St Joseph’s CBS, Nenagh

International Cross Country Schools’ Success

Well done to Third Year student Diarmuid Moloney and Second Year student Kevin Finn, who both won bronze team medals at the SIAB's International Cross Country in Sefton Park, Liverpool, on Saturday last. Diarmuid was a member of the Intermediate Boys Irish Schools team and Kevin was a member of the Junior Boys Irish Schools team. The SIAB's International involves Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. It is a deserving reward for these two dedicated athletes, who can be seen several nights per week training around Nenagh in all weather situations under the stewardship of Seán Finn of Nenagh Olympics Club.

Diarmuid was selected for the Irish team as he is the Intermediate Munster Schools Cross Country Champion 2023 and finished in fourth place in the All-Ireland championship. Kevin was selected for the Irish team as he is the Junior Munster Schools Cross Country Champion 2023 and finished in second place in the All-Ireland championship.

Basketball Success

Congratulations to our First and Second Year basketball teams, who beat St Clement's College of Limerick last Tuesday. It was a great team performance from both teams and thanks to their coaches Mr Ruadhán Lawlor and Ms Nicole Roche.

Tipperary Minor Hurling

Well done to Fifth Year students Jake Hackett and Michael Ryan and Third Year student Eoghan Doughan, who took to the field last Tuesday evening in the Electric Ireland Munster Minor Hurling Championship Round One match of Clare v Tipperary. The result didn’t go Tipperary’s way on this occasion but it was a great experience to represent their county at this level.

African Drumming

Transition Year students at St Joseph's CBS Nenagh enjoyed a very enjoyable African Drumming Workshop facilitated by Patrick Naughton of African Drumming Ireland. There were some incredible beats heard along the corridors outside the Fr Alec Reid Room last week. Well done, boys.

CPR Training

Our four TY classes had a CPR and AED demo and training last Friday. Thanks to Déaran O’Gorman and Niall Cashen for such an engaging workshop. Déaran and Niall are retained firefighters, emergency first responders and advanced cardiac first responders, and gave very valuable insights into different situations which they have encountered over the years. Building skills for life.

TY Debating Team

Our TY Debating Team met with students from St Mary's Secondary Nenagh last week to decide on suitable motions for a two-round friendly debating competition that is due to take place after the Easter holidays.

Students after serious deliberation decided on the following motions for the respective rounds in the competition: ‘That This House would legalise Cannabis’ and ‘That This house Believes that Girls experience more peer pressure than Boys’.

Interestingly, the two teams in the first round will be mixed from both schools and in the second round, the CBS debating team will propose the motion that ‘Girls experience more peer pressure than boys’ while the St Mary's debating team will oppose the motion.

Each school will host one debate with a small audience chosen to be present on the day, from each school’s TY cohort. The competition is the brainchild of Mr McGrath's YSI TY class, who have taken responsibility for organising the competition and approached St Joseph's CBS with this excellent idea.

Both sets of students thoroughly enjoyed discussing the comprehensive set of motions, which were provided by Kate O'Donoghue on behalf of the St Mary's Debating Team.

Nenagh Youth Theatre

Well done to our students who took part in Nenagh Youth Theatre's production of Bloodshed and Betrayal on Sunday night at Nenagh Arts Centre. The students from St Joseph's CBS Nenagh involved are Transition Year students: Tom Hanrahan, Donnacha Gleeson, Ian Shanahan and Brendan Ryan, Third Year student Mathew Ryan and First Year student Cian Hanrahan. They performed two short adaptations from the quill of William Shakespeare, ‘Othello and The Merchant of Venice’. The setting for both stories is Venice and the tensions are high, as the characters confront issues of racism, duplicity, lies and deceit, whilst being led through a tangle of dialogue by two strong and virtuous heroines. Well done, boys, and all the cast and everyone involved in the production.

Ski Trip

We wish all our students and staff a safe and enjoyable ski trip as they set out for the Isolaccia Ski Resort in Lombardy in Northern Italy over the Easter break. We look forward to hearing all about the ski trip on their return.