Castledermot school presents poetry awards
Eoin Kirk, Mary O Hara, Carmel Quinn, Noah Murphy, John MacKenna and Mary Kaye Photos: Aisling Hyland
IT all began with a suggestion by a deputy head to re-visit the idea of a literary competition for primary school kids in south Kildare in the wake of the demise of the Cecil Day Lewis Bursary Award following Covid.
And so, from such little acorns the John McKenna Cup took up the mantle for Scoil Diarmada poerty awards, with the overall winner this year being Noah Murphy in sixth class.
“There used to be this big literary award named after (Poet Laureate) Cecil Day Lewis sponsored by Bord na Mona, but it fell through around the time of Covid,” said teacher Carmel Quinn. This award was set up in 2011 by the Athy Heritage Centre to celebrate the celebrated poet’s links with the south Kildare area.
“He says he doesn’t remember it, but Eoin Kirk, the deputy head, suggested we should start our own competition in the school, and this is now our third year,” she said proudly.
“I knew John McKenna the writer and poet here from Castledermot … his mother was principal when I was here … and so we named the competition after him.
“I rang him and asked him and he said he’d provide a cup, and on it is inscribed his words ‘In time we know where we belong, It’s there we find our voice and song’.
“The theme this year was ‘Friendship’, and the winner got his name engraved on the (perpetual) cup, and a lovely glass trophy. The competition is for classes 2nd-6th inclusive, with four prizes in each, and this year we introduced an Irish category for the first time. The children become very interested, so we keep most of the work here in school.
"They get very, very enthusiastic, and it raises their interest in poetry and writing – it is the antidote to anxiety. I hope the competition continues because there’s lots of room on the trophy for more names!"
