in South Africa and so read a piece in that language.

The first English poem of the evening was in ‘American’, in the extraordinary style of the great Emily Dickinson, ‘Hope is the thing with feathers’. Moving much further South, Spanish as spoken in Mexico was represented by Eleazar Reygadas Lopez, who read a piece by the 1990 Mexican winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Octavio Paz.

That variety continued in the first poem of the evening in Mandarin Chinese, recited vividly by Rachel Jiang, and it was further emphasised in Polish by Marianna O’Shaughnessy in a piece by another Nobel Prize-winner, Wisława Szymborska.

 

As Mr Girdham pointed out, it takes some courage to compose and then read out in such an arena your own words, and Nia Jessup was the first of the pupils to do so, with her poem 'The Wish I Regret'.

European languages came next, starting with Anna McGrath (French), Allegra Caccia (Montale in Italian), Otto Dalwigk (Bavarian dialect) and Carola Moreno (Spanish). The second composer-reader was Delia Brady, with 'The Green Island', about her family’s relationship to the Irish Famine of the 1840s. Irish was represented by Fleur Green. Then the third composer-reader was Finn Woolsey, who read an affecting personal poem about a friend, ‘Petals in the Wind’.

Four First Formers read short poems: Daniela Casasus Benitez (Spanish), Ella Girdham (German: ‘Wir’ by Irmela Brender), Fiona Zhong and Ada Yutong (both Mandarin). Jason Otolorin returned us to English, with Ian Duhig’s ‘From the Irish’.

The Junior Poetry Prize was this year won by Suvi-Helene Cully, and Mr Kirwan read out her winning poem ‘When the Storm Comes’. As usual, the Warden recited a poem from the store of works he has learned off by heart, this time Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’. Then Mr Canning announced the winner of this year’s Peter Dix Memorial Prize for Poetry, Stella Borrowdale, whose prize-winning poem he read out.

Finally, Senior Prefect Harry Smith Huskinson closed proceedings with Sylvia Plath’s ‘Song for a Summer’s Day’, which he had read at his mother’s wedding. This echoed the opening poem of the night: another about summer, and its lovely image ‘Sunday’s honey-air’, a perfect note on which to end.                                                                                                                                                                                                     

'The Green Island'

At Voices of Poetry on Sunday night Delia Brady read out her own poem, 'The Green Island', based on her family's connection to the Famine of the 1840s. It had impressed Mr Canning as an entry to the Senior Poetry Prize this year.

 

The Green Island

Just home
To the sheep that
graze,
the ruins of the cobbled
house-now used for shearing-
once held
Us

Before the land turned to ribs,
And with bleak November came
funerals-
no headstones, no plaques-
only the keening of the women,
heard from across the lake

How many infants-
Born with tired eyes and faces-
Thrown into the waters for
their heinous crime,
Unworthy in the graying priests' eyes,
of entering the kingdom of God

Their bones found, and left-
No names-
Never even given them-
Dead on Arrival
from starved mothers
in starving fields.

'The Wish I Regret'

 At Sunday's Voices of Poetry, Nia Jessup from Third Form read out her interesting poem 'The Wish I Regret:

 

The wish I regret …

A teenager 

Not an adult but not a kid either 

That's what we are

The between

We have to act like adults

But also have fun 

And enjoy our younger years 

While we're still young.

5 years. 

That's all it is,

It sounds so short.

Yet it feels so long. 

The wish to grow older 

The wish to be free 

From all the things that our parents see. 

I regret the wish.

We sit in neat rows,

But our minds are a maze,

Wandering far,

Through uncertain days.

We carry our futures

In our minds each day,

While pieces of childhood

Are slipping away.

The wish to grow older—

It burned like a flame,

But age came with shadows

And burdens with names.

I wanted to rush,
Through the long restless days.
Not knowing I'd look back
And long for those ways.

I regret that wish …

 

Junior Poetry Prize 2025

Congratulations to the winner of this year's Junior Poetry Prize, Suvi-Helene Cully. Here is her poem 'When the Storm Comes'.

When the storm comes
It is an unexpected turn,
an emotional wave of change
an unusual gust that at first feels haunting.

the wind will sway and mock you
the rain will hand you your sorrow
the trees will pity you, standing tall above you.
 
But when all seems lost,
Birds will hum
light will shine through
the beautiful sky will renew.

