Clongowes Stories

10th November 2017

Past v Present Debate The ghost of Daniel O’Connell must have been well pleased by the standard of debate that took place for the trophy named in his honour in Clongowes on Wednesday night (8th November) before an audience of some 60 students, staff, parents and Old Clongownians. The Liberator was a pacifist but he…read article

8th November 2017

Book Character Dress-up Day Buzz Our Inter-House approach to Book Character Dress-Up Day resulted in the best event of its kind to date. Classic and modern characters from the world of books added colour to corridors and classes. House Leaders selected a book character for their Houses. A competitive angle was introduced with Houses earning…read article

6th November 2017

On the 30th October Karl Hayes (Syntax) flew from Katmandu to Lukla, a small airstrip 2,900m high in the Himalayas. There he joined a group of climbers making their way to the glacier base camp of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world at 8,848metres high… It is easy to forget that the first…read article

4th November 2017

ELEMENTS PARENT DAY Elements Parent Day will take place on Sunday 12th November 2017. The day will begin at 09.25 with refreshments in the concourse. Our speakers will be in room 3 at 09.55am; we will finish with Eucharist in the Sports Hall at 11.30, followed by an option to stay for lunch. Our presenter will be…read article

2nd November 2017

Chess Mini-Tournament Contrary to the views of Roy Keane, who never quite managed to represent his school in chess, the scars are still evident- chess is a very physical game, not in the sense that one is likely to incur an injury but in the energy expended and in its competitive intensity. This was very…read article

31st October 2017

Mass for the Deceased Members of the Clongowes Union The autumn season is always rich in colour but as November moves towards its end the very richness of those colours is the sign that nature must face up to the fact that – to regenerate next spring – all growth must fade and die. As nature…read article

31st October 2017

Daniel O’Connell Memorial Debate This year’s Past vs Present Debate for the Daniel O’Connell Memorial Trophy will take place on Wednesday 8th November in the Music Performance Area in Clongowes at 6pm. This annual even always provides an excellent level of debate and an all round good night’s entertainment. (Last year’s participants pictured above). This…read article

29th October 2017

An evening with author Mary O’Donnell An enjoyable evening was shared by the Staff and the Parents’ Book Club last Wednesday (25th October) in the company of local poet, author and Aosdána member Mary O’Donnell. Mary’s novel The Light Makers was recently republished by 451 Editions, 25 years after it was first published by Poolbeg…read article

27th October 2017

Last week (Thursday, 19th October) Clongowes held a College and Career Exhibition in the sports hall. While many are familiar with the Irish Times Higher Options Exhibition, held in the RDS annually, this year we decided to organise our own ‘mini’ Higher Options Exhibition for the Higher Line students and their parents, with a ‘mini’…read article

21st October 2017

Winner of the Irish Freemasons’ Young Musician of the Year 2017 On Saturday, 14th October, Richard Thomas (OC’13) was awarded 1st place in the Irish Freemasons’ Young Musician of the Year. The semi-finals took place on Thursday October 12th where he was shortlisted to the final four. The final round took place on Saturday 14th…read article