Primary School Finalists

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The six Primary School Finalists, as well as Highly Commended and Commended schools, selected in the 2014 Waltons Music for Schools Competition. Schools are listed in alphabetical order, and Finalist school entry videos and profiles are below these.

Finalists

• Bunscoil Loreto, Gorey, Co. Wexford
• Gaelscoil Adhamhnáin, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal
• Gaelscoil an tSlí Dála, Ballaghmore, Co. Laois
• Gaelscoil Moshíológ, Gorey, Co. Wexford
• Knockanean National School, Ennis, Co. Clare
• Lisheen National School, Skibbereen, Co. Cork

Highly Commended

• Caherline National School, Caherline, Co. Limerick
• Crumlin National School, Tuam, Co. Galway
• Fenor National School, Fenor, Co. Waterford
• Our Lady Immaculate Senior School, Darndale, Dublin 17
• Scoil Mhuire na nAingeal, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
• Scoil Naomh Eltin, Kinsale, Co. Cork
• St. Joseph’s Boys National School, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
• St. Patrick’s National School, Craanford, Co. Wexford
• Templeglantine National School, Templeglantine, Co. Limerick

Commended

• Gaelscoil Thaobh na Coille, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin 18
• Inchicore National School, Dublin 10
• Mary Mother of Hope Junior National School, Dublin 15
• Rathmore National School, Rath, Co. Cork
• Scoil Iósaif Naofa, Oranmore, Co. Galway
• St. Brigid’s Girls National School, Dublin 5
• St. Laurence’s National School, Sallins, Co. Kildare
• St. Mary’s Primary School, Trim, Co. Meath
• St. Peter’s National School, Dublin 7

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Bunscoil Loreto
Gorey, Co. Wexford

Entry

Title ‘Pachelbel’s Friends’
Group Bunscoil Loreto Ensemble • 70 members, First – Sixth Class
• Niall Quillinan, Teacher/Conductor

About the School

Bunscoil Loreto (c. 600 students) has a thriving whole-school music programme in which children, teachers and parents are involved. All students learn tin whistle from Junior Infants and violin from Second Class, and there is a school choir, orchestra and grúpa ceoil. There is also a staff choir and traditional group, and teachers at Bunscoil Loreto are not only very involved in the school’s music programme but also in the wider community. Each year the school’s Parents Association purchases tin whistles for all Junior Infants, and they also purchased 60 violins in order to allow every student the opportunity to play. The school planned to use a Music for Schools prize to develop its instrument bank to allow students to take home instruments for practice, as well a rent-to-buy scheme to provide students from disadvantaged homes with the opportunity to own their own instruments.

Gaelscoil Adhamhnáin
Leitir Ceanainn, Co. Dhún na nGall

Entry

Title ‘Draíocht an Cheoil’ (Magic of Music)
Group Cór Gaelscoil Adhamhnáin • 80 members, Second – Sixth Class
• Sinéad Ní Dhomhnaill, Teacher/Conductor

About the School

Gaelscoil Adhamhnáin (c. 400 students) offers tin whistle tuition for the entire school, from First to Sixth Class, and the school also has both a choir and traditional group. Several traditional instruments are taught at the school by volunteers and regular sessions are held, while parents and the Regional Cultural Centre provide support. A fiddle course is provided for Fifth-Class students, with tuition fees contributed by the school and for which the Parents Association has purchased instruments. The school planned to use a Music for Schools prize to purchase a wider range of instruments and recording equipment, and to bring in external teachers to expand the students’ musical range.

Gaelscoil an tSlí Dála
Ballaghmore, Co. Laois

Entry

Title ‘Ceol Tradisúnta
Group Na hArd Rí • 17 members, Third – Sixth Class

About the School

Gaelscoil an tSlí Dála (c. 30 students) is a small two-teacher school that places a strong emphasis on Irish traditional music (its students play a wide range of traditional instruments). There is also a school choir, and students come together regularly for a traditional ensemble. The school provides tin whistle tuition, and Music Generation Laois provides harp tuition during school hours and has hired harps to the school. The school The school planned to use a Music for Schools prize to give every child the opportunity to learn an instrument in addition to the tin whistle and to purchase both a harp and set of uilleann pipes.

