Events and Awards

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Current Events

Academic Year 2009-2010

Bower Best School in Connacht

The Bower was the best school at the Cross Country Connacht Finals last Thursday 11^th February at St. Mary’s College Galway.  The Bower minor, intermediate and senior teams finished in 1^st place.

The first event of the day was minor girls 1500 meters. The Burke twins, Michelle and Veronica ran an excellent race and finished in 5^th and 6^th respectively. Lauren Casey also ran a very strong race, finishing in 8^th place. The other team members consisting of Karen Pillon , Blaithin Flemming and Anna Murray also ran well.  Hannah Casey was unable to participate due to injury. 

Best for the Junior team were Caoimhe Curran and Meadhbh Hurst. Meadhbh is a national triathlete who will be competing in Athlone this July in the European Triathlon Championships.

Next up was the intermediate 3000 meters. This can be a long and grueling race. However Sive Brassil showed what an excellent athlete she is, finishing second in impressive style.  Kate Burke was also very impressive, finishing in 6^th place.  Lorna Payne was very pleased with 12^th place as was Mary Walsh who finished 15^th place.

The last event was Senior girls 2000 meters. The Bower finished in 1^st place, despite the fact that they were missing Aislinn Hurley due to illness.  Maeve Brassil was 2^nd, Naomi Mullins 3^rd, Mary Catherine Walsh 5^th and Clare Burke 6^th.

This was an excellent team performance. The Brassil sisters, Maeve and Sive and Naomi Mullins have represented Ireland many times in the Triathlon, Tetrathlon and Pentathlon events. Best of luck to all Bower athletes who will be competing in the All Irelands at Cork Institute of Technology on Saturday 13^th March.

 All Ireland swimming success

The Bower had a very successful weekend at the All Ireland Schools Swimming Championships which were held at the Gus Healy swimming pool in Douglas, Cork on the 13^th and 14^th of February.

The Bower junior relay team which consisted of Caitlin Dully, Olwyn Sheridan, Niamh McNamara and Meadhbh Hurst won gold in the freestyle relay and silver in the medley relay.

The Bower senior relay team which consisted of Emma Fahey, Naomi Mullins, Eimear Corry and Aoife Corry won gold in both the freestyle and medley relays.

Emma Fahey has been selected yet again to represent Ireland. This is a great honour for Emma, her family and her school. Emma will be representing Ireland in the W.I.S.E. (Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England) Swimming Championships in Scotland on March 20^th

^{Young Writers}

^{Congratulations to Sinead Kilgarriff, Ty, and Aisling Kenny, 3rd yr who have had their short stories published recently in  the Westmeath Independent.}

^{World Maths Day}

^{On Wed March 3rd the students of OLB will be pitting their wits against mathematicians from all corners of the world as part of World Maths Day. good luck girls!}

Every Little Helps – Bower Girls Do Their Bit for Haiti

On February 12^th, one month to the day after the Haitian earthquake, the students of 2U presented   Sr Maria Hawkes with a wheelbarrow full of brown coins to the value of €1,562.

Sr. Maria is a sister in the LSU order who had been living in the Bower convent before heading off to Haiti last September to work in the LSU run Nutrition/Education centre on the island. On a visit to the school, she explained to the girls what it had been like to live through the earthquake and why she is determined to return to Haiti after a period of rest.

The brown coins, which are of very little value to us and are often thrown away like rubbish, will mean everything to the Haitian children at the LSU projects when converted to Haitian dollars.  Three empty water dispensers were used to collect the coins in the school and families and friends willingly parted with long hoarded coins to realise the surprising amount of €1,562. Prizes were awarded to those who guessed the amount of coins in one dispenser, with Sarah Lough coming very close to the final figure.

The students and Sr. Maria would like to thank all who contributed and the Bower girls have pledged to help the Haitian victims on a long term basis. Already they have several fundraising ventures in the pipeline!

Karate Kid

Congrats and best wishes to Katie Connolly in 5^th year who will be representing Ireland in this sport in Holland in March.

A Midsummer’sNight's Dream

 Harry Smith has put together a modern version of this Shakespearean play to be the Bower entry in this year’s Briery Gap drama competition. The regional finals take place in Mullingar on Wed 27^th Jan and the girls from Transition are hoping to go all the way. The Bower were national winners in this competition in 2003.

How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?

Find out at this year’s Transition show – The Sound of Music! Harry Smith and Ms Hopkins have put together a fantastic show, with everything from nuns to nazis! Tickets are on sale at the school and the show will run from the 2^nd to the 4^th Feb.

Gold for Bower Swim Team at Connacht Schools Finals

The swim team of Emma Fahy, Aine Mooney, Orla Mooney, Eimear Corry, Niamh McNamara, Caitlin Dully, Olwyn Sheridan and Maebh Hurst had a very successful outing at the Connacht Schools Championships in Leisureland recently. Both relay teams won gold in the 4x50 metre freestyle events and silver in the 4x50 metre medley events. In the individual events team captain and Irish International Emma Fahy won gold, while first years Niamh and Maebh won silver. The girls will compete in the National Finals in February, in the Douglas pool in Cork. Good luck to all!

