Centenary Mercy Day Mass celebrations in Ardscoil Mhuire Ballinasloe 2019
The culmination of Ardscoil Mhuire Ballinasloe Centenary celebrations was held on Saturday 21st September when the school community came together to celebrate our Centenary Mercy Day Mass. Special guests at the Mass were the Sisters of Mercy, representatives of our Trustees, Board of Management and Parents’ Council, Franciscan Sisters, public representatives, staff and students both past and present, parents and friends. The celebrant of the Mass was most reverend Dr John Kirby with Fr. John Garvey, school chaplain and the priests of neighbouring parishes who joined us to concelebrate as well as Reverend John Godfrey.
Before our celebration of the mass a group of our students took us through a brief history of our school in a presentation entitled “Echoes of the past, The History of Ardscoil Mhuire”.
After mass we had the presentation of the Leaving Cert academic award for 2019 to Alanna Downey. It is a well-established tradition in our school that this award is presented on Mercy Day and this year it was a particularly historic occasion being our centenary year.
Following that presentation Sr Breege O’ Neill made an address on behalf of the Sisters of Mercy and then Mr Bernard Keeley spoke on behalf of our Trustees, CEIST.
Our school choir and trad group, under the direction of Caroline Jackson and Maeve Higgins, provided the most uplifting and wonderful musical accompaniment to our Mass. A collection of photos and video footage from past and present students were on display through out the school. The day ended with light refreshments and our lovely Centenary cake. Thank you to everyone who attended and added to a truly historic day in the life of Ardscoil Mhuire.