The Graduation Mass for our Leaving Cert class of 2022/23 was held on Thursday 18th of May. The cermony was held in our Sports Hall with parents, family, friends, staff, students and of course the class themselves in attendance. This is an important evening for the students as it marks the ending of thier time in GCS. Fr. O'Boyle along with Fr. Mooney celebrated the last mass for these students in our school as they face into their Leaving Cert exams and then part on their seperate ways in life.
The evening started with the class entering the hall in pairs wearing their graduation gowns to music by our ensemble. Mr. Duignan welcomed all in his opening speech and wished the class well in their future endeavours urging them, as always, to look after each other and not to get too distracted in the coming weeks during the exams. During the cermony, members of the class read or sang as well as bringing up gifts to the altar. Lauren Cummins and Brandon Joyce, as valadictorians, spoke on behalf of thier classmates about their time in GCS, highlighting the up and downs, trips and events, the craic and the laughter. They thanked all those who had helped them and thier classmates during their time at the school. Students presented the yearheads including their former yearhead, Mrs O'Neill with gifts as a token of their appreciation for their efforts with the group.
Ms. Hardiman, Mr. Conroy and Ms Hession, the groups yearheads, gave their speechs. They outlined the different memories of the group and explained how the final class came to be. There was a special word for Rebecca Pettit, our first Bella Menti Graduate in GCS. The yearheads asked that the group keep focused for the next few weeks and wished them well in thier exams and in the future. Finally, Mr. Conroy called out the names of all students as they were presented with a bookmark from Mr. Duignan and Ms Hardiman.
Many thanks to all involved in making the night such a success; staff, students, parents and Fr. O'Boyle in particular for celebrating the mass.
View a slideshow of photos from our mass by clicking on the photo below