Hockey News

Congrats to the 1^st year hockey team who drew with old rivals, the Jez, in their first outing for the Bower. Well done also to the 2^nd years. The A team beat the Jez 6-0, while the B team won 1-0 against Taylor’s! No wonder Gudge is a happy camper!

Young Scientists

Congrats to all our students who represented the Bower so impressively at this year's BT Young Scientist competition. Special mention must go to 2nd year Mairin Ryan who was awarded first place in her category for her project on the physics of the musical saw. She not only wowed the judges - Mairin was a hit with the media too, appearing in the Irish Independent, the Irish Times and on the Late Late Show on Jan 15th. 

Sports Update

Basketball

We started the year with a very successful senior campaign, winning the Midland League and qualifying for the All-Ireland play-offs in January. Unfortunately the cadet team were not so lucky, but we can look forward to the 1^st and 2^nd year season which kicks off after Christmas.

Gaelic Football

 Both junior and senior teams had a great start to the season, the juniors beating Rochfordbridge and the seniors having a convincing win against Athlone Community College. Games against Moate and Ballymahon have been postponed due to adverse weather conditions, while the seniors are awaiting the green light to play Kilbeggan and St. Finians. The U-14 season will get underway soon, weather permittin

Equestrian News

The Bower team performed very well at the Inter- Schools Showjumping at Mullingar Equestrian Centre. In the team Open Event, Niamh Ganly, Aoife Cuffe, Caoimhe Moore and Caroline Moore finished in sixth place. Third year Caoimhe Moore was fifth in the Open Individual while first year Leila Oakman won gold in the Novice Individual. Well done girls

Camogie

Transition year student Aideen Burke is the recipient of the Clare Sports Star award for camogie. Maith Thu!

Hockey

In the Heskin Cup our senior team lost to the Jez, won against Sligo Grammar and drew against Salerno. Unfortunately they were knocked out on points difference. This team also played in the Costello Cup, coming third in the league with the play-offs after Christmas.

The senior B team did well in the Ward Cup winning three games but did not qualify for the finals.

The junior A team reached the semi-finals of the Lupton Cup but lost to the Jez by one goal. This outstanding team should do very well next year.

The junior B also showed great promise in the Hanley Shield only losing in the semi-final in extra time because of a last minute goal.

First and second year teams will be in action in the new year.

Trinity Entrance Exhibition Scholarships

Congratulations to the four Bower girls who were awarded Entrance Exhibition Scholarships to Trinity College, based on their results in the 2009 leaving Cert. Lisa Boland, Patricia Harkins, Lara Cassidy and Christine Mimnagh-Fleming all scored more than 560 points in their final exam.

Golden Girls

Good luck to the three Golden girls from Coosan in the All Ireland Talent Show, especially Bower girls Cliodhna and Shauna.

Swimming Stars

AIT Science Quiz

Congrats to the Bower team of Sadhbh Lee, Megan McNicholas and Maria Lough who finished in 3^rd place in the recent Science Week quiz in Athlone IT. The girls qualify for the national finals to be held in Trinity College.

Science Olympians

Congrats to Teresa Carty, Patricia McDonnell, Katie Lynam and Sinead Kilgarriff who have been chosen to train for the Science Olympics based on their Junior Cert results. They all scored grade A on a higher level paper in maths and science.

BT Young Scientist

The following students and projects have qualified for the Young Scientist Exhibition which will be held from 13^th – 16^th January in the RDS Dublin:

Dearbhla O’Dwyer  & Nessa Hunt   - The Sound of Study

Sive Brassil, Saidhb Hurley& Molly Keane – Decline in Mass Attendance of Young Catholics

Bronte Fitzmaurice & Megan Hanlon – The Power of Dance

Kate Scully, Bronagh Gallagher& Lorna Payne – Is taste in Music related to Personality?

Eileen Reidy – A photographic Study of the Life Cycle of the Cabbage White Butterfly

Mairin Ryan – The physics of the Musical Saw

Rotary Youth Leadership

Prism Maths Competition

Principal Sr Denise O’Brien presented the Bower  winners of the PRISM maths competition with their prizes.  Jessica Rogers and Caoimhe Curran from second year were the joint top scorers at junior level, while Aideen Burke came out on top at senior level.

College Ste Clotilde

Bon Vogage to the 20 French students and their 2 teachers from our sister school in Douai in northern France. The group are travelling home today, 13th Oct after a busy week in Ireland during which they stayed with Irish families in Athlone.They visited Clonmacnoise, Lough Key Forest  Park and all the major attractions in Dublin. The group also climbed Knocknarea in Sligo, had a guided visit of Athlone town and learned Irish dancing. The last event was a barbecue in Wallesch's in Killinure. Many thanks to parents, teachers, Bower students and all who helped make the exchange a success. The Irish girls travel to Douai in May. 

