Day of mixed emotions at Shanganamore NS

IT was a day of mixed emotions at Shanganamore NS on Saturday 13 June when the school and local community of Barrowhouse celebrated the opening of a new classroom and also bid a fond, but sad, farewell to much-loved retiring school principal Pauline Lawlor.

The honour of cutting the ribbon on the new ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) classroom went to local resident Billy Malone, who now holds the distinction of being the oldest former pupil of Barrowhouse NS, now known as Shanganamore NS.

The event also marked the retirement of a woman who has been principal for the past 17 years and is held in high esteem and respected by the pupils, staff and parents for her dedication and service to a thriving primary school.

Attending one of her last official functions as principal of the school, Ms Lawlor was delighted to be on hand to see the opening of the new ASD classroom and see all her work finally come to fruition.

Parish priest of Athy Fr Liam Rigney, who is also heading off to pastures new, was on hand to perform an official blessing of the new classroom.

A statement read out on behalf of Mrs Lawlor, the board of management, parents, teachers and staff of Shanganamore NS, said: ‘Huge thanks to everyone who helped out in any way to make the day such a great success.

‘To Ned, Rosie and Clare for all of their hard work maintaining the school and the grounds. To the parents and staff - Dave, Mary, Caroline, Lorraine, Barry, Denis, Nicola, Ms Meally and Ms Murphy - for coming together for the big clean the night before. To Ms Candy and the pupils for the beautiful mural in the new hallway. To Nicola Brennan and Liam Langton for organising the boards and photographs. To Ms Brophy, Ms Wall, Holly and pupils for decorating, creating slideshows and photo boards. 

'To Nicola and Pat for all of their organising for the event. To Ms Fenlon, Mr McGuinness, Tom and the school choir for their beautiful music and singing. To Fr Liam Rigney for his blessing and beautiful words. To the parents and staff who served the refreshments - Nollaig, Bríd, Caroline, Deirdre, Susan, Steph, Breda, Nicola, Ms Meally, Ms Fenlon and Ms Murphy. To Pat, the board of management, Mrs Lawlor, Róisín, Cara, Katie, Ella, Aine, Aoibheann, Clare, Ned, Carl, Matt, Billy, Lorcan and Mary Dunne for their beautiful words and presentations. To the stewards Billy, Arnie, Lorcan and John.

'To the parents, grandparents, neighbours, staff and Barrowhouse community for their generous donations of cakes and bakes. To Aine for making the magnificent cake. To Billy Malone for joining us to cut the ribbon on our new classrooms.

'And last, but not least, a huge thank you to each and every one who came along to celebrate with us.’

To see more photographs of this event, please see next week's Laois Nationalist, dated 23 June.