Term 2 - Successes and Achievements
Music Department
Musicians strike the right chord in Ballymena!
Four 1st places were awarded to College musicians at Ballymena Festival in the Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, String Orchestra and Woodwind Ensemble.
· The Chamber Choir competed in this year’s BBC Radio Ulster’s School Choir of the Year competition and reached the semi-finals. You can listen to their performance by clicking on the following link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/schoolchoiroftheyear
· Traditional musicians produce another Titanic performance. They were invited to perform at the British Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat St. Patrick’s Day Reception held in Titanic Belfast.
· The Annual Concert took place at Clonard Monastery on 7th April 2019. This was watched and enjoyed by a huge audience within the church and by countless viewers at home and abroad via the Clonard Webcam.
One audience member’s words sum up the evening perfectly:
"It was an uplifting and spiritual experience in every sense where something transcendent emerged from all the collective talents and cumulative input, practice and effort of all concerned. There was great 'soul' in the variety of music and great imagination and sensitivity in performance. The organisation, switch-overs between pieces, general demeanour and commitment of the boys were impeccable. The amount of willed effort, perseverance and attention to detail required over a long period to reach such standards on all fronts is extraordinary. Congratulations to all concerned and my thanks for a lovely evening in a superb setting."
Sports Department
Athletics/Cross Country
· Individual wins for Adam Ferris, Fionntan Campbell and Finn Diver lead St. Malachy’s to a sweep of all 5 team titles at the South Antrim District Cross Country.
· The College claimed ‘best overall school’ alongside two individual and two team wins at the Ulster Schools Cross Country. Please click on the following link for more information. https://www.stmalachyscollege.com/StMalachy'sclaimbestoverallschooltitle
· Successful day at the All Ireland Schools Cross Country Championship. Both Junior (Year 10) and Inter (Year 11 & 12) boys picked up team silver medals and came agonisingly close to the win.
· Callum Morgan, Fionntan Campbell and Matthew Lavery competed for Ireland in the schools’ international cross country against England, Scotland and Wales.
Gaelic Sports
· On a rain soaked Monday afternoon in January, current St. Enda’s players and past pupils of the College Ethan Gibson, Joe Maskey, Michael Morgan, James McAuley along with current pupil Neil Kelly took time out of their preparation for the All Ireland Intermediate Football Final against Kilcummin of Kerry to attend Year 9 training, where they took part in some training drills and imparted some of their expertise to the younger students.
· Niall O’Connor (Year 13) collected his Hurling All Star award at the Ulster Colleges dinner Friday 12th April 2019.
Soccer
· The College U18 won 5-1 against Trinity College in the Danske Bank NI Schools Cup Semi Final.
· The U18s then went on to win 3-1 against De La Salle held at Seaview 18thMarch 2019.
· Following on from their success, the College football team are through to the Belfast Cup Final which will take place after Easter.
· Paddy Burns and Lewis McGarvey will play as part of the NI U18 School Boys’ Squad. To date they have two wins against Scotland and Wales.
· Lewis McGarvey and Paddy Burns will play against Republic of Ireland in their final game of the Centenary Shield on Thursday 18thApril 2019.
Rugby
· The Year 8 Rugby team came painfully close to qualifying for the Ulster Schools’ finals. Despite beating both Boys’ Model and Larne High, they were narrowly beaten (3 tries to 2) in a playoff decider by Our Lady and St. Patrick’s, Knock.
· Year 8 rugby squad were invited by Irish Rugby to attend an open training session with their senior squad. The boys had a brilliant time, getting to see Irish stars like Johnny Sexton, Jacob Stockdale and Rory Best.
Basketball
· The College U19 basketball team secured their place in the All Ireland League final. They narrowly defeated St. Oliver’s Community College, Drogheda in the quarter final after overtime 65 – 61.
· The U19s defeated the Bish (St. Joseph’s, Galway) 52-43 to win the Basketball league final in Dublin.
· Year 9 and 10 Ulster Champions basketballers are to both travel to Limerick and Dublin to compete in the All Irelands.
· The U16 basketballers reached the All Ireland semi-finals, losing narrowly to Calasanctius College, Oranmore.
Languages
· The A Level Spanish debate team had a day of successes at today’s NICILT A Level Spanish debates held at Queen’s University. The team beat Rathmore in their debate and came second overall in the competition (in a competitive field of ten schools). As well as the team award, Patrick Burns won best speaker award.
· The Irish department had yet another successful year at Feis Bhéal Feirste. The boys had the opportunity to participate in poetry recital or conversation.
· A selection of Irish students represented the College at an event in the City Hall to celebrate Seachtain na Gaelige. The pupils spoke to a packed hall about their love for the Irish language.
The French and Spanish department brought a number of pupils to Paris and Barcelona. The boys were able to take in the historical sites, cultures and also some sunshine! A wonderful experience for the boys to use their language skills in an everyday setting.
Other news
· Luke Browne Murray attended the opening of the True Colours Exhibition at the Ulster Museum. His GCSE Art and Design Project was selected for the display that showcases some of the most talented artists in Northern Ireland. Luke’s Illustration project shows beautiful drawing and printmaking that develops to an illustration of the poem “The Raven”.
· In February, four of our senior pupils travelled to London to compete in the National Final of the UKMT (United Kingdom Mathematics Trust). This was the first time our pupils qualified at this stage.
· The Junior Maths Team competed in the Regional Final of the UKMT, held in the College Hall. Our team came 6thout of 23 teams!
· This years’ ski trip took place at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, USA during February mid-term break.
· Year 14 students, Oran McBrien, Conor Sweetnam, Thomas Cunningham, Joel Baxter and Daniel Brennan received their Pope John Paul II Awards from Bishop Treanor. Paddy Burns also achieved the Gold Award. Joel spoke about his experience of the Awards to an audience of 500 in St. Mary’s Church, Chapel Lane.
· Our SvP boys have been working tirelessly to raise money for Trocaire. On Friday 22ndMarch, they presented Hannah McKeown form Trocaire with a cheque for £1200. This money will be providing much needed help to those in both Palestine and Yemen.
· The A2 Drama students perfomed their A2 piece for family and friends. The audience was treated to three accomplished duologues from Our Country’s Good, Punk Rock and Quietly. The boys then went on to perform two original pieces of Devised Work inspired by innovative theatre company, Frantic Assembly.
· Alumnus, Kevin McMahon (Class of ‘81), Professor of Chemistry at Carroll University, Wisconsin visited the College with some of his University students as part a cultural exchange programme. They met with College Archivist, Mr Gerry McNamee who educated them on College history.
· Year 12 and 13 students attended a Bar Mock Trial workshop at Hillsborough Castle. They were given a famous case from the 1900s to run adopting roles such as prosecution, defence, witnesses and even the judge and jury.
Gloria Ab Intus!