Latest news with #StKieran's
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘No communication': Parents shocked by Sydney school's sudden closure
Parents have been left blindsided by a decision to shut a northern beaches Catholic primary school to make way for a secondary school's new year 5 and 6 'junior' campus. The Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay, which stretches from the north shore to the Central Coast, announced on Wednesday drastic changes to 13 schools, including closing St Cecilia's primary school at Balgowlah and merging it with St Kieran's at Manly Vale. St Cecilia's, established almost a century ago, will be turned into a new year 5 and 6 campus for St Paul's Catholic College, a formerly all-boys high school at Manly that transitioned to co-education this year. The 138 children enrolled at St Cecilia's have been offered places at St Kieran's, which also has under 200 students, but parents have been given a little more than a fortnight to confirm if they will accept the transfer. Parent Natalia Macri said she chose St Cecilia's for her kindergarten daughter for its small size and proximity to her home that allowed her to walk her daughter to and from school. 'We were shocked,' Macri said. 'There was no communication this could be happening, and now we feel cornered into making a really fast decision about what to do next year.' In a letter to parents on Wednesday, the diocese also announced it would merge St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School in Northbridge with St Thomas' Catholic Primary School in Willoughby. It is also considering merging two upper north shore primary schools into a new kindergarten to year 12 school. Parents were invited to an 'important strategic update' meeting on Tuesday night, with no context about its agenda. They were played a short video informing them of the decision to close the school, said Melissa Donnelly, whose children attend St Cecilia's. Donnelly said the audience was taken aback by the decision.
The Age
6 days ago
- General
- The Age
‘No communication': Parents shocked by Sydney school's sudden closure
Parents have been left blindsided by a decision to shut a northern beaches Catholic primary school to make way for a secondary school's new year 5 and 6 'junior' campus. The Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay, which stretches from the north shore to the Central Coast, announced on Wednesday drastic changes to 13 schools, including closing St Cecilia's primary school at Balgowlah and merging it with St Kieran's at Manly Vale. St Cecilia's, established almost a century ago, will be turned into a new year 5 and 6 campus for St Paul's Catholic College, a formerly all-boys high school at Manly that transitioned to co-education this year. The 138 children enrolled at St Cecilia's have been offered places at St Kieran's, which also has under 200 students, but parents have been given a little more than a fortnight to confirm if they will accept the transfer. Parent Natalia Macri said she chose St Cecilia's for her kindergarten daughter for its small size and proximity to her home that allowed her to walk her daughter to and from school. 'We were shocked,' Macri said. 'There was no communication this could be happening, and now we feel cornered into making a really fast decision about what to do next year.' In a letter to parents on Wednesday, the diocese also announced it would merge St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School in Northbridge with St Thomas' Catholic Primary School in Willoughby. It is also considering merging two upper north shore primary schools into a new kindergarten to year 12 school. Parents were invited to an 'important strategic update' meeting on Tuesday night, with no context about its agenda. They were played a short video informing them of the decision to close the school, said Melissa Donnelly, whose children attend St Cecilia's. Donnelly said the audience was taken aback by the decision.
Irish Examiner
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Austin Stacks hold on against St Kierans to seal back-to-back Kerry U21 football titles
Austin Stacks 1-14 (1-1-12) St Kierans 0-14 (0-2-10) Austin Stacks secured back-to-back Kerry U-21 Football Championship titles as they hung on against St Kieran's on Wednesday and gained sweet revenge for last year MFC final defeat. The cohesion and interplay between the players of the club side was very evident from the outset as Stacks dominated the midfield exchanges thanks to the powerful fetching of Ben Murphy, Daniel Kirby and Gavin Casey while Jack Murphy was hovering up breaking the ball. Stacks opted to play against the wind in the opening half and despite falling behind to a Killian Dennehy free, after Cathal McElligott had been fouled, that was the only time St Kierans led the holders for the rest of the final. Stacks almost found the net a minute later when Ben Murphy, with a trademark run through the midfield, saw his goal bound effort pushed onto the crossbar by St Kieran's keeper Conor Wilkinson. But once Daniel Kirby leveled in the fifth minute, Stacks took over and three Paddy Lane points and a fine effort from Donnacha Sayers had them 0-5 to 0-1 in front and St Kieran's were struggling to stay in touch. A two pointer from Cathal McElligott helped to close the gap to two but that was as good as it got for the combo as Stacks, with the Murphy brothers and Casey brothers prominent, powered on. Paddy Lane fired over a two pointer, Sayers followed with a free and points from Ben Murphy and Lane saw Stacks move six clear, 0-10 to 0-4. Dennehy added two frees but Stacks then struck for the killer goal, created by sixty metre upfield run by Colm Browne and dispatched to the net by Paddy Lane. Stacks led 1-10 to 0-6 at half time and it looked game over. An early Paddy Lane free increased the Tralee side's lead as Michael Tansley denied Ruairi Bourke from point blank range. In fact, it was the story of the second half as St Kieran's created six goal chances, three were saved by Tansley, and Killian Dennehy crashed the ball against the underside of the crossbar in the 53rd minute. Michael Horan then shot wide, and when the game was in the balance, Jack Murphy took a Cathal Brosnan cross off the line with Cathal McElligott steaming in behind him. It was all going Stacks way until the 50th minute when they led 1-14 to 0-8. But the introduction of Kian Downey appeared to spark St Kieran's into life with two frees soon converted. Dennehy converted another as Stacks began to turn over the ball and Cathal Brosnan kicked a massive two pointer and suddenly the fat was in the fire. Stacks were fortunate that Jack Murphy and keeper Michael Tansley came to their rescue late on, as they held on by three points to complete the two in a row. Scorers for Austin Stacks: P Lane (1-6, 2pt, 2fs), D Sayers (0-4, 3fs), R O'Driscoll (0-2, 2fs), B Murphy and D Kirby (0-1 each). Scorers for St Kieran's: K Dennehy (3fs), and C McElligott (1f, 2pt) (0-4 each), C Brosnan (2pt) and C Downey (0-2 each), M Nolan and C Mangan (0-1 each). Austin Stacks: M Tansley; S Óg Brosnan, C Browne, J Murphy; B Murphy, L Casey, G Casey; F Ryan, D Kirby; C Dillane, P Lane, R Carroll; D Sayers, D Hogan, R O'Driscoll. Subs: Cillian Litchfield for D Hogan (40), S Heaslip for C Browne (49). St Kieran's: C Wilkinson (Castleisland Desmonds); S O'Sullivan (Brosna), I Brosnan (Castleisland Desmonds), O O'Connor (Currow); R Bourke (Castleisland Desmonds), J McElligott (Knocknagoshel), R Dennehy (Cordal); J Brosnan (Knocknagoshel), K Dennehy (Cordal); M Nolan (Brosna), C McElligott (Knocknagoshel), R Brosnan (Currow); C Mangan (Knocknagoshel), C Brosnan (Currow), M Horan (Scartaglen). Subs: T Conway (Castleisland Desmonds) for J Brosnan (24), J O'Sullivan (Brosna) for R Bourke (39), M Lane (Brosna) for C Mangan (40), C Downey (Castleisland Desmonds) for T Conway (43), J O'Connor (Currow) for R Brosnan (58). Referee: C O Dhúbhda (Kilcummin).
Irish Times
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
‘Oh, no, this could be a very long day': Peter Lynch reflects on his Irish marathon record
After just 10km of Sunday's Düsseldorf Marathon Peter Lynch felt terrible, his hopes for a decent time sinking fast. Especially as the first rule of marathon running says it's not the distance that kills, it's the pace. 'Oh no,' he thought to himself. 'This could be a very long this pace already feels too hard.' Slowly but steadily Lynch felt better, then felt pretty good. Despite running solo for most of the remaining 32km, just detached from the lead group, he moved up to third, finishing in 2:09:36 – and with that breaking the Irish men's marathon record for only the fifth time in 45 years. Lynch took six seconds off the previous record of 2:09:42, set last October by Hiko Tonosa when finishing third in Dublin. Before that Stephen Scullion ran 2:09:49 in London in 2020, breaking the long-standing Irish record of 2:09:56 set by John Treacy in 1984 when winning the silver medal in the LA Olympics. Treacy did run 2:09:15 in the 1988 Boston Marathon only that doesn't count for record purposes due to the net downhill gradient of the Boston course. READ MORE For Lynch it was his second race over the classic distance, and by his own admission the 27-year-old from Kilkenny is still only learning. In his marathon debut in October he finished in 2:17:40 – 'a horrible experience which took a couple of years off my life' – and there is clear potential to go faster. 'I don't know how long this Irish record will last, which is a good thing,' says Lynch, reflecting on his run back home in Kilkenny on Monday. 'I am walking pretty slowly today, was hobbling around the airport earlier, and I won't be running again for another week or 10 days. But I definitely think there's more room for improvement next time. 'I was running solo from around 12km. But I was looking at my watch a lot, could see I was still being pretty consistent in my splits, so I wasn't too worried, and thankfully I was able to lock into the same pace. 'The best I felt was 25-30km, had to make myself slow down a little bit, not go too crazy. I was growing in confidence too, and from 30km I felt really strong. When I ran Chicago, in October, I got to right around 30km, I went from feeling great to having to stop and walk a couple of times.' Hiko Tonosa celebrates on his way to winning the Irish National Championships and finshing third overall during the 2024 Dublin Marathon in October. Photograph: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile In many ways Sunday's race in Germany also mirrors Lynch's progress as a distance runner. As a schoolboy athlete in St Kieran's College in Kilkenny he was not a runaway success, but finished second in the All-Ireland Schools Cross-Country in his Leaving Cert year. 'At St Kieran's John O'Keeffe, one of the teachers, was big into cross-country, and we'd actually have cross-country training at lunchtime on Monday and Friday, down to the Castle park for a few laps. 'There was a fun, team atmosphere to it, and that's what got me into it. I was pretty useless until I got to transition year, then just started getting a little bit better each year. I played hurling also, for Dicksboro until my first year minor, but I wasn't much good at that either.' After one year at the University of Limerick, Lynch attended the University of Tulsa, in Oklahoma, where again his progress was steady but not sensational. After finishing a post-grad degree there this time last year, he reached out to Alistair Cragg, who broke multiple Irish records over the years. Cragg is now head coach, along with his wife Amy, at the Puma Elite Training Team, set up in 2021 and based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Düsseldorf was won by his training partner at Puma, Alex Meier from the US clocking 2:08:32, and Lynch has no doubt the move has served him well. 'Alistair was pretty confident I could run a 2:09, but we didn't really talk about the record. I wasn't focusing on a specific time. The only focus was having a good race.' Tonosa ran another 2:09:52 in Rotterdam earlier this month, and finishing one place behind Lynch on Sunday, Fearghal Curtin ran 2:11:35, his first marathon finish, moving to number 10 on the Irish all-time list. Last month Paul O'Donnell ran 2:10:17 in upstate New York, the fifth fastest on the all-time list. Lynch's 2:09:36 is a B-Standard for the Tokyo World Championships in September. If he gets that call he'll certainly consider it. Irish marathon record progression – the last 45 years 2:12:21: Louis Kenny, Rocket City Marathