6th Class

On the lead up to our confirmation, the sixth class pupils of Kiltiernan NS went to visit the cathedral in Galway with our friends from Labane NS and Ballyglass NS, courtesy of our parish priest, Father Roche. We got on the bus and arrived at the cathedral a while later. When we got there, Father Roche showed us around the outside. The carvings over the door and all around the outside of the building were so cool, and Father Roche did a great job explaining them all.
When we went in, Father Whelan, another priest, showed us around and explained all the chairs in the middle. Cathedra means chair, so that’s where they got the name Cathedral.
Next the organist showed us how the church organ works and played for us. He was really talented.
Later Father Whelan showed us the Stations of the Cross and the abstract stained glass windows.
Lastly, we saw the crypt where the previous bishops’ bodies are laid to rest. It was cold and a bit creepy, but very interesting too.
Before we went back to school, we made a quick stop at Supermacs. We had burgers and nuggets, and ice cream for afters.
I had a really great day thanks to Father Roche!

13/06/17 Seashore Safari

On the 24th of May 2017, classes 2nd to 6th embarked on an adventure to tracht beach to go on a Seashore Safari.

Before we left are school,  our guide, Brendan Allard gave us a Q and A session. We asked about his job of as  a marine biologist. We also talked about the species that inhabit tracht beach.

Soon after our  discussion with Brendan, we arrived at tracht beach. We met at the top of the beach and started to move out towards the rocks. We found all types of creatures  like crabs, hermit crabs, anemones and some groups even found species of fish! Afterwards we met together and showed each other our catchces. We then set them all free.

After are expedition we all had lunch on the benches at the top of the beach . Shortly afterwards we started a very competitive sand castle competition. When it started, we all sprinted down towards the water and started on our creations. The goal was to make the tallest sand castle. When we finished our castles, the teachers judged to see whos was the tallest. Unfortunately, my group did not win, but it was still great fun!

After our  splended trip we all gathered into the bus, wet, sandy and exhausted.When we all arrived back at the school, we were hoping that we could something like this again.

By Colman 6th class

On Thursday the 27^th of April 6^th class from Kiltiernan, Labane and Ballyglass went to the Galway Cathedral.

When we arrived at the Cathedral, we walked around the Cathedral and Father Roche told us facts about the outside of the Cathedral. When we all entered the cathedral we meet Father Whelan. Father Roche took one class with him to the pipe organ and Father Whelan took our class and another class around the inside of Cathedral. He explained that all the lime stone was donated to the Cathedral when it was being built. It was used for the floor and the altar.

After a while we went up to the pipe organ. There were a lot of pipes. The pipes where made out of metal and timber. Some pipes were small and some were huge. We met the man who played the pipe organ. He explained how the pipe organ worked. The keyboard looks very confusing because there were alot of keys, loads of knobs that you pull and loads of foot pedals. After that we went upstairs where Father Roche showed us portraits all the old bishops of Galway and explained about them.

Later we went down stairs to the crypt and Father Whelan explained it is where the bishops are buried. After that we left the Cathedral and went to Supermacs for lunch.

I would like to thank Father Roche and Father Whelan for explaining about the Cathedral and organising this event. I learned a lot about the Cathedral.

Seán 6^th class

Credit Union Quiz

Every year we put our knowledge to the test and participate in the Credit Union quiz. First we have a preliminary quiz to decide the teams. On my team were Ava, Aly and Stephen. To prepare for the quizzes we practised with two superb Mums; Michelle and Bridget. The first quiz we attended was the Kilchreest NS table quiz which took place in the Meadow Court Hotel. We did well and finished third.

We kept on practising and we prepared for the Credit Union quiz held in Sullivan’s Hotel. We concentrated and by half way two Kiltiernan teams were joint first. In the second half the questions got harder. In the end we won by four points! We were all very excited for the next round which was held on March 3^rd in the Galway Bay Hotel.

In the space of time between the 2 quizzes we practised and practised and we nearly knew every question in the book! Finally the day came. I had butterflies in my tummy. This time round the questions were a lot more difficult and tricky. At the end of the round the quizmaster said there would be a tiebreaker for second and the teams were: “Kiltiernan NS and Gaelscoil Tuam”. We started getting slightly nervous and tense. If the other questions were hard, the tiebreaker questions were really hard.

In the tiebreaker we got two questions right out of four. The other school got one. We were delighted when we finished second because first and second progresses to the national quiz finals held in the RDS in Dublin on April 2^nd. We still are revising questions and finding more to challenge us. All of us are very proud of our achievement. We would also like to thank Michelle and Bridget for all their help in finding questions and giving us sheets to learn. Thank You!

By David

5^th Class