Last Thursday (Sept 24^th) the boys and girls of Scoil Mhuire experienced a little piece of history. Two members of the Irish Air Corps came to the school to present us with our national flag and a copy of the 1916 Proclamation. They were Lieutenant Eugene Mohan and Sergeant Damian Kelly.

Lieutenant Mohan explained to a packed hall that they had come to present the flag, and that it was a part of the government’s commemoration of the 100^th anniversary of 1916, and that next year every school in Ireland will raise the flag on March 15^th. This day will be known as Proclamation Day. He also invited the children to write their own version of the proclamation which will be read out on that day also.

Sergeant Kelly proceeded to read the proclamation, and he stopped after the 3^rd paragraph, so Sara Lovett from 5^th class could read the next paragraph. This paragraph mentions equal rights and opportunities for all Irish citizens and contains the phrase “cherishing all the children of the nation equally”. Sara read this very clearly and confidently.

When Sergeant Kelly finished reading the proclamation the flag was presented to Amy Murray of 2^nd class and a copy of the proclamation was presented to Michael Brady of 6^th class.

Lieutenant Mohan explained that we must show respect to our national flag, and that there were some simple rules we must follow; the flag should never touch the ground, when it’s flying with other flags it must be the highest and that it must be taken down at night time.

The ceremony finished with everybody standing to attention and singing our national anthem, “Amhrán na bhFiann” . Lieutenant Mohan and Sergeant Kelly saluted while we sang the anthem. To accompany the singing some teachers played music.

You can check out some highlights from the ceremony on Scoil Mhuire TV now. Thanks to Shannon and Ava for filming and editing our news bulletin.

Scoil Mhuire News Bulletin: 1916 Flag Ceremony