And It will no longer be nothing but a breeze.
Something to look back on,
Part of who you are.
A memory of the past.

Petals in the Wind

At the Voices of Poetry event on Sunday night, Finn Woolsey read out this affecting poem he wrote, about a childhood friend in difficult circumstances.

 

Dear Rose, 

freshly sprung from seeds, deserving of kindness from the soil and gardener that feeds.

Just beginning to bud, so tender, so frail,

No thorns yet to guard you, no armour or veil.

Before you knew what it meant to bloom, 

Hands meant to cradle instead sealed your doom,

Held you down, stripped your petals away,

Leaving your vibrant hues faded and gray.

On my top bunk, surrounded by our crew of stuffed rabbits and bears,

We played pirates, out sailing the silent storm,

While I told you about the wolf that follows me in the shadow of the moon,

and you told me about the gardener that smothers his lips to yours at noon.

Silently and swiftly, the storks swept down and whisked you away,

while the soil wept and the wolf began to prey.

You were gone, without goodbyes, without a petal for me to treasure and clutch to my chest.

I asked the Northern Pintails in their nest if they had seen traces of you in winds from the west.

They turned away, their wings heavy at rest.

I'm haunted by memories of a faceless girl, 

Dragging me down the rocky shore in a whirl,

Her bare feet on stone, while I trailed behind,

Yellow wellies splashing, our shadows intertwined.

Now I search for her in every face I see,

Hoping she smiles back at me from the sea’s golden shimmers,

as the sun disappears behind the waves, 

and so does she.

 

Junior Public Speaking Competition 2025

The Junior Public Speaking Competition organised by the English Department at the end of May each year is part of a continuum of public speaking opportunities which our pupils have, and which help them build confidence and fluency. This starts in the First Form competition in front of their peers in English class, and includes the Transition Year House Speeches and House debating. ‘Oracy’ is the technical educational term: before long, reforms in the Leaving Certificate English course mean that candidates will need to talk to external examiners about literary texts.

Judging by this year’s competition, when the pupils reach that year, they will have no problems. Building on their oral Classroom Based Assessments, eight Second Formers spoke in the Big Schoolroom on the evening of Saturday 24th May on a great variety of topics, and did so very well (and several without any notes). Mr Girdham was the judge; he asked each speaker a question or two after their piece.

Zora O’Rourke was first, making a provocative argument that we should reinstate corporal punishment. As she admitted, she doesn’t really believe this, but she made the audience sit up at the start and think. Emily Su also provoked thinking, as she imagined what it would be like if we never had to speak. She pointed out that we spend about a third of our lives asleep, and this might seem a waste of time. But, of course, the benefits of sleep are considerable, and life without it would be impossible. Next was Marianna O’Shaughnessy, who gave a vivid and detailed account of her great-aunt Helena Pyz, who despite disability has achieved a huge amount in her work in India – certainly, a life well lived. ‘Dissociative Identity Disorder’ is also something which could disable a life, and Mirella Pelly explained clearly this complicated and distressing condition.

The second half of speakers was headed by Maureen Deng, whose ‘The benefits of space travel’ contained several quirky scientific facts. She was followed by Bosco Quesada Torrejon on ‘The Power of Small Habits’, those little things which make life that little bit easier, but which also can have negative effects. Then Laurence Sun gave a comprehensive and mostly positive account of the effects of Artificial Intelligence, including possible job displacement. Finally, Georgia Dobbs addressed the matter of teenage girls and sport; her clearly-delivered speech was well-structured and used her own experience effectively.

The winner was Laurence Sun for his polished and knowledgeable address; all other speakers impressed in what was a pleasing evening.

Preparing for the Leaving Certificate 2025

Not long to go now to this year's exams, so here are some ways you can prepare effectively and use the most of your time in English.

 

'King Lear' scene by scene

For 12 podcasts on the all the scenes of King Lear, and a downloadable pamphlet gathering all the transcripts, click here.

Should be of particular interest to Leaving Certificate teachers and pupils.

Transition Year English Evening 2024

The 29th Transition Year English Evening was held on Tuesday 30th May in the Big Schoolroom. Again, it was a showcase of some of the best writing done during the year in English classes (there is no competitive element). Mr Jameson hosted the event, and the guest was former English teacher here, Mrs Annie Donnelly, who now works at Loreto Beaufort School.

