TY Graduation 2025

On Wednesday 21st of May, we celebrated our Transition Years at their Graduation Night.

Mr. Carey began the evening by reflecting on the highlights of TY and the importance of the people they’ve shared memories with. He concluded his speech by wishing our graduating class the best in the future and the next chapter of their school lives.

We then had the opportunity to hear from Peter Baxter, who commended our students on their creativity and passion in Song School before presenting an award to our TY students who were runners up at the Wicklow Rubbish Film Festival.

Mr. Short used the occasion to congratulate the progress of the TY football team on their remarkable performances throughout the year. Kian Quigley and Conor McLaughlin, coaches of the team, announced the Player of the Year for the season, Conan Lyons.

Ms. Courtney then delivered her speech, congratulating the TYs on their willingness to step outside of their comfort zones and embrace new challenges. She thanked all who made TY possible - staff, students and management - and spoke of how grateful she was to have been able to work with an amazing group of TYs. Special thanks was given to Mr. Hallisey and Ms. Murphy for their work in planning and delivering the trip to Lake Garda, as well as Mr. Short, whose work as Year Head was vital for the smooth running of the programme every day. 

We then had the opportunity to pay tribute to Ms. Brosnan, who is retiring this summer and was instrumental in shaping the TY programme as we enjoy it today in her former role as coordinator. Mr. Short congratulated the TYs on contributing to what proved to be an amazing year, expanding their knowledge and, most importantly, learning about themselves. He also thanked each student for being willing to help each other, as well as the families for supporting our efforts with the TY programme. Finally, he praised Ms. Courtney, for coordinating such a rich programme, supported by Mr. Carey, Ms. O’Sullivan and Mr. Davies.

After this, each student was presented with a graduation gift to mark the occasion while the TY class of 2025 returned the favour by providing a token of appreciation to Ms. Courtney and Mr. Short for all they had done throughout the year.

Finally, Ms. Courtney announced the winner of the Spirit of TY Award. A host of worthy nominations were revealed before the ultimate winner was announced: Anna O’Driscoll.

Reporter: Isobel Doyle & Ciara Fitzgerald

Photographers: Ciara Fitzgerald, Melanie Porter, Doireann Purcell, Niamh O’Neill