Youth Olympics Qualifiers

Soccer News

Congrats to 5^th year student Jenny Byrne who has been selected for the Irish U-17 soccer team.

Cross Country

Leaving Cert Results Aug 09

Congratulations to all our Leaving Cert students who did so well in this year’s exam, particularly top students Elaine Houlihan and Lisa Boland, who scored an impressive 580 points each.

Junior Cert Results 09

Congratulations to all of last year’s third years but in particular to the following outstanding students:

Sinead Kilgarriff who received 11As

Patricia McDonnell, Saibh Hurley and Katie Lynam who each scored 10As

Alison Fagan and Teresa Carty who were awarded 9As each.

Well done to all!

European Athletics Championships

Congrats to 6^th year student Caoimhe King who represented Ireland in the triple jump and relay at this year’s championships held in Finland. Caoimhe won a bronze medal for the relay. Caoimhe joins the growing list of Bower girls who have represented Ireland in their chosen sport.

Michelle off to Stockholm

Talented 5^th year Michelle Doyle has just been announced as a winner in the Development Youth Prize with her poster on gender equality. She will compete in the next stage of the competition in Stockholm, Sweden, from the 21-23 October during the European Development days, along with a student from Loreto in Dalkey. One of the girls will be chosen to represent Ireland in the final workshops in Africa.

Write Up My Street

Bower Awards 2008-2009

Bank of Ireland Student of the Year

  Kim Lynam& Sandra Danaityte

School Spirit Award

Aisling Doolan

Nicola Ward Trophy for 1^st Year Public Speaking

Katie McClean

Certificate of Merit Texaco Art Competition

  Sarah Kilmartin

Alison Hamilton

Melissa Kalnberzina

Grand Prix Francais

  1^st  Inez Flynn

2^nd  Christine Mimnagh Fleming

3^rd  Georgina Fagan

4^th  Rosemary Salaja

Soroptomist  All-Ireland Public Speaking Champion

  Rebecca Sheeran

Full Attendance for Six Years 

Rosemary Salaja

Gaisce – The President’s Award

13 fifth years and 11 transition year students were presented with their medals:

Denise Dunne

Maeve Cooney

Caoimhe King

Caoimhe Greene

Erhuvwou Agnanobi

Maria Campbell

Aoife Cunningham

Helen Hughes

Sadhbh Lee

Robyn Marren

Niamh Ní Catháin

Laura Piggott

Sinead F Carey

Amy Duignan

Aoife Dolan

Cliodhna Daly

Lynn Fitzsimons

Rachel Bleach

Laura Dunning

Aoife O’Flaherty

Hazel Doolan

Mary Casey

Michelle Doyle

Sinead O’Brien

Sports Awards

Gaelic Football

 Football Player of the Year

 Samantha Maguire – well named!

Leinster Champions 2009

 The Bower Senior Football Team

 U-14 Football Super Sevens Winners

 1^st Year Gaelic Team

 Gaelic Football Coaching and Refereeing Course

22 transition students were involved in these courses and in promoting the sport in primary schools

Hockey

 Hockey Players of the Year

 Georgina Fagan and Elaine Houlihan

 Connacht Finalists 2009

 The 1^st year A team in the Blackmore Cup

The 1^st year B team in the Cahill Cup

 Swimming

 Boland Cup for Swimming

 Helen Kearney

 Special Merit Award for International Swimming Career

 Lisa Boland

 Double Gold Medallists All-Ireland Schools’ Finals- Senior Relay Team

 Aoife Corry

Emma Fahy

Naoimi Mullins

Eimear Corry

 International Schools Swimmers

 Aoife Corry

Emma Fahy

  Basketball

Basketball Player of the Year

 Katlyn Parker

 Midland Regional Champions and 5^th in Ireland A Section

 1^st Year Basketball team

 Inter- Provincial Players U-14

 Jane Henshaw

Ashleigh Rose Coyle

Nicole Collison

Katie McClean

Athletics

Connacht Champions 2009

 Relay Gold Medallists:

 Niamh Ní Catháin

Caoimhe King

Aoife Cunningham

Kara Diffley

Aoibhin Egan

 Gold in Long Jump and 100m;

 Niamh Ní Catháin

 Silver Medallists;

 Aislinn Hurley

Maeve Brassil

All-Ireland Cross Country Finalists

 Kate Burke

Mary Walsh

Claire Burke

Sive Brassil

Maeve Brassil

Cliodhna Daly

Golf

Hole-in-One in School’s Competition

 Orlaith Reidy

Duck Derby

Congratulatons to the hardworking Parents' Association on another successful fundraising event. The funds raised will pay for study skills next year. The results of the duck race were as follows:

1st - Melita Quirke   2nd - Jennifer Mc Cormack  3rd - TJ Doyle  Seller's prize - Isabel Grey 

Westmeath Super Stars

Congratulations to the girls on the Bower senior relay team who have been chosen as the Westmeath Independent sports stars for February.Aoife Corry, Emma Fahy, Naoimi Mullins and Eimear Corry won gold in the senior freestyle relay and the senior medley relay at the Irish Schools' Championships 2009. Aoife and Emma also represented Ireland at the International Schools' gala in Swansea. 

