ballyhaunis

Connaught Youth

Ballyhaunis Community School P.T.A.A Centre

Ballyhaunis - Young Pioneers compete in All-Ireland quiz finals

The Ballyhaunis Community School Young Pioneers reached the All-Ireland Quiz Finals which took place at Enver College, Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan on Saturday, 26th April.
The team comprising Aoife Noone, Lynda Healy, Conor Freeman, John Judge and Joan Leonard, came fourth in the Under-16 Pioneer Quiz Competition.
The team made up of Aileen Burke, Brenda Kilcourse, Sarah Nolan, Aidan Noone and Siobhan Quinn, came second in the Young Pioneer competition.
Congratulations to all who took part. The Ballyhaunis Community School Pioneers would like to extend a special ‘Thank You’ to their leader Mrs. Joyce.

Pioneer Quiz

The Ballyhaunis Community School Pioneers organised and hosted a Quiz for all the local National Schools in the area on Friday evening, 28th Feb. The night was enjoyed by all who took part and the standard event was a great success. The Young Pioneers would like to extend a sincere ‘Thank You’ to all of their sponsors.

Ballyhaunis Community School publishes twenty-fifth yearbook

The Community School, Ballyhaunis celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of its opening this past school year (2002-03), marking a quarter-century of excellence in the provision of education to the region.
One of the first community schools in the country, it first opened its doors in September 1977 with the amalgamation of the three post-primary schools in the town - St. Joseph’s Convent Secondary School, The Technical School and
St. Patrick’s College. Since then it has grown in size, stature and reputation and has come to be regarded as one of the finest second level schools in the country.
Towards the end of every academic year since 1977-8 the Ballyhaunis Community School Yearbook has been published, and this year’s issue - the twenty-fifth - is bigger and better than ever. For the first time ever, the Yearbook is on sale in retail outlets throughout the town and it costs just £6.
A well put together document that records a fruitful year in the life of the Community School, the Yearbook details all aspects of the school’s year - academic, sporting and cultural - and serves as a record of the great work that goes on there from day to day. It should be of interest to anyone who has ever had any connection with the Community School - and this would include the great majority of families living within a five-mile radius of Ballyhaunis.
The back issues of the Yearbook form an impressive record of a whole generation who have gone to the Community School. They bear witness to the ever-evolving educational system, and detail the many impressive academic, sporting and cultural achievements of its pupils past and present. This year’s Yearbook maintains this fine tradition, and marks the special anniversary with a section entitled “Looking Back Over The Past 25 Years” which includes reminiscences from former staff and past pupils, along with a large selection of photographs from the past twenty-five years - recording musicals, sporting events, and other milestones in the history of the school.
The Yearbook opens with a thoughtful introduction by Mr. Jarlath Fahey, Principal, and an Editorial from Doireann Markham. Features on each of the years are given followed by the usual photographs of students - individual photographs of all Leaving Certs and class groups for the other years.

Organisations within the Community School have submitted end-of-year reports, including the Parents’ Association, Pastoral Care Team and the Young Pioneers. There are contributions too from some of the school’s international students.

For those who have attended the Community School over the past twenty-five years, or indeed anyone who had family members there in that time, “Looking Back over the past 25 years” should be of great interest. Extending over thirty-three pages, this section includes many reminiscences and a large selection of interesting photographs sure to bring back memories. It includes an account of the “Class of 78” reunion held this Christmas past (i.e. the first ever First Years in the school); pieces on all the Musicals and School Tours arranged by the school over the years, and a large selection of photographs from past Sports Days. There are the recollections of retired staff including Mary Freeley, Patsy Noone, Fr. Walsh, Sr. Joan, Maura Griffin, Sr. Dolores, Pat Higgins, as well as from past pupils from the different decades, seventies up to the nineties, and memories of a School Bus Driver.
The Editorial Committee who have put together this fine publication were as follows: Editor - Doireann Markham; Sports - Sarah O’Connor, Tracey Folliard; Secretaries - Anna Maria Tighe, Siobhan Quinn; Photographers - Tracey Devaney, Edel Moroney, Emma Herr; Features -Louise Cunnane, Patricia Finan, Sarah Kelly, Claire Caulfield, Corina Duggan, Sonia Cribbin, Lorna Clancy, Frances Grogan.

In Ballyhaunis Community School, the emphasis has always been on the individual student being enabled to achieve his or her full potential. Reading through this year’s Yearbook it is apparent that this is still the case, and that the aspiration expressed in the very first Yearbook, by former principal Mr. Eddie Thornton - “Our aim is to create an excellent educational establishment, where every student is important and one which will fully provide for the Community it was instituted to serve” - still holds true.