Gaelscoil Moshíológ
Guaire, Co. Loch Gorman

Entry

Title ‘Cuisle Moshíológ’
Group Ceoltóirí Óga Gaelscoil Moshíológ • 63 members, Junior Infants – Sixth Class
• Niamh O’Sullivan, Teacher/Conductor

About the School

Gaelscoil Moshíológ (c. 240 students) has a choir and offers tin whistle tuition to children from Third to Sixth Class, while after-school tuition, subsidised by the school’s Parents Association, is provided for a range of traditional instruments. In fact, parents involved in the after-school music classes have themselves formed a grúpa ceol. Parent fundraising has allowed the school to purchase several traditional instruments that are rented at low cost to students taking lessons. The choir from senior classes visits the local hospital and community day care centre annually. The school planned to use a Music for Schools prize to provide regular music workshops that expose children to various instruments, as well as to provide more opportunities for children currently unable to access tuition due to budget or time constraints.

Knockanean National School
Ennis, Co. Clare

Entry

Title ‘Trip to Fantasy on Board the Sally Gardens’
Group Knockanean Music Club • 56 members, Fifth – Sixth Class
• Joan Mc Namara, Teacher/Conductor

About the School

Knockanean National School (c. 270 students) has little curricular music tuition, but their thriving Music Club, open to students from Second to Sixth Class, is held once a week at lunchtime. The Music Club is based on their teacher’s philosophy of inclusivity, and students at all skill levels are encouraged to participate. The school uses the Brummitt-Taylor Music Listening Programme, which allows all students to listen to a different classical composition each week, and plans to develop a whole-school approach to music literacy that aims for all children finishing Sixth Class to be able to read staff notation and understand the language of music, whether or not they have taken formal music lessons.

Lisheen National School
Skibbereen, Co. Cork

Entry

Title ‘Music Makes Us Happy’
Group Lisheen Music Group • 20 members, Third – Sixth Class
• Niamh McCarthy, Teacher/Accompanist

About the School

In addition to curricular music, all students in this small school (c. 70 students) participate in the Lisheen National School Choir, which is continually expanding its repertoire and complexity of arrangements, while the school’s Music Group is open to any students who play an instrument. Both groups cover a wide range of music genres. One of the teachers offers instrumental lessons after school, including guitar, tin whistle and ukulele group lessons, as well as one-to-one piano lessons. The school planned to use a Music for Schools prize to develop an after-school music club open to all students, whether or not they play instruments, and free of charge.

Post-Primary School Finalists

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The six Post-Primary School Finalists, as well as Highly Commended and Commended schools, selected in the 2014 Waltons Music for Schools Competition. Schools are listed in alphabetical order, and Finalist school entry videos and profiles are below these.

Our first round adjudicators also singled out one entry for special commendation – an extraordinary, atmospheric performance by students in a group called For the Birds at the Central Remedial Clinic School, a special school  (c. 110 students) that caters for students aged 3 to 18 with physical and multiple disabilities. Their teacher, Mary Saunders, provided these 22 young musicians with the opportunity to create something unique and beautiful, and the piece is a shining example of what can be done by and for students with special needs.

Finalists

• Borris Vocational School, Borris, Co. Carlow
• Coláiste an Chraoibhín, Fermoy, Co. Cork
• Laurel Hill Secondary School, Limerick
• Our Lady’s Secondary School, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan
• Scoil Mhuire, Trim, Co. Meath
• Ursuline College, Finisklin Road, Co. Sligo

Special Commendation

• Central Remedial Clinic School, Dublin 3

Highly Commended

• Castleknock College, Dublin 15
• Coláiste Cois Life, Lucan, Co. Dublin
• Gortnor Abbey, Crossmolina, Co. Mayo
• Loreto College, Drumkeen, Co. Cavan
• Presentation Secondary School (Cór Nano Nagle), Limerick
• St. Paul’s College, Dublin 5

Commended

• Castleknock Community College, Dublin 15
• Coláiste Éanna, Dublin 16
• Crescent College Comprehensive, Limerick
• Killina Presentation Secondary School, Tullamore, Co. Offaly
• Mercy Heights Secondary School, Skibbereen, Co. Cork
• Moyne Community School, Moyne, Co. Longford
• Presentation Secondary School (TY+5), Limerick
• St. Fergal’s College, Rathdowney, Co. Laois
• St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Rochfortbridge, Co. Westmeath
• St. Kilian’s German School, Dublin 14
• Wilson’s Hospital School, Multyfarnham, Co. Westmeath

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Borris Vocational School
Borris, Co. Carlow

Entry

Title ‘Borris Fusion’
Group Members of the School Choir, Grúpa Ceoil, Orchestra and Rock Band
• 50 members, First – Fifth Year
• Ciarán Somers, Teacher/Conductor

About the School

Borris Vocational School (c. 480 students) has a thriving musical culture, with groups including a school orchestra, a traditional group, rock bands and choirs, with after-school tuition in guitar, strings and traditional instruments. All students are actively encouraged to participate in tuition offered and events arranged by the school’s music department. During lunchtimes, the older music students mentor, coach and encourage the younger students in their instruments. A weekly module in choral singing is delivered in partnership with Music Generation Carlow, and to encourage students to take up music the school also has a number of instruments available on hire-purchase schemes.

Coláiste an Chraoibhín
Fermoy, Co. Cork

Entry

Title ‘Waiting to Gavotte’
Group Colaiste an Chraoibhín Performing Arts Ensemble • 32  members
• Ernestine Healy, Teacher/Accompanist

About the School

In addition to curricular music from First to Sixth Year, Coláiste an Chraoibhín (c. 650 students) has a wide range of extra-curricular music activities, including instrumental lessons, vocal ensembles and classical, traditional and rock instrumental ensembles. While a number of students own their own instruments, those who do not can use instruments at the school free of charge. Music tuition is supplemented by the County Cork School of Music and The Cope Foundation for a Transition Year buddy programme. Additional music activities already in place or planned by the school include a battle of the bands, showcases run by students, open mic afternoons, recording sessions for music groups and a school radio station.

Laurel Hill Secondary School
Limerick, Co. Limerick

Entry

Title ‘Sunshiny Days’
Group Laurel Hill Vocal & Instrumental Ensemble • 56 members, First – Sixth Year
• Suzanne Creaven, Teacher/Accompanist

About the School

In addition to classroom-taught recorder, guitar and choir, Laurel Hill (c. 610 students) has a range of ensembles – including junior and senior choirs, recorder ensembles, bands and orchestra and a trad group – funded through the parents’ voluntary contributions and through which other instruments are also taught. All genres of music are either taught or represented in the school. Although at present students who have their own instruments are encouraged to take part in various ensembles, Laurel Hill planned to use a Music for Schools Competition prize to invest in instruments so that more students could experience music and develop their talents.

Our Lady’s Secondary School
Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan

Entry

Title ‘Let the River Run’, Vocalisation of Beethoven’s 5th, Trad Polkas, ‘Rumour Has It / Someone Like You’
Group OLSS Performing Arts Group • 85 members, First – Sixth Year

About the School

Music is seen as more than a subject in Our Lady’s Secondary School (c. 680 students), with a busy extra-curricular programme that occupies lunchtimes and includes choir, traditional music and dance practice, as well as instrumental jam sessions. Since there is no funding available, if specific instruments or equipment are needed for the school then students run a concert or competition to raise money themselves. A number of senior students at the school also voluntarily help run a local community group called Fusion that offers tuition in singing, acting and dancing for local children. Our Lady’s planned to use a Music for Schools Competition prize to develop a guitar orchestra that would explore and perform various music genres and expand their traditional group’s repertoire by fusing it with other genres.

Scoil Mhuire
Trim, Co. Meath

Entry

Title ‘Exploring Our Irish Musical Roots’
Group Scoil Mhuire Performing Arts Group • 67 members, First – Sixth Year
• Mícheál Kerr, Teacher/Conductor

About the School

Scoil Mhuire (740 students) provides a wide range of music opportunities for its students, including an SATB school choir, a TY choir, a traditional music group and in-school piano lessons offered to all interested students, regardless of their financial situation. A new initiative started last year involves 5th Year music students peer teaching tin whistle to small groups of junior students. Each year a student music committee works with the music teachers to fundraise and promote music-making throughout the school. And the school also actively collaborates and performs with other schools in the vicinity whenever possible. Scoil Mhuire planned to use a Music for Schools Competition Prize for equipment to record their music groups as well as additional instruments for in-school music tuition.

Ursuline College
Finisklin Road, Co. Sligo

Entry

Title ‘Love Story’, ‘Realtín’ by Alice Purcell, ‘Happy’
Group Soda Pharrells • 54 members, First – Fifth Year
• Emer Prendergast, Teacher/Conductor

About the School

In addition to curricular music, Ursuline College (c. 740 students) has a huge range of music activities and ensembles available to its students, including no less than eleven choirs, an Irish traditional group, a harp ensemble and a newly formed pop/trad group. While parents pay for some of the private instrumental tuition, ensemble tuition is provided by the music teachers at no cost, and guitar lessons are supplemented by Music Generation Sligo so that students pay only a nominal fee. The school also promotes peer mentoring, particularly within their traditional group, and students are encouraged to create and compose their own pieces, one of which, ‘Realtín’ by Alice Purcell, is included in their entry performance.

Finalists Concert

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Videos, in concert order, of the twelve school music groups performing in the Waltons Music for Schools Competition 2014 Finalists Concert in the National Concert Hall, Dublin on 14 May 2014.