International Film Festival

Good luck to Mr Keating and the cast of "Bionn Dha Insint ar Sceal" who are competing in Dublin today, 13th May. The winners will go forward to take part in the film festival in Treviso, Italy.

Fiddler on The Roof

Congratulations to Harry Smith, Mary Meany, Aisling Witters, Heather Flynn, Joe Duke, Grainne Moore, Terry Jackson, Paschal Gough,  and the Transition year cast and crew of "Fiddler"   on a wonderful show.

Athlone Community Radio.ie

Clar Gaeilge with students from Our Lady's Bower will be broadcast on Athlone Community Radio.ie on Sunday, 24th May at 5.30pm. 

Golf News

Congrats to TY student Amy Farrell who has just been selected for the Leinster U-18 golf team.

First Year Basketball

Well done to Paddy and the First Year basketball team who finished 5th overall in the All-Ireland A Premier League. A fantastic achievement since teams from the 32 counties competed. Four of the panel were selected for the inter-provincial U-14 panel: Nicole Collison and Jane Henshaw for Leinster and Ashleigh Rose Coyle and Katie McClean for Connacht. Well done girls!

Public Access to Law

Well done to the TY group who won 2 out of 3 cases in the PAL competition on the 25th April. Unfortunately they did not qualify for the national finals.

Sci-Fest Athlone

Congrats to the Bower students who scooped many of the prizes on offer at the AIT last Fri 24th April. They were:

Shauna Coffey - 1st junior Physical Sciences & 2nd overall

Mairin Ryan & Eileen Reidy - 2nd junior Physical Sciences & Best Display

Sinead O'Brien & Stephanie Reilly - 2nd intermediate Physical Sciences

Amy Duignan, Rachel Bleach & Kathy Spollen - 2nd intermediate Biological Sciences

Equestrian Matters

Congratulations to 3rd year Niamh Dooley who represented Ireland in a show-jumping competition near Paris on the 18th and 19th April. Niamh won the bronze medal in her first event and silver against the clock, missing out on a gold medal by a fraction of a second. a superb achievement!

Life Through the Lens

Well done to TY student Megan Connolly who won the Connacht senior category in a photography competition recently.

First Year Basketball Team through to Play-offs

Congrats to Paddy Mullally and the 1st Yr basketball team who won the Regional finals on Fri 20th March, beating Presentation Thurles by a huge margin.. They will compete in the All-Ireland finals on the May bank holiday weekend.

First Year Hockey Teams in Double Final

Congrats to Gudge and the first year hockey players who have reached the finals of the Blackmore and Cahill Cups, beating Salerno of Galway yesterday, 18th March.

T1 to Make and Star in Short Film for TG4

Congratulations to Mr Keating and the students of T1 whose film script "Bionn dha insint ar sceal" will be produced and directed by Cathal Watters for TG4. The short film, which will be shown on TG4 later this year, was one of four scripts submitted to the junior film competition from Our Lady's Bower. 

The completed film will compete at an awards ceremony in the Irish Film Centre for the opportunity to participate in the International Junior Film Festival in Treviso, Italy, which attracts entries from all over the world.

Hoodies take Bronze Medal!

Congrats to the Hoodies Company from Transition Year who were placed 3rd in the senior section of the Young Entrepreneurs competition last Friday, March 6th. They were Maeve Brassil, Ellen O'Beirn, Naoimi Cavanagh, Katie Connolly, Nessa Walsh and Alison Duffy.

Junior Gaelic team win Leinster Final

Congrats to Deirdre Slevin and the Junior Gaelic team who became Leinster Champions on Wed 4th March when they defeated St Mary's Naas 5-14 to 2-7. They come up against the Munster Champions on the 18th or 19th March. Good luck!

Business Brains

Congrats to last year's Junior Cert students (and their teachers) who were presented with certificates at Athlone Institute of Technology for achieving an A grade in their Business Studies exam:

Rachel Bleach, Maeve Brassil, jenny Byrne, Amy Duignan, Grainne Elliot, Emma Fahy, Claire Heavin, Sarah McGann, Hannah Moore, Ellen O'Beirn, Niamh O'Connor.  

Sports Update

Good luck to the Junior Gaelic team who will meet st Mary's Drogheda, in the Leinster semi-finals.Also to our athletes who will compete in the All-Ireland Cross Country Championships in Belfast.

Well done to the senior hockey team who played so well in the final of the Palmer Cup on the 10th Feb. Unfortunately they came up against a superior Jez team which boasted 5 international players!

Aoife and Emma are selected for Irish Swim Team

The Bower swim team excelled itself at the Irish Schools' Championships held last weekend,6th and 7th Feb, at the National Aquatic Centre.Aoife Corry was 3rd in the senior 100m freestyle while Emma Fahy was 2nd in the intermediate 100m freestyle. Both girls were selected for the Irish team for the international schools gala to be held in March. With their team mates Naoimi Mullins and Eimear Corry, they also won gold in the senior 200m freestyle and medley relays.An exceptional achievement for all concerned. The team would like to thank their coaches Johnny Powell and Linda O'Halloran from Athlone Swimming Club.

Bower student King of the Triple Jump

Fifth Year Caoimhe King is in consideration for the European Youth Olympics in Finland in July. The team of athletes will be decided after the All Ireland Schools Track and Field in Tullamore on Sat 30th May. Good luck Caoimhe! 

Over The Wall

Well done to the Transition Year drama group who reached the regional final of the Briery Gap Drama competition with their one-act play "Over the Wall". The play was directed by Harry Smith.

Young Scientist

Congratulations to Transition Year students Amy Duignan, Rachel Bleach and Kathy Spollen who were awarded a prize for their display at this year's Young Scientist Exhibition. They compared the vitamin C content of organic and non-organic fruit and veg.

Junior County Council

Congratulations to Lisa Gorry, 5th year, and Caoimhe Walshe, TY, who have been elected to the Westmeath Junior County Council

Senior Gaelic

Best Wishes to the senior Gaelic team who have reached the Leinster quarter finals..

The UCD High Achiever Awards are presented to first year students in the college who achieve 540 points or higher in their Leaving Certificate, in recognition of their exceptional academic accomplishment. This year four students from Our Lady’s Bower were presented with this award in Belfield on Friday, 21 November - Dairine Dolan, who is doing Actuarial and Financial Studies, Iseult Flynn, who is studying Biomedical Health and Life Science and Rachel Gallagher, who is studying Architecture in the college. The fourth recipient Grainne Ahern, already has a degree in Law from Trinity College and has returned to college to study Medicine

Trips

Transition Year  -  Forty-five  Transition years will go skiing in Austria at the end  of Jan

                              Forty-two students will visit Berlin and Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Feb

Second Years     -   Ms Olwill will lead an expedition to Venice and Lake Garda at the end of April  accompanied by ninety students!

English

All 3^rd year Higher Level students enjoyed their visit to see The Merchant of Venice in The Helix in Dublin in Nov

German

All senior German students went to the local cinema to see “Die Welle” in Nov

Religion

Third years have visited the Mosque in Dublin, Emmanuel House and Clonfert.

NUIG Oct 9

AIT Nov 14

Custume Barracks Nov 13

DCU Nov 21

TCD Dec 10

Held most Wed and Fri mornings in Lecture Room.

Held on Thurs 13 Nov and funded by the Parents Association

Jan 15 - UCAS closing date for Pharmacy

Jan 31 - Health Profession Admission Test for the University of Ulster

Feb 1 – Closing date for normal applications to the CAO

Feb 14 – Admission Test for undergraduate entry to Medecine

Bower Student Wins Rotary Leadership Award

Caoimhe Greene, a fifth year student in Our Lady’s Bower, won one of the three Youth Leadership Awards in a competition hosted by the Athlone Rotary Club in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel on the 19^th November.

The award is part of the Rotary’s leadership training programme for young people, emphasising leadership, citizenship and personal growth.

Caoimhe, along with two other young Irish students, will take part in a youth session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg following a visit to the Northern Assembly in Stormont early next year. Her debating skills and leadership experience ensured her success in the competition, which was organised by John Daly and hosted by Rotary president, Martin Egan.

Hockey News

Junior B has reached semi-finals of the Howley Shield

Junior A has reached semi-finals of the Griffin Cup

Senior A has reached semi-finals of the Costello Cup

Hockey Coaching

Thirteen Transition years have signed on for a hockey coaching course in Three Rock Rovers club in Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. On completing the course, they will be presented with a certificate from the Leinster Hockey Union.

Soroptimist Public Speaking

Our Lady’s Bower will be represented by Lisa Gorry and Maeve Cooney at the local final of the Soroptimist Public Speaking competition to be held in Athlone in Jan ’09. The two fifth years will be trying to emulate Rebecca Sheeran, winner of the All-Ireland final this year!

Helen and her teacher win trip to Africa!

Helen & Caoimhe Represent Ireland in Strasbourg

Congratulations to Bower student Ellen O’Beirn, who has been selected for the 2009 Irish European Union Science Olympiad and to fellow classmate Alison Duffy who has been selected to compete in the 2008 Irish Junior Science Olympiad.

The girls were chosen based on their outstanding results in the 2008 Junior Certificate, including As in Higher Level Science and Maths

This is the biggest year group ever with over 100 students, one whole new class formed; this is proving a great group for sports and good attitude. Welcome to all the new girls in the year.

