School News

We were notified just before we broke for the Christmas Vacation that we are to have a Whole School Evaluation (WSE) before the end of the academic year. Now we have been informed that it fact it will take place the week starting the 23rd February. This is immediately after the mid-term break.

Ms. Erica Mulholland, our DEIS (Developing Equality of Opportunity in Schools) facilitator came in to the classrooms on Tuesday 20th January doing some Maths for Fun. The children loved it! Erica will be returning on three consecutive Thursday to do Writing Recovery Training with the individual members of staff.

The children in 5th and 6th class participated in the West Tallaght Credit Union Table Quiz on Friday 30th January. One of our teams came in 4th place. Well done!

Four children from 5th and 6th class went to a discussion forum on Wednesday 4th February, Callum Street, Anastasia Kychygina, Sarah McAllister and Seán Berry Cronin. This is organised by South Dublin County Council, Comhairle na nÓg and is a wonderful opportunity for children to have their voices heard.

The 5th and 6th class visit to Croke Park was a great success on Thursday 5th February, the workshop was on Setanta and it was great fun. The Irish rugby team had a training session but we weren’t allowed to watch!

School News, June '08

These will be the final notes for this school year as things are getting just a little hectic here!

At last the long awaited news has come from An Taisce, that we have been awarded our first Green Flag. We are really over-the-moon about it and very thankful to Ms. Edel McGlynn and the Green School Committee for all the hard work organising everything. Edel attended the presentation of the Green Flag ceremony on Friday 23rd May, three children from the Committee attended with Edel. Now we have to get the flag pole in situ and organise the flag-raising ceremony here!

On 23rd April the children in 3rd, 4th with Ms. Annette Boles and 5th and 6th class were part of a record-breaking attempt called The Big Lesson, children in 120 countries world-wide were taught the same lesson on Access to Education for all children in the world. Thank you to Mr. Charlie O’Connor TD who was our independent witness to the attempt on the day. It was successful!

The children from 5th and 6th class went to the Gallery of Photography in Temple Bar on Tuesday 13th May. The title of the exhibition was “What Remains”by Alison Locke and Chris Anderson.

On Monday 26th May the staff will be involved in training in the Maths programme used in DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) Schools Ready Set Maths.

Our School Tours start on Friday 6th June with Junior and Senior Infants and Edel going to the Lambert Puppet Theatre and the playgrounds in Dun Laoghaire and Blackrock. 5th and 6th class are going to Royal Breffni, an adventure centre on the borders of Meath and Cavan. 1st and 2nd class, with Ms. Caroline Rountree are going to Sealife in Bray and Tallaght Adventure World.
Annette with 3rd and 4th class is going to Lullymore, which is a Heritage Park with an adventure centre. 5th and 6th class will be going to Bushy Park to play tennis on full-sized courts on Thursday 12th June with their coach Ms. Carmel Brookes.

Sports Day will be on Friday 13th June and we hope to raise the Green Flag on that day also.

The long-awaited Arts Festival will be on from Monday 16th to Friday 20th June. Alternative Entertainments have given us a full programme of Film, Construction and Printing and various different genres of Music.

The end of year Service will be on Sunday 22nd June in St. Maelruain’s Parish Church.

The Art Exhibition will be on Tuesday 24th June from 11.30am to 12.30pm.

3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th class are going to Citywise on Wednesday 25th for a Sports Day.

6th class Graduation will be on Thursday 26th June.

Ms. Marion Hefferon, our Home/School/Community Liaison Co-ordinator has decided to go to pastures new from September. We really will miss her. Marion has been with us now for 8 years and has been an invaluable asset to our school. We wish her the very best of luck as she returns to her teaching career.

School will close for the summer vacation on Monday 30th June.

School News March 2008

The first event that the children were involved in since we came back to school was during Christian Unity week, when we attended the Ecumenical Service in St. Maelruain’s Church, in Tallaght village. The children from 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th class sang 2 songs and did a reading. This was a very worthwhile experience and the children sang beautifully.

It’s all systems go for Ms. Edel McGlynn and the Green School Committee. Edel has spent a huge amount of time putting together our “Application Folder,” well done to her. The children and parents on the committee are doing a great job too. We now have a Green Schools Code, selected by competition and written by Hannah Barrett.

“St. Maelruain’s School is green and cool
Recycle the waste without a trace
So go on give it a bash,
Take out the trash.”

Edel hopes to apply for our Green Flag before the 1st March deadline. Well done everybody, now watch this space!

This is the International Year of the Potato! Every school in the country has received a “Grow your own Potato” kit from Agri Aware; we planted our potatoes on Thursday 7th February at Assembly, they should be ready to harvest in June.

The 5th and 6th class “Bí Gnóthach” project is going very well. They have decided to do a Baking Project. They have called it “Baking Blasters.” Their slogan is “Baking Blasters, faster than light, we make ‘em just right.” They are doing a great job so far!

The children in 1st and 2nd class with their teacher, Ms. Caroline Rountree are going to the Civic Theatre on Friday 29th February to a production of “The Bus” by Maeve Ingoldsby and Philip Hardy. The theatre is within walking distance.

A football team coached by Ms. Karen Mooney, our secretary, took part in a Football Blitz event organised by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) in the National Basketball Arena on Friday 8th February. Great fun was had by all. The team were given t-shirts and medals for participating.

School News - Oct-Nov '07

We are delighted to be able to tell you that we have appointed our new part-time Learning Support Teacher, Ms. Maree MacGuinness.

The Food Dudes Healthy Eating Programme is going down very well, the majority of the children are actually eating both the fruit and vegetables. The rewards are really “cool!”

We had our Harvest Assembly on Thursday 27th September. The children brought in lots of provisions which Rev. William Deverell brought to the Simon Community.

The children from 5th and 6th class went to the European Commission on Friday 28th September. It was a very interesting field-trip and they got lots of information for their projects. We went by LUAS which is a great asset to our school, we take it as much as possible when getting out-and-about.

The Start of Year Service, in Christ Church Cathedral, was very popular this year, most of the senior class attended.

Ms. Edel McGlynn and Ms. Geraldine Healy, Special Needs Assistant (SNA), will take the children from Junior and Senior Infants to Seán Walsh Park on Thursday 18th October for a Nature Walk. Let’s hope the good weather continues.

Once again the children from 3rd to 6th class have been invited to participate in the GAA Cross-country inter-schools event in Valleymount, Blessington on Thursday 25th October. Last year we were washed-out, surely it couldn’t happen again this year!

On Friday 9th November, 5th and 6th class will be going to the Planetarium in Armagh, this is always a great field-trip and the show helps them to really appreciate the skies above them.

Creche

We would like to thank all those who helped to staff the Sunday morning Creche during the year. Although members using this facility vary from week to week, it is important to be able to offer parents the choice of bringing their small children to the service of having somewhere safe and warm where they can be entertained until the service has finished. So a big thank you to our small band of willing helpers.

Extra volunteers are always welcome. The Creche, which caters for babies and children up to four years of age is based in the Kitchen of the parish Centre. It needs to be staffed by two people form 10.45am until the end of the service. A list is available in the Church porch for anyone who would like to help.For parents who like to have their children join them for Sunday worship soft toys, books and colouring sheets are available in the Church porch and we would also like to thank those who recently donated extra toys for this purpose. Again this is very much appreciated by children and parents.

Repair Fund Appeal

We are very proud that our church and the adjoining tower are an important part of the heritage of Tallaght. There was a monastery in this place from the ninth to the twelfth century. The tower dates from the Middle Ages and the present church was built in 1829, designed by the noted architect, John Semple. While the principal purpose is the worship of Almighty God, we try to make the building a focal point for the community. The graveyard is the burial place for very many Tallaght families. The church is a venue for concerts of classical music and is used by the Institute of Technology for the awarding of their business prizes. The parish hall is used as a drop-in centre for refugees and for other voluntary groups.


Such a rich heritage brings with it the obligation of stewardship for future generations. We have recently had to carry out extensive essential repairs to protect the fabric of the chuch and tower. These were executed by Skyline Ltd., under the supervision of architect, Stuart Hamilton, and the Conservation Officer of South Dublin County Council. We were very pleased to be awarded the Environmental Award in the Tallaght Person of the Year ceremony for this work. The graveyard with its mature trees is a green oasis in the heart of Tallaght.

The total cost of the work was € 83,000. We received a grant of € 25,000 from South Dublin County Council and a grant of € 10,000 from the Heritage Council. The remaining € 50,000 of the cost will have to be raised from our own small congregation and from well wishers in the community, people who value the ancient heritage of our area.

Will you help us to preserve this valuable part of the history of Tallaght?

All donations will be gratefully received and acknowledged.

If you would like to know more about the church and the tower and the work which has been carried out, please contact:

Rev. William Deverell,

6 Sally Park, Firhouse Road, Dublin 24.

Tel: 01 462 1044

or

Ronnie Wallace,

32 Cypress Grove Road, Dublin 6W.

Tel: 01 490 3111

or

St. Maelruain's Parish Office,

Main Street, Tallaght, Dublin 24.

Tel: 01 462 6006

About Us

St Maelruain's Church, Tallaght, on the south-western outskirts of Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is built on an ancient Christian site with a long and distinctive history. Not long ago it was a small rural church. It is surrounded now by the shops, offices and the vast spread of new housing in this area. It stands as a symbol of eternal truths at the centre of the new town which is Tallaght.
St Maelruain's parish is a Parish of the Church of Ireland, a national church in communion with the world-wide Anglican Communion of churches. It is both reformed and catholic with a synodical form of government which involves laity, clergy and bishops in all decision making. We place a strong emphasis on the rights of the individual and individual conscience, encouraging all our members to come to a personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Combined with this we have a strong sense of the importance of the church as the visible Body of Christ in the world and we emphasise the need for loyalty to the church and the need for ordered and reverent liturgical worship.
We believe that our faith is something which prompts and motivates our concern for the community and our involvement in the world. We seek to be sensitive to the needs and aspirations of marginalised and minority groups in society and of individuals with intractable problems.

Early History

'The earliest notice we have of Taimhleacht, or Tallaght..., is in the account of the destruction of the colony of Parthalon by the first recorded plague or pestilence, related in The Annals of the Four Masters to have taken place in the year A.M. 2820. The entry by those annalists is "9,000 of Parthalon's people died in one week, on Sean-mhagh-Ealta-Edair, viz., 5,000 men and 4,000 women, whence is named Taimhleacht Mhuin-tire-Parthaloin, now called Tallaght, near Dublin." The word "Tamh" means an epidemic pestilence; and the term "Taimhleacht" ("the plague monument"), which frequently enters into topographical names in Ireland, signifies a place where a number of persons cut off by pestilence were interred together.' -- The History and Antiquities of Tallaght In The County of Dublin By William Domville Handcock, M.A. Dublin, 1899.
Christian worship has continued on this site for over twelve hundred years since the Celtic saint, Maelruain, founded a monastery here in the 8th Century. This monastery became an important centre of spiritual life: The Ceilí Dé (also known as Culdees, or the servants of God) had their headquarters here.
Three outstanding religious texts, "The Martyrology of Aengus", "The Martyrology of Tallaght" and "The Stowe Missal", were compiled here. The 'Rule of Tallaght' and the 'Teaching of Maelruain' reflect the spirit of the Ceilí Dé reform. All these manuscripts or copies may be seen in the Royal Irish Academy in Dawson Street.

The Rule of Tallaght
Drawn up by Maelruain for the Ceilí Dé of Tallaght, this document prescribed the time and manner of their prayers, fasts, and devotions, the frequency with which they ought to go to confession and the penances to be imposed for faults committed.

The Teaching of Maelruain
This book sets out in detail the prayers to be said in the Ceilí Dé monastery.

The Martyrology of Tallaght
A collaboration between St. Maelruain and St. Aengus, the Martyrology of Tallaght is a prose catalogue of Irish saints, and is the oldest of the Irish martyrologies. It was written about 790 A.D.

The Martyrology of Aengus
Also sometimes known as "The Feiliré of Aengus" or his "Calendar", this list of Saints was written in verse by Aengus possibly around 800. It was completed after the death of Maelruain when Aengus returned to Disert-beagh, Co. Laois.

After the Norman invasion [1179 A.D.] the parish of Tallaght was granted to the Archbishops of Dublin and they maintained a country house here and drew income from the estates until the early 19th century. The site of the present-day St. Mary's Priory is where the Episcopal Palace was found.

The tower of the present St. Maelruain's Church dates from the Medieval period, when it was part of the fortifications of The Pale, which seperated those subjects of the Crown within from the native Irish. Tallaght was often raided by the O'Toole and the O'Byrnes and the tower served as a watchpost to give warning against these raids.

Prior to 1829, St Maelruain's church was built up against the tower, which served (and still serves) as a belfry. This earlier church was replaced in 1829 by a design by John Semple, an architect responsible for several churches about Dublin. The similarities between his other designs and St. Maelruain's church are clearly visible. One difference is the lack of a "modern" belfry in the Tallaght church plan -- the original tower still serves. The new church was partly built of materials taken from the original structure.

(Below: More examples of John Semple church architecture)

Confirmation - 18th November

The Archbishop has given us the 18th November as the date for confirmation in St. Maelruain's. As present there is just one candidate who has come forward for confirmation. Please contact the Rector (462 1044 or 086 803 023) as soon as possible if you have a child who wishes to be confirmed, as due to lack of numbers the service may have to be cancelled.