Speech at the Centenary Celebrations of St. Louis High School
Rathmines, 6th May 2014
Míle buíochas daoibh as an gcuireadh agus as an fáilte a chuir sibh romham. Tá an-áthas orm a bheith anseo in bhur measc an maidin seo chun páirt a ghlacadh i bhur gceiliúradh ar 100 bliain de Ard Scoil San Lughaidh.
It gives me great pleasure to be here today to join you all in celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of St Louis High School in Rathmines. St Louis is a school that fosters and values initiative amongst its pupils, and I would therefore like to particularly thank Iseult Deane and Hazel Nolan for taking the decision to write to invite me to mark this important milestone in the life of the school. I also thank your Principal Mary Morgan for endorsing that invitation, and all of you for the warm welcome I have received here this morning.
Residents and workers in Rathmines, accustomed to the sight of large numbers of girls in St Louis uniform around the town, would be surprised to know that when the school first opened its doors in September 1913 it was to a roll call of just 36 pupils. Today the school has approximately six hundred students and operates in a very different Ireland from the one that existed on that Autumn morning a hundred years ago.
We were then a country still under British rule; a country that had not yet witnessed two seismic World Wars and, of course, an Easter Rising that would have a profound effect on the course of Irish history, changing us forever and setting us on the road to becoming an independent State.
Today we are a multi-cultural nation and active members of a global community. We have gained our own unique and individual voice globally and on the European stage while preserving our distinctiveness as a people.
While much remains to be achieved Ireland is a well educated society with the vast majority of pupils now remain in school until they have completed their Leaving Certificate. In addition, the number of students accessing and completing a higher education in Ireland has increased significantly in recent decades. The choice of courses available has also expanded greatly, offering a choice in higher education to a wider range of students than ever before.
In Northern Ireland we have emerged from thirty years of conflict and have laid the foundations for peace and reconciliation. We are, indeed, a country that has many achievements of which to be proud as we review our journey over the last one hundred years, and St Louis High School has played its own significant role in that journey.
Several generations of women have spent their formative years in this School and have gone on to make their mark in the worlds of business, public service, education, health, law and in so many other areas, in the process making enormously valuable contributions to our economy, our community life, and our progression as a society.
Many well known people have passed through St Louis’, and have acknowledged benefitting from the holistic education they received here and from an environment which encourages every girl to realise her possibilities and reach her full potential.
St Louis alumni are, of course, particularly well represented in the world of arts and culture, and past pupils include talented singers such as Mary and Frances Black; noted writers like Ann Enright, Ita Daly and Nessa O’Mahony, and performers such as Adele King and Irene McCoubrey – better known as Maxi and Twink. I know that the emphasis which the St Louis Sisters placed on the arts and performance continues today and is one of the factors for which this school is greatly renowned.
Indeed some of your students were chosen to create one of the panels for the tapestry commemorating the 1913 lockout and I am delighted you have been able to borrow it back today and allowed me the opportunity to view it again. It is, indeed, a very impressive piece of work and a great credit to the students involved.
Is méanar do mhic léinn Ardscoil San Lughaidh atá in ann leas a bhaint as scoil, agus as foireann thiomanta, a leanann de cur chuige iomlánaíoch maidir leis an oideachas a thugtar dá mac léinn, is córas trína ndéantar na gnéithe sóisialta, pearsanta agus acadúla den soláthar oideachais a cheangal le chéile mar aonad.
[The pupils of St Louis are very fortunate to benefit from a school and dedicated staff that continues to take a holistic approach to the education of its students, integrating the social, personal and academic aspects of educational provision.]
The wide range of extra-curricular activities supported by the school is impressive and includes, I believe, field trips, visits to galleries and museums, language oriented trips abroad, musical performances and participation in many competitive events which support and enhance curricular learning.
Meanwhile, the strong focus on the care and support of all students and on providing a positive learning environment allows pupils to develop into well-rounded young people prepared to face life with confidence; a confidence that the values which they have embraced, and the skills and knowledge which they have acquired, will equip them well in building their future lives.
I was reading your website in advance of my visit here today, and was particularly struck by the description of a Past Pupils’ day in March, which was held as one of many events to mark this year of celebration at St Louis. I read that pupils from as far back as the 1940s attended, a great indicator of the genuine affection in which this school is held by so many of its former students.
I am sure many of those pupils were amazed at how very different the school they were visiting seemed to the one they remembered from many years ago. I have no doubt that they marvelled at the state of the art laboratories, the communications equipment, the arts and culture centre, the interactive whiteboards and the many other facilities which did not exist in their day.
But while noting the new facilities I am sure that they very quickly realised that at its very heart St Louis High School had not really changed and was still the same place that they remembered so fondly; and that the ethos and spirit of St Louis, embodied in your motto Ut Sint Unum”-“That we may be one” still guides the school today.
You too will leave this school and go out into the world to place your unique mark on your communities and societies. My wish for you is that, like the generations that have gone here before you, most of you will look back on your days in St Louis High School with great gratitude and affection. In years to come you may not remember all of the mathematical theorems that you learnt here, or the French verbs or the Irish poetry; but you will remember the friendships, the support and the security that came with knowing you were part of the St Louis family. Wherever you may find yourselves in the world in future years, you will always remain connected in a profound way to the people you share this hall with today; the people who have played such a significant part in your formative years and who will remain central to your memories of the place you will always think of as ‘your’ school.
In conclusion, I would like to thank you all once again for the great welcome I have received here today. I wish you well as you conclude your year of celebration and I wish each and every pupil here today every success and happiness in the future.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go leir.