Speakers (with Mrs Donnelly’s comments in square brackets) were:

• Rebekah Fitzgerald Hollywood on the nature of true friendship [this was thoughtful, with a clear sense of the person, and an excellent use of the extended metaphor].
• Delia Brady on her great-grandmother, ‘a person I would bring back from the dead’ [an engaging, fascinating historical essay, powerful as well as moving and tragic].
• Finn Woolsey on imagining his alternative self, ‘a person I would bring back from the dead’ [this was brilliantly philosophical, very controlled and original].
• Safia Walker on the proposition that young people have more problems than adults [an essay that was convincing and persuasive].
• Sophie Gibb with a story, ‘Window to the Soul’ [extremely memorable, with lots of tension and drama, and particularly effective use of sounds]
• Stella Borrowdale on her first home [a fine focus on family and belonging, with good attention to small things].
• Grant Fabian with a description of nature [poetic techniques used very well, with strong landscape description].
• Olive Mui on ‘The Oldest Person I Know’, her grandmother who went through the Chinese Famine [very engaging and original, with a lovely sardonic touch].
• Cerys Mordaunt imagining meeting up again in 8 years’ time with her friend Polly [excellent attention to detail in this imagining what the transition from adolescence to adulthood might look like].
• Grace Koch: a story called ‘Alone in the Forest’ [this captured big ideas, and used dialogue very well].

Mrs Donnelly also talked eloquently about the power of English, and how it deals with the most important things in life. She much enjoyed returning to the College, where she worked for two happy years. She also announced the winners of this year’s Premier Awards:

Stella Borrowdale, Delia Brady, Rebekah Fitzgerald Hollywood, Grace Koch, Grace McCarthy, Cerys Mordaunt, Olive Mui, Felix Strigel, Giulia Trolese and Safia Walker.

Voices of Poetry 2024

The long-standing Voices of Poetry event at the end of May provides a pause-point in the year. It is the last major event in the Big Schoolroom, and on a Sunday evening at the end of a busy weekend it gives us all a moment to listen attentively and appreciate great writing.

As always, it featured a mixture of English and other languages. It is remarkable how much one can get out of another language in terms of musicality even if the words are mysterious. Readers did give brief introductions to each of their pieces, and 23 poems were covered in 45 minutes, with Mr Girdham presenting and linking them.

Anton Demenko kicked things off in Ukrainian, followed by an utterly different language from a totally different part of the world: Bibiire Oke-Osanyintolu recited a poem in Yoruba from Nigeria.

The first English poem came from Eoin Siegel – Robert Frost’s famous ‘The Road Taken’, with its resonant final lines 

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

On the thin grounds that both languages start with the letter ‘I’, but on the more substantial ones that they are both beautifully euphonious, Italian and Irish followed, with four poems intertwined and recited by Anna Luisa Sanminiatelli, Euan Flanagan, Francesco Malacarne and Molly Mann.

Shannon Walker Kinsella chose to read Cassandra Wright’s ‘Clandestine Meeting’, and she was followed by three ‘Iberian’ languages – Spanish (Pedro Olea), South American/Venezuelan Spanish (Manuela Nassief) and Portuguese (Kayra Mbanefo).

Congratulations to Nia Jessup, winner of this year’s Junior Poetry Prize for her touching poem ‘My Love’, about her grandmother, which she read out movingly.

Quite a jump then to one of the most unusual European languages, Hungarian (unconnected to any other, apart from, peculiarly, Finnish), from Gaspar Kekessy and Kasimir zu Bentheim.

And another jump to Mr Swift, who marked his interest in golf by reading out John Updike’s tribute to Payne Stewart, who came to a tragic end in 1999 at the age of 42.

Neighbouring France and Germany came next, with poems read out by Olivia Borbath and Vito Wieser, followed by two major languages from further afield, Arabic (Cecilia Corti) and Mandarin Chinese (Merida Zhang).

English rounded things up: Hal Somerville recited Byron’s dramatic ‘The Destruction of Sennacherib‘ from 1815, followed by the Warden again impressively performing one of his many learnt-poems, Rudyard Kipling’s classic ‘If’. Finally, the awarding of the Peter Dix Memorial Prize for Poetry was marked by the Sub-Warden reading out one of Isabella Treacy’s winning poems from her portfolio. Congratulations to her on winning the prize for three years in a row.

As Mr Girdham said at the end, there is nothing better than catching up with some reading in whatever areas pupils like best. And why not some poetry?