The Submarine, June 2016

This year's final edition of the Library magazine, 'The Submarine', is now out and you can read it online above (click on the arrows for a closer look, and again to navigate).

As usual, there is a terrific mix of writing and artwork. These are seen to good effect in the pages with poems written for the Junior Poetry Prize by Imogen Casey, Megan Bulbulia and Tania Stokes (the winner), as well as (in Russian) Elena Sirazetdinova. The main feature is another piece by architect John Somerville-Large, this time most significantly focussing on the creation of the Library itself, which opened in 1994. Review follow by Blanaid Sheeran (The L-Shaped Room), Nyla Jamieson (The Eye of Minds), Catherine Butt (Room, recently discussed at the SCC Book Club) and Nicole Dickerson (All the Light We Cannot See, which she also mentioned in her TY English Evening reading).

Digitisation of the College magazines

An exciting and unique project in the College's history is reaching its final stage, and on Thursday 16th June this was marked by an event  attended by members of the College community (including staff, Fellows, Old Columbans and parents) as well as first-time visitors.

Over the last three years, Patrick Hugh Lynch of the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, assisted by the Sub-Warden, Julian Girdham, has been digitising both the school magazines and the Old Columban Society publications. An extraordinary resource is being created for future generations and historians, and the end of the school year was a good time to take stock.

Following a reception in Whitehall, the Sub-Warden gave a presentation on the origins and progress of the project. About 7000 pages and 4.5 million words have been saved for posterity. In some cases there was a single perishable copy of magazines, and now there is a treasure-trove of material saved permanently. He picked out some editions of particular historical interest, including the very first edition in September 1879 (produced on a Prestograph), the innocent last edition before the Great War, and the first edition following the Easter 1916 Rising (called 'this deplorable insurrection' in the editorial).

He said that the project was still not complete; some checking needs to be done, but when this is complete the archive will be available electronically on disc form and in due course online, and will be a fitting way to mark the 175th anniversary of the College in 2018. A sample CD of about 40 editions was given to those who attended.

The former editor of The Columban, and current editor of the OCS Bulletin, Ninian Falkiner (former Head of History) then spoke about his own experience of working on both magazines, and ended by saying that the true 'hero' of the evening was Patrick Lynch, in the work he has done for the College community.

In his own words, Patrick Lynch spoke powerfully about the 'fun' he has had on the project. The Warden as he retires has left 'its vast cultural history in a position where it can be interrogated by future scholars'. Read Patrick's full address here.

Finally, the Warden paid tribute to the extraordinary work Patrick Lynch has done in this 'utterly captivating' fashion. He looked forward to being able to peruse the archive at leisure in his retirement, and ended by presenting a gift to mark the occasion.





See a set of photographs of the reception and talks here. Many thanks to the Chaplain for taking this.
A report from the Diocesan website can be read here.

'The Columban', April 2014

This Thursday sees the launch of our project of digitising historical copies of the school magazine, 'The Columban'. Here is another one, this time from before the Great War, in April 1914.

Reading this, one cannot help but think of Philip Larkin's great poem 'MCMXIV': 'Never such innocence again'. As the world is about to hurtle into the horrors of Flanders, notes in the school magazine include: 'Why should not Inter-Dormitory Tennis teams be formed?' and 'Two excellent sets of picture postcards, showing views of St Columba's College, have been produced, and may be obtained from the Matron, price sixpence a set.'

SCC from the Air

A new film of our campus, produced by Dependable Productions. Lovely visual story-telling:

English Paper 2 2016

Our Sixth Formers have just finished their marathon in the sticky heat. English Literature is over, and most seemed tired but happy with the exam papers.

First, the answer to the tedious question: Emily Dickinson, T.S.Eliot, Elizabeth Bishop, Paul Durcan. Only worth just over half the marks available for the Unseen poem (this time one from the Polish writer Czeslaw Milosz - why not a poem originally written in English, and why no credit for the co-translator of 'And Yet the Books'? Robert Haas), but still. The questions were fair, and not too wordy.

Our candidates, like most others', studied King Lear as the single text, and both questions were untroublesome: Lear and Gloucester compared, and 'the destructive and redemptive power of love' (those two adjectives may have sidetracked some - were they both properly addressed, and did all candidates understand 'redemptive'?).

For the comparative, it was Cultural Context and Genre. 'Challenging aspects' of cultural contexts might have tested some. 'Authors can use various techniques to make settings real and engaging' for Genre will have had some candidates straying into Cultural Context, but no problem if under control.

No problems either for the small number of Ordinary candidates. Evidence that life is sometimes difficult for Gloucester is not exactly hard to find. Relationships and social setting for the comparative, and easy enough poems too ('Filling Station' and 'I felt a funeral' we'd already tested). Good choice for the Unseen, too: the lovely 'Mother, Washing Dishes' by Susan Myers.

English Leaving Certificate Paper 1 2016

In November 2011 our Second Formers would have been among the audiences for the most recent Shakespeare Society production, The Comedy of Errors. Today memories of that evening may well have come back on opening the Higher Level Paper 1 on the first day of their Leaving Certificate, since after turning the cover page they would have been confronted by no fewer than four different posters for Shakespeare's first play (described in Andrew Dickson's text as being unfairly categorised as 'a creaky and mechanistic farce' - we were aiming for lightness in a production backed by the Bee Gees). The number and busyness of the images in this question was a welcome challenge compared to some rather thinner 'image' questions in the past.

Another SCC connection was seen in the second text, from Sara Baume's 2015 novel spill simmer falter wither, an interesting choice that was first published by Old Columban Sarah Davis-Goff's Tramp Press: it is good to see such recent innovative Irish writing on the paper.

