Category: Latest Posts

Our Senior Debaters took part in the opening round of the UCC Philosophical Society debating competition last night (8th December 2022).

Sam O’Farrell and Pierce O’Neill progress to the quarter finals whilst the remainder of the team have a second chance to qualify in an upcoming debate. Well done!

We were treated to a week of wonderful music, art and craft work here at Glenstal this week in a celebration of the many talented artists of all genres and calibres that we have here.

Many thanks to all the participants for their hard work.  

Fr Oasan from the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal were here on Saint Nicholas Day to collect the many toys and presents which will be gifted where most needed this Christmas. Well done the entire school community for their support for this annual appeal.

On Saturday 15 October we welcomed prospective First Years and their families to the school. Our Fifth and Sixth Year prefects did an excellent job providing tours of the school and sharing their experience of Glenstal with parents and boys alike.

A number of students from each Year Group created display stands in the Atrium to showcase Glenstal and talked to visitors to their stands on the day. Many visitors commented on how much they enjoyed meeting our students.

A big thank you to all the staff and students whose efforts made the day such a success! 

During morning Assembly on Tuesday 25th October, we were joined by Abbot Brendan who, alongside Mairead O’Sullivan and Trevor Fitzgerald, presented last term’s Glenstal Awards.

The awards for Contribution to the Glenstal Community and for Personal Development recognise a student’s recent efforts in these areas.

Congratulations to our award recipients in each Year Group. 

Awards for Contribution to the Glenstal Community: 

JJ Power (First Year), Gonzalo Tena Otero (Second Year), David Goode (Third Year), Rian Fagan (Transition Year), Walid Muhtaseb (Fifth Year), Darragh Lehane (Sixth Year) 

Awards for Personal Development: 

Oscar Lunn (First Year), Billy Twomey (Second Year), Oisin Rowan (Third Year), Pádraig O’Sullivan (Transition Year), Callum Deegan (Fifth Year), Robert Fitzgibbon (Sixth Year) 

Saturday 15th October 10.30am

Prospective parents and students for entry to First Year in 2023, 2024 and beyond, are invited to visit the school and meet our staff and students.

Pre-registration is recommend.

We look forward to welcoming you to our school.

REGISTER

We are pleased to announce this year’s Glenstal Abbey School Taster Weekend, which will be held on Saturday and Sunday, 4th and 5th June.

Boys starting secondary school in September 2023 are invited to come and stay in Glenstal castle for the weekend, and learn about our life at Glenstal. Parents are invited to accompany their children for the first session and have the opportunity to meet the Head and members of the team at Glenstal and have a tour of the school. https://littlescholarsnyc.com

Our visiting boys will have the opportunity to explore the castle and grounds, take part in learning experiences with our teachers, meet some students and staff, try different sports and arts activities, have a banquet and sleep over in our student dorm accommodation. On Sunday we will all go to Mass together and they will meet some of the monks of Glenstal.

The weekend will conclude on Sunday, with parents invited for Afternoon Tea and an opportunity to hear about the weekend.

REGISTER

Following an all-school Mass in the abbey church on the first day of term, 6th January, the feast of the Epiphany, our new Head and Principal, Mr Marius Carney, addressed students and staff for the first time.

Thanks to everyone for your welcome to Glenstal at Assembly this morning which was most encouraging and for the prayerful blessing.

As I have begun to meet you and hear about your successes and aspirations, I am struck that one of the features of a Glenstal education is that it is an education in leadership. Leadership for today and for the future in Irish and European society and beyond.   

Today we have listened to the familiar story of Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, the Three Magi. Their story is a fine tale, somewhat romantic even, and because it’s a familiar one, perhaps often we don’t think very much about it. But I believe, on closer inspection, the Magi’s actions have a lot to teach us in Glenstal, today. These Magi were highly educated men; they were astrologers from Persia. They were committed to seeking for the light of truth, and they used their academic prowess to seek for the truth, they also had to use their great wealth to search for the infant Christ. Despite having a top education, they recognised their need of God and they set out, as we heard in the gospel, to seek the infant Messiah and to do him homage. By their actions these leaders drew the world’s attention to God-made-man. They made the Messiah evident to all: they showed him forth – that’s what ‘Epiphany’ means.

What does their example teach us today, this term, about our leadership?

• Firstly, their story reminds us that our academic talents and our material goods come from God and will lead us to God, if we allow that to happen.
• Secondly, we see that we must use the curiosity and gifts we possess to find fulfilment. They used their training in astrology and their wealth to follow the star. In our lives the ‘star’ is your wonder and accomplishment in perhaps Mathematics or Science, Classics, Art, Agriculture, German or French, Business, Sport or Music.
• Thirdly they show us that we need tenacity. They have to work hard to get to Bethlehem. These wise men had to travel in the depth of winter. It cost a lot and they risked the trickery and treachery of wily King Herod. If you like poetry do read TS Eliot’s Journey of the Magi, which so evocatively describes this journey.

The Magi showed

• Reverence for God: They came all that way to do him homage.
• Respect for themselves: Using their own talents to bring them the highest reward
• Responsibility to their unique calling: To show God to the world.

Christina Rosetti in her poem In the Bleak Mid-Winter describes Jesus’ birth in the depth of winter and the worship of the angels. The final stanza reads:

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

Each of us, as a student of Glenstal Abbey School is called to ‘do my part’ this new year by living positive leadership.  And there is plenty of leadership example among you. I have heard about your good leadership in class and in study, and there are some great Christmas exam marks. Today we have had excellent leadership in the liturgy from our choir, following from their excellent Advent Carol Services. Many of you are great leaders on the sports field in a number of sports and I am aware of the recent Rugby success in the McCarthy Plate. And you all show great leadership in these Covid times, with the many restrictions and deprivations we have to face. Well done.

This term the challenge is to show that leadership in Reverence, Respect, and Responsibility through everything that we do in school life.

We believe that each of us is created in the image of God. And so our leadership in Reverence of God in our school starts with reverence for other people. Accordingly we need to be careful to put their feelings and needs first, and never deliberately say or do something which causes another discomfort.

 Respect of one another: Our school was beautifully clean this morning, thanks to a lot of hard work by maintenance and housekeeping staff earlier this week. The shiny floors said: ‘you are welcome’.  Our leadership in Respect means that we tidy up as we go along, we leave classrooms and dorms in a fit and proper state for all, we behave sensibly in our building.  Leadership means that we all pitch in to sort things out, and get on the case of anyone who doesn’t.

Responsibility means that we find and cherish the gifts and talents that we have. We are all different. That can be hard work. Each man here is responsible for achieving his personal best, but the more so, in humility, he is responsible for looking out for the one who sits behind or in front or to his left or right, so that he too can prosper and flourish in lessons, in clubs, on the sports pitch, in rehearsals, in study and in dorms.

I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. I am merely reminding you of the leadership challenge we embark on together in this new year. From the little time I have spent with you already, I know you are up for the challenge and will make our school a place where God’s light and love permeate our lives. I wish you every success in this coming year, and I hope to be very proud of the leadership each of you will show.