Knockanean National School
Ennis, Co. Clare

Title ‘Trip to Fantasy on Board the Sally Gardens’
Group Knockanean Music Club • 56 members, Fifth – Sixth Class
• Joan McNamara, Teacher/Accompanist

Ursuline College
Finisklin Road, Co. Sligo

Title ‘Love Story’, ‘Realtín’ by Alice Purcell, ‘Happy’
Group Soda Pharrells • 48 members, First – Fifth Year
• Claire O’Connell, Teacher/Conductor

Gaelscoil Adhamhnáin
Leitir Ceanainn, Co. Dhún na nGall

Title  ‘Draíocht an Cheoil’ by Sinéad Ní Dhomhnaill & Grainne Ní Dhomhnaill (5th Class)
Group Cór Gaelscoil Adhamhnáin • 80 members, Second – Sixth Class
• Sinéad Ní Dhomhnaill, Teacher/Conductor

Our Lady’s Secondary School
Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan

Title ‘Let the River Run’, Vocalisation of Beethoven’s 5th, Trad Polkas, ‘Rumour Has It / Someone Like You’
Group OLSS Performing Arts Group • 80 members, First – Sixth Year
• Cara Murray, Teacher/Conductor

Lisheen National School
Skibbereen, Co. Cork

Title ‘Music Makes Us Happy’
Group Lisheen Music Group  • 20 members, Third – Sixth Class, with Senior Infant Dancer
• Niamh McCarthy, Teacher/Accompanist

Scoil Mhuire
Trim, Co. Meath

Title ‘Exploring Our Irish Musical Roots’
Group Scoil Mhuire Performing Arts Group • 62 members
• Mícheál Kerr, Teacher/Conductor

Bunscoil Loreto
Gorey, Co. Wexford

Title ‘Pachelbel’s Friends’
Group Bunscoil Loreto Ensemble • 70 members, First – Sixth Class
• Niall Quillinan, Teacher/Conductor

Coláiste an Chraoibhín
Fermoy, Co. Cork

Title ‘Waiting to Gavotte’
Group Colaiste an Chraoibhín Performing Arts Ensemble • 25 members

Gaelscoil Moshíológ
Guaire, Co. Loch Gorman

Title ‘Cuisle Moshíológ’
Group Ceoltóirí Óga Gaelscoil Moshíológ • 63 members, Junior Infants – Sixth Class
• Niamh O’Sullivan, Teacher/Conductor

Laurel Hill Secondary School
Limerick, Co. Limerick

Title ‘Sunshiny Days’
Group Laurel Hill Vocal & Instrumental Ensemble • 56 members, First – Sixth Year
• Suzanne Creaven, Teacher/Accompanist

Gaelscoil an tSlí Dála
Ballaghmore, Co. Laois

Title ‘Ceol Tradisúnta’
Group Na hArd Rí • 17 members, Third – Sixth Class

Borris Vocational School
Borris, Co. Carlow

Title ‘Borris Fusion’
Group Members of the School Choir, Grúpa Ceoil, Orchestra and Rock Band
• 50 members, First – Fifth Year
• Ciarán Somers, Teacher/Conductor

Prize Winners

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The six school music groups – three primary and three post-primary – selected by the 2014 Finalists Concert adjudicators Julie Feeney and Bill Whelan.

Primary Schools

First Prize

Knockanean National School, Ennis, Co. Clare
Title ‘Trip to Fantasy on Board the Sally Gardens’
Group Knockanean Music Club

Second Prize

Gaelscoil Adhamhnáin, Leitir Ceanainn, Co. Dhún na nGall
Title  ‘Draíocht an Cheoil’ by Sinéad Ní Dhomhnaill & Grainne Ní Dhomhnaill (5th Class)
Group Cór Gaelscoil Adhamhnáin

Third Prize

Gaelscoil Moshíológ, Guaire, Co. Loch Garman
Title ‘Cuisle Moshíológ’
Group Ceoltóirí Óga Gaelscoil Moshíológ

Post-Primary Schools

First Prize

Borris Vocational School, Borris, Co. Carlow
Title ‘Borris Fusion’
Group Members of the School Choir, Grúpa Ceoil, Orchestra and Rock Band

Second Prize

Laurel Hill Secondary School, Limerick, Co. Limerick
Title ‘Sunshiny Days’
Group Laurel Hill Vocal & Instrumental Ensemble

Third Prize

Our Lady’s Secondary School, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan
Title ‘Let the River Run’, Vocalisation of Beethoven’s 5th, Trad Polkas, ‘Rumour Has It / Someone Like You’
Group OLSS Performing Arts Group