Page 87 - The Gonzaga Record 1990
P. 87
Tara wa th seat of the High King of Dublin. We decided to do something to
Ireland and the centre of government. save the Zoo.
None of th ancient building stands Firstl y we began to raise money.
toda but one can ee th circular earth Everybody sacri ficed their pocket money
bank of the fo rts. and their lunch money while various
F rom T ara we moved o nto other schemes were undertaken. Some
Ne\ grange. Newgrange was more boys coll ected money in the car park.
intere ting a there wa more to see. While others sold raffle ti ckets and did
Newgrange i a pas age grave built of sponsored cycles. Altogether we raised
tone around 3000 B.C. To walk through £343, whic h we made into a cheque and
the pa age we had to bend down a it sent away to Peter Wilson, the Director
is ery low. The guide turned off the of the Zoo.
lights and turned on a spotlight to show Secondl y, we each wrote a letter to the
us what it i like on 21 December. when Taoiseach, Mr Haughey. In fo ur letters
the sun shines down the pas age into the we set out the reasons why the Zoo
burial chamber. should not be closed. We stated that the
Next we went to Old Mellifont Abbey Zoo should be kept open fo r educational
which was the favourite of the majority purposes, fo r tourism, for employment
of the class. Although now in ruins it was and for conservation of endangered
easy to imagine how fine the Abbey spec1es.
woul d have looked in it s heyday. To be We got acknowledgement s fr om th e
seen in the Abbey are beautifully carved Taoiseach and Mr Wilson, and, happily,
stone windows and doorways. One of the the Zoo is still open (and so is Dail
most striking buildings was the Lavabo Eireann! ).
which originall y would have been an Daibhi O' Leary (Prep. 3)
eight-sided building (onl y fi ve stand
today). The monks washed themselves
there after their day's work. We had a
lovely picnic there that we just managed THE PLAY
to finish before the rain came and drove
us back into the bus. A week before Holy Week Prep 3 acted
Next stop was Monasterboice with its out fi ve pl ays in preparation for Easter.
hi gh cross and round towers. The high These pl ays were based on the Passion,
crosses have beautiful detail ed carvings, death and resurrecti on of Jesus Christ.
depicting stories from the Old and New Everybody had at least one part to play.
Testament. We took some photographs We practi sed di ligentl y, week after week.
just before the rain forced us back into supervised by our teacher, Mrs Egan and
the bus. We had a lovely trip home via at last the big day arrived.
hi stori cal Slane. At nine fo rty on the sixth of April an
All our class would like to thank Mrs excited class of boys began to don their
O 'Quigley, Mrs Brady and Mrs Kevans costumes. At last the bi g moment
for helping us, and of course especially arrived. First Father Brennan ex pl ain ed
Mrs Crosbie for organising it all. to the waiting audience what was about
Sean O'Quigley (Prep. 2) to be presented and Robert Kennedy gave
a brief introducti on to set the scene.
Our pl ays were very well received and
SAVING THE ZOO Mr McNeli s praised us all . We felt very
proud and enj oyed the pl ays very much,
It was the beginning of March when we particularly since it gave us a greater
learnt that the Zoo might be closed. The understanding of the meaning of Easter.
majority of the boys in Prep. 3 felt that
this would be a great loss to the city of Simon Matthews (Prep. 3)
85
Ireland and the centre of government. save the Zoo.
None of th ancient building stands Firstl y we began to raise money.
toda but one can ee th circular earth Everybody sacri ficed their pocket money
bank of the fo rts. and their lunch money while various
F rom T ara we moved o nto other schemes were undertaken. Some
Ne\ grange. Newgrange was more boys coll ected money in the car park.
intere ting a there wa more to see. While others sold raffle ti ckets and did
Newgrange i a pas age grave built of sponsored cycles. Altogether we raised
tone around 3000 B.C. To walk through £343, whic h we made into a cheque and
the pa age we had to bend down a it sent away to Peter Wilson, the Director
is ery low. The guide turned off the of the Zoo.
lights and turned on a spotlight to show Secondl y, we each wrote a letter to the
us what it i like on 21 December. when Taoiseach, Mr Haughey. In fo ur letters
the sun shines down the pas age into the we set out the reasons why the Zoo
burial chamber. should not be closed. We stated that the
Next we went to Old Mellifont Abbey Zoo should be kept open fo r educational
which was the favourite of the majority purposes, fo r tourism, for employment
of the class. Although now in ruins it was and for conservation of endangered
easy to imagine how fine the Abbey spec1es.
woul d have looked in it s heyday. To be We got acknowledgement s fr om th e
seen in the Abbey are beautifully carved Taoiseach and Mr Wilson, and, happily,
stone windows and doorways. One of the the Zoo is still open (and so is Dail
most striking buildings was the Lavabo Eireann! ).
which originall y would have been an Daibhi O' Leary (Prep. 3)
eight-sided building (onl y fi ve stand
today). The monks washed themselves
there after their day's work. We had a
lovely picnic there that we just managed THE PLAY
to finish before the rain came and drove
us back into the bus. A week before Holy Week Prep 3 acted
Next stop was Monasterboice with its out fi ve pl ays in preparation for Easter.
hi gh cross and round towers. The high These pl ays were based on the Passion,
crosses have beautiful detail ed carvings, death and resurrecti on of Jesus Christ.
depicting stories from the Old and New Everybody had at least one part to play.
Testament. We took some photographs We practi sed di ligentl y, week after week.
just before the rain forced us back into supervised by our teacher, Mrs Egan and
the bus. We had a lovely trip home via at last the big day arrived.
hi stori cal Slane. At nine fo rty on the sixth of April an
All our class would like to thank Mrs excited class of boys began to don their
O 'Quigley, Mrs Brady and Mrs Kevans costumes. At last the bi g moment
for helping us, and of course especially arrived. First Father Brennan ex pl ain ed
Mrs Crosbie for organising it all. to the waiting audience what was about
Sean O'Quigley (Prep. 2) to be presented and Robert Kennedy gave
a brief introducti on to set the scene.
Our pl ays were very well received and
SAVING THE ZOO Mr McNeli s praised us all . We felt very
proud and enj oyed the pl ays very much,
It was the beginning of March when we particularly since it gave us a greater
learnt that the Zoo might be closed. The understanding of the meaning of Easter.
majority of the boys in Prep. 3 felt that
this would be a great loss to the city of Simon Matthews (Prep. 3)
85