The group is making the most of the chance to "taste" new sports such as rugby and fencing, as well as showing great interest in hockey, football and basketball.

Three new subjects have v been introduced: Tourism, Introduction to Psychology, and History- Holocaust.

AIB Build -a-Bank, manager Kathy Spollen and her staff are learning to be the money minders of the future.

Two entries in the BT Young Scientist competition are going ahead to Dublin in January.

Public Access to Law; going ahead with lots of interest, also competitors in the Young Social Innovators, Agri-Aware and Briery Gap One-act drama competitions. Young Entrepreneurs are busy marketing their new products and services for the competition in spring 09. Christmas market should be good this year.

All TY students currently out on work experience week one. We hope their employers will recover soon.

Huge effort by TY girls who fund-raised for Run For Life recently. The weekend was a major success, but this would not have been possible but for the the numerous young volunteers from TY classes at Our Lady’s Bower that helped with the bucket collections. Great stuff, girls! The next big fundraiser will be on Monday December 22^nd in Athlone Town Centre, where TY students will be organising the collection in aid of GOAL.

Gaisce The President’s Award has kicked off. In six months time they will have achieved a bronze medal, provided they carry out the challenges they have set for themselves. Go, girls!

St Hilda’s School: Bower girls help each week at swimming.

A First Aid course run by the Order of Malta is fully subscribed, and a second course will be offered in December.

During this term, there will be two workshops arranged, starting with Style and Personal Presentation and Songschool

TY’S big day out is on 16^th December, ice-skating in the RDS and visiting Dublin

The TYs will be planning and compering the annual First Year Talent Show on Friday 19^th December

Two school trips this year, the ski trip in January, and for those who prefer big cities, and especially the students of German, the Berlin tour in February.

Lots of students are opting to learn French in France, taking the opportunity of TY to spend time in a French school. Bonne Chance!

 

 

 

Click here to view some Arts Week photos.

Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations!

To the senior tennis team who won the Connacht Finals on 21^st May:  Elaine Houlihan, Christine Mimnagh-Fleming, Doreen Macken and Jennifer Walsh.

 To the Parents’Association on yet another successful Duck Derby which has raised over €11,000 for school development. The winning ducks belonged to:

            Rachel Maher €1,000

            Sarah Devery €600

            Mary Browne €400

Many others won vouchers kindly donated by local businesses.

To the ten finalists in the First Year Public Speaking Competition which was held on 15^th May in the school hall. After a very entertaining evening Eadaoin Daly from Kilbeggan was awarded the Nicola Ward Trophy for her speech entitled “ A journey of  1,000 miles begins with a single step”. Grainne Kelly from Moate was awarded second place with her funny take on “Men”. Deirdre Campbell came third with “Its tough being a teenager” while Ellen O’Rourke came fourth with her speech on the media. Well done to Mr Higgins and Ms Quirke who organise the event which has been up and running for 20 years!

To the athletes who qualified for the All-Ireland – Caoimhe King, Aoife King, Maeve Brassil, Sive Brassil, Naomi Mullins, Claire Burke and Rebecca Freyne. Special congrats to Caoimhe who set a new Connacht record in the Triple Jump

Don’t miss ……

.. the first ever event to be held in the new gym on Tuesday 20^th May. Creative Couture will feature the intriguingly inventive work of the Transition year students while entertainment will be provided by talented students from the school. Tickets can be bought by contacting the office.

Bower Girls win Trocaire Prize at YSI Awards

A team of Transition students from Our Lady’s Bower has been awarded the Trocaire One World prize at the Young Social Innovators final in the RDS recently. Their project “Fair Play” aimed to replace all footballs and basketballs used in schools with Fairtrade, ethically produced balls.

While researching the issue they were horrified to discover the injustice of paying a child in Asia 15c to make a ball for multi-national corporations to sell at €90. The girls visited all the schools in the local area and got a very positive response from principals.

The St. Francis football club are already using the Fairtrade footballs and have already re-ordered them for next year. The Bower girls are hoping that other clubs and sporting suppliers will change over too.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS ON THEIR RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS 2008

Kara Diffley
County Winner of the ‘Erratic Rock’ Competition Sponsored by Geological Association of Ireland.

 
Rachel Gallagher, Marcella O Reilly, Dairine Dolan, Ciara Rigney
3^rd Place in the Midlands Branch Team Maths Competition 2008

Christine Mimnagh-Flemming
Shortlisted for EIL Travel Award

Anna O’Flynn, Jennifer Walsh, Robyn Marren, Caoimhe Greene, Laura Piggott, Maeve Cooney
2^nd  in the senior category of the Young Entrepeneurs 2008 Awards with ‘Threads of Hope’

Sarah McKeagney, Lisa Gorry, Laura Piggott, Katie Dunne
Gold and Silver Medal Winners
Leinster School of Speech & Drama

Helen Hughes
1^st Place in National Court Artist Competition in the Four Courts.

PAL 2008
Congratulations to the Transition team of barristers, solicitors, witnesses, jury, court artist and legal reporter who won 2^nd place nationally in the All-Ireland Public Access to Law competition held on Saturday 3^rd May in the Four Courts in Dublin.

SCIFEST 2008
A fantastic day of fun and science as 28 first years exhibited their projects in this science competition organised by Athlone Institute of Technology on May 1^st. The prize-winners were:

Michaela Barrington &Sinead McDermott with “Red Hair- Dead or Dead Cool?”
Emma & Alison Fagan, Annette Benson with “Happy Feet”
Shannon Slevin, Tara Wade & Denise Devery with “Ring, Ring, Bugs Alert”

 RECENT SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

Caoimhe King
Winner of Scottish and Irish National Athletics titles 2008

Jessica McMickan
Selected for the Irish U-18 Hockey Team 2008

Naomi Mullins, Emma Fahy, Jacqueline Mooney, Aoife Corry
Irish Schools Gold Medallists:
Senior Freestyle Relay
New Irish Schools Record.

Áine Mooney Naomi Mullins,Emma Fahy, Aoife Corry
Irish Schools Silver Medallists: Intermediate Medley Relay

Jacqueline Mooney & Aoife Corry
Selected for International Schools Swimming Team.

1^st Year Basketball Team
All Ireland Finalists

Cadette Basketball Team
Regional Finalists

Annette Benson & Katie Rock
Selected for Midland Basketball U-14 Team

Ciara Malone
Selected for Irish Karate Team

Sive Brassil, Maeve Brassil, Claire Burke, Rachel Bleach, Naomi Mullins,Ellen O Beirn, Lorna Payne, Mary Catherine Walsh
All Ireland Junior Cross Country Finalists

Shannon Barrett & Dearbhail Ní Chatháin
Chosen to participate in Hockey Olympic Development Squad

Katie Rock
Roscommon U14 Gaelic Footballers

Georgina Fagan
Westmeath Senior Gaelic footballer

Laura Brennan
Westmeath Minor Gaelic footballer

Jennifer Byrne, Maeve Flynn, Vicki McEnery
Midlands Soccer Players

Orla Donnellan
Rowing Head of the Shannon Cox for Junior-16 8

Rebecca Frayne
Selected for Irish Horse Riding Teem

Rebecca Wins National Public Speaking Final

Rebecca Sheeran, a 5th year pupil of Our Lady's Bower, has won the national final of a public speaking competition, organised by The Soroptimist Clubs of Ireland. The final, held in the Radisson Hotel, Cork Airport on Saturday, March 8th, was attended by contestants from throughout the Republic of Ireland and club members.

Rebecca - speaking on the topic "Men and Women - Equal at Last!!" - progressed through the local and regional stages to national finals. She will join the winner from Northern Ireland at the annual AGM of Soroptimists Ireland for their convention in Bray in May, when she will again present her speech. 

The contest included an impromptu speech of two minutes preparation on "Leisure". Rebecca's prize was a trip to Brussels, accompanied by other finalists.

Bower Swim Team take Gold and Silver

The swimming team from Our Lady’s Bower had a very successful weekend at the All-Ireland Swimming Championships held at the Leisureland pool in Galway on the 2^nd and 3^rd February. The senior freestyle relay team of Jacqueline Mooney, Aoife Corry, Emma Fahey and Naomi Mullins won gold, setting a new Irish record. The Intermediate medley relay team – Naomi Mullins, Emma Fahey, Aine Mooney and Aoife Corry- swam strongly to take silver. In recognition of their talent, Jacqueline Mooney and Aoife Corry were selected to represent Ireland in the International Schools finals in England on the 8^th March. This will be Westmeath Sportstar Jacqueline’s 4^th school cap and young Aoife’s 3^rd.

Bower Athlete wins Scottish and Irish National Title

Caoimhe King, a transition year student at Our Lady’s Bower, continued her recent winning streak at the Scottish Athletics Indoor Championships held last weekend in Glasgow. Caoimhe came first in the Triple Jump and third in the High Jump clearing 1 metre 65.  She won equivalent titles in the Woodies DIY Junior Championships in Nenagh recently, and won bronze in the Triple Jump with a jump of 11 metres 42 at the British National Championships held two weeks ago in Birmingham.

 This is an outstanding achievement for a very talented athlete who is very quick to attribute her success to the commitment of her coaches. At weekends Caoimhe is coached by Ernie Deacy of Westport AC, while during the week, she trains at the Athlone Institute of Technology with Sandra Ui Cathain and Mary Burgoyne of Roscommon AC .

Caoimhe is currently in training for the Connacht Championships which will take place in three weeks time, and ultimately for the last event of the indoor season, the All-Ireland Juvenile Championships two weeks later. 

School Musical

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The cast of  “The Mikado” which has just finished a very successful run at Our Lady’s Bower. The musical was directed by Harry Smith.

Young Scientist 2008

Three projects have been accepted for the BT Young Scientist Exhibition in the RDS in January. Maeve Cooney, Laura Piggott and Robyn Marren will look into how boarding school has influenced lives in their project “A boarder’s life for me?” The different ways in which we learn inspired Anna O’Flynn, Emma Spain and Iqra Khanam to present “Feel, see, hear...How do you learn?”  while Aoife Corry, Aine Devane and Caoimhe MacNeice will study how the wavelength of light affects the growth of a typical monocot plant.

UCD High Achievers 2007

Congratulations to Suzanne Naughton, Rachel Harney and Doireann Barnicle who have been confirmed among the college’s list of High Achievers for 2007. These are students who are currently in first year in UCD and who scored over 540 points in their Leaving Cert. Suzanne is studying Veterinary Medicine, Doireann, Physiotherapy and Rachel, Structural Engineering with Architecture.

Parents Association Bursaries 2007

Our Lady’s Bower past pupils Cathy McGrath and Kerrie O’Hanlon are the worthy recipients of the 2007 Parents’ Association bursaries. Cathy is studying Social Studies in Cork IT while Kerrie has chosen Legal Secretarial Studies in Athlone IT.

Transition Year

Transition Year students are currently doing an 18 hour certified  First Aid course, given by the Order of Malta.  Garda John Divilly visited the school recently to talk about drugs and alcohol abuse.

Sports Update

Fencing :        continues on Wednesday night

Cross- Country:  Bower athletes are the current All-Ireland junior champions

                        Also current minor champions

Basketball:            Senior team qualified for quarter final play-offs

Gaelic Football:          Senior team qualified for Leinster quarter finals

Hockey:             Senior team qualified for Connacht semi-finals

                        Andrea Sanchez selected for Spanish U-16 team

ISTA Science Quiz

Staying with science, a sixth year Bower team were narrowly pipped for third place in a tie-break with St. Mel’s of Longford at the annual ISTA (Irish Science Teachers’ Association) table quiz held in Athlone Institute of Technology on November 15^th.  The girls, Orla Hughes, Iseult Flynn and Caroline Monaghan were delighted to finish well ahead of the posse as over thirty teams participated in the popular event.

Science Olympians

Kara Diffley, Megan McNicholas and Sadhbh Lee, all Transition Year students in Our Lady’s Bower, who have been invited by DCU to participate in the Irish Junior Science Olympiad based on outstanding results in this subject in their Junior Certificate 2007.

Trinity Entrance Exhibition Scholarships

Congratulations to Catherine Bennett  who has been offered an entrance exhibition scholarship to Trinity College, Dublin based on outstanding results in her Leaving Certificate 2007. Catherine is a past pupil of Our Lady’s Bower.

Congratulations to Laura Mullaney who has been offered an entrance exhibition scholarship to Trinity College, Dublin based on outstanding results in her Leaving Certificate 2007. Laura is a past pupil of Our Lady’s Bower.

Congratulations to Evelyn Harkins who has been offered an entrance exhibition scholarship to Trinity College, Dublin based on outstanding results in her Leaving Certificate 2007. Evelyn is a past pupil of Our Lady’s Bower.

EU Forum on Public Speaking

On  Monday, November 19^th, Our Lady’s Bower was represented in the first round of the EU Forum on public speaking by Transition Year students Lisa Gorry, Caoimhe Greene and Maeve Cooney. The topic – “Cross-border crime, should the EU be doing more to prevent it?”.  Lisa spoke of the evils of drug trafficking while Maeve gave a lively speech on paedophilia, questioning how easy it is for paedophiles to ply their trade all over Europe. Caoimhe’s topic was the suffering caused by human trafficking.

With four other schools participating, competition was stiff but the Bower girls were announced as clear  winners by former FG TD Paul McGrath, chairman of the judging panel.  They go on to represent their county in the regional finals in Navan on 14^th December.

Maths Week

Transition Years took part in a maths table quiz. 1st prize winners were Saibh Lee, Megan McNicholas, Aine Devane and Aoife Corry. The 2nd prize went to Caoimhe Greene, Robyn Marren, Jennifer Walsh and Maeve Cooney. It was enjoyed by all!

Congratulations ladies!! Well done to all that took part!

The Prism maths competition was held for Junior and Senior students. We are eagerly awaiting the results.

Junior Cert Results

Congratulations to the girls of Junior Certificate 2007 who did so well in their exams. Sadhbh Lee, Kara Diffley, Sinead Carey, Kara Diffley and Maeve Cooney each received 11A's. According to the National Press, twelve students in the country achieved this outstanding result. 

A disco was held in the Rugby Club as a celebration and the night was enjoyed by all.  

Graduation Dance

The Graduation dance took place on Wednesday 29th August. A great night was had by all. 

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Scholarships

Experiment in International Living Scholarship Winner