On a different note, the third text was a more familiar standard public speech, this time by President Obama at NASA in 2010 (see below), with quite predictable questions about such rhetoric.

The three 'B' questions were quite detailed; some concentration was certainly needed to get the register just right. Text Three, on Obama, asked for a blogpost - not an entirely helpful direction for register, if no context is given about what kind of blog it is.

Composition titles were also straightforward, and candidates can't complain they would not have plenty of options.

Six of our 61 candidates took the Ordinary Level paper which, as usual, was designed not to frighten. The Easter 1916 Rising made its appearance in extracts from diary entries by two eye-witnessses, one a volunteer and the other a British officer. Several of the composition titles could easily have been on the Higher Paper.

Now on to Literature tomorrow.

Voices of Poetry 2016

Last Sunday evening saw again the lovely annual occasion which is Voices of Poetry, expertly co-ordinated for the eighth year by Mr Swift. As we have often mentioned, it is an infallible formula - lovely short poems in different languages read on the final 'full' weekend of the year. And so often it seems blissfully sunny outside, contrasting with the dark hush of the Big Schoolroom, which is broken by a single spotlight. The photograph was taken 15 minutes before the event began, on the way to the BSR.

Nyla Jamieson's 'Dancing', written for the Senior Poetry, was first up, followed by another entry, Oisin Large's 'The Time has Come'. Second Prefect Bunmi Oyateru then read a poem by Amiri Baraka. The foreign language poems started with one in Russian (Elizaveta Kozhevnikova). Douglas Boyd Crotty followed with Irish and Jack Thurk with 'American' ('On the Death of a Next-Door Neighbor').

French was represented by Ciara Gumsheimer and Spanish by Juliane Hastedt. Charlotte Moffitt recited her Poetry Aloud entry, Yeats's 'The Song of Wandering Aengus' and four poems followed in other languages read by Pia Zulauf (German), Swedish (Louvisa Karlsson-Smythe), Latin (Callum Pery-Knox-Gore) and Italian (Gabriella Castagna Rubio).

A tradition has it that retiring teachers are invited to read, and Mrs Haslett read out a hugely entertaining section of Carol Ann Duffy's 'The Laughter of Stafford Girls' High' (listen to a version in a Joanna Lumley programme here). She was followed by the Chaplain, who arrived this year, and who amused all by reading in a 'language' never heard before at this event: Cockney.

Catalan (Gemma Rodriguez, from Andorra) and Portuguese (Rafael Mendes) followed, and then the newest member of the English Department, Mrs Donnelly, read 'The Horses' by Ted Hughes. She was followed by the outstanding winner of the Junior Poetry Prize, Tania Stokes, with her winning entry 'Metaphorest'.

The Warden, Dr Haslett, retires at the end of this term, and he read two poems: Michael Longley's superb 'Ceasefire' (read by the poet himself here) and Tennyson's 'Crossing the Bar'. A real contrast was Chingrui Yan's short poem in Chinese.

Finally, three pupils wrapped up the evening: Helena Gromotka, winner of this year's Peter Dix Memorial Prize for Poetry with 'Maybe', Senior Prefect Harvey McCone with his favourite poem, 'He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven' by W.B. Yeats, and Sol Guitart Rivero from Primary with her own sweet poem 'Love'. A fine note on which to end an evening full of love for the written and spoken word.

'Dancing'

Another poem from the entries for the Senior Poetry Prize, this time by Nyla Jamieson. Nyla read this out as the first poem at this year's Voices of Poetry.

Dancing

The ashes danced in the wind

Teasing the grass below

The earth stretched out its short green arms

But the ashes flew just out of their reach.

Tears fell but the ashes soared

Oblivious to the pain they caused

Prayers were said and hymns were sung

The ashes pirouetted to this bitter sweet symphony.

Finally the dancers grew weary

They settled into the earth’s warm embrace.

As the mourners shuffled away they said they would miss her

But she was already gone.

The ashes may have been a part of her

But what made her her was well gone

While her ashes flitted in the breeze

Her soul had fled to that unknown place.

Years later her family still came

And shed a tear or two

Not even her ashes remained to see this grief

They were off touring the world.

This love was not for them to see

This grave was not for her

Graves, funerals and mourning are for the living

The dead dance on, indifferent.

'Nigeria'

For the recent Senior Poetry Prize, Oluwakorede Oyegbade wrote this poem about his native country, which Mr Canning called 'exceptional'.


Nigeria
 

A fruitful land of magnificent, majestic grandeur,

Green pastures, blue sky and exquisite radiant sun.

How vibrantly the coloured plumages of birds soaring by,

The flowing mane of the horses jumping high.

The exuberance and ebullience of the natives

Dancing, singing and expressing their creativity,

For this is how we convey our passion,

The perfect epitome of self expression.

For supremacy and dominance have control over all things,

Their chains wrapped around our hands like handcuffs.

Inferior we are to them, who stare in the mirror beside many,

But notice only their two squinting eyes gleaming with self adoration.

An empty void fills their chest, they fail to provide for the rest.

The land becomes barren and unfruitful

As the superior laugh and purloin.

The situation worsens and we suffer in silence.

The idea of change becomes merely a facade.

On our knees we get down and pray

To the Most High, who makes it possible to see another day.

Our desires they diminish and trample, but our spirits they shall not devour.

Faith and hope our most prized possession,

As we put on our masks of pretence.

Therefore our creativity we must establish, our humour we must pursue

For although the body looks weary,

Our souls must never worry.