Sunday, 24th April 2016 marked the actual centenary of the Easter Rising, 1916.  Earlier in the year, as suggested by the Department of Education and Skills to all schools in the country, schools in Cork, Cloyne and Ross embraced the idea of Proclamation Day on 15th March.

This proved to be an enriching and valuable opportunity for the schools to revisit our history and the many facets of it; to remember those who died on all sides; to hear again the Proclamation; to explore the life and times of 1916; and, most important of all, to write their own ‘Proclamations for a New Generation.’  These were presented by school children and teachers during the Civic Eucharist on St Patrick’s Day in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork and have been on display since in the ambulatory of the Cathedral.

The Bishop, Dr Paul Colton, visited a number of schools on Proclamation Day and, following the various ceremonies and presentations, took the opportunity to illustrate to students how richly diverse our country has become, and how complicated the history of 1916 is by speaking about his own family, all of whom were in the army of the day.  The Bishop also shared his memories of the 1966 commemorations in St Luke’s National School, Douglas, Cork.

Here are the galleries of photos taken locally in the schools of the Diocese that day:

Abbeystrewry National School, Skibbereen, County Cork

Ashton School, Cork

Saint Matthias’ National School, Ballydehob, County Cork

Ballymoney National School, Enniskean, County Cork

Bandon Grammar School

Bandonbridge National School, Bandon, County Cork

St Brendan the Navigator National School, Bantry, County Cork

St Michael’s National School, Blackrock, Cork

St Mary’s Church of Ireland National School, Carrigaline

Cobh (Mixed) National School, Cobh, County Cork

St Fin Barre’s National School, Cork

St Luke’s National School, Cork

Desertserges National School, Murragh, County Cork

St Luke’s National School, Douglas, County Cork

The Model School, Dunmanway, County Cork

St James’ National School, Durrus, County Cork

Adair National School, Fermoy, County Cork

Kilgariffe National School, Clonakilty, County Cork

St Multose National School, Kinsale, County Cork

Saint John the Baptist National School, Midleton, County Cork

Templebreedy National School, Crosshaven, County Cork

South Abbey National School, Youghal, County Cork