Welcome to St. Rynagh's N.S. Banagher, Co. Offaly

Friday 26th June 2009

Friday last we celebrated our end of year graduation mass for sixth class. This was a very emotional day for us all as it was also a farewell mass for Mr. And Mrs. McGee and Mr. Madden. To mark this special occasion Bishop Colm O' Reilly came to celebrate the mass. There were speeches made by Fr. Pierre, Senator Joe O'Toole, Mary Gleeson ( Board of Management), Bishop Colm, Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann, Mr. Pat Moylan and Mr. Scully. All speakers highlighted the great work and dedication shown to this school by Mr and Mrs McGee over the years.

The choir sang some beautiful songs that were really suitable for the occasion. The medley of songs at the end included Banagher Town, My Way, Time of your Life, You'll Never walk Alone and Friends Forever.

Mr. And Mrs. McGee love gardening, so we presented them with a Japanese larch for their garden, a hamper of gardening tools and a garden centre voucher. After the ceremony we were all given ice-cream as a treat.

All the children of St. Rynagh's would like to wish our friends in last years sixth class all the best in secondary school. We want Mr. Madden to know that we appreciate all the time he spent coaching the hurling team and wish him the best for the future.

Finally we would like to thank Mr. And Mrs. McGee for all they have done for our school. We have been so lucky to have such a wonderful Principal and Vice- Principal for so many years. We wish them well in their retirement. They will be greatly missed by all the children in this school next year.

By Sinéad, Saoirse, Méabh and Eoin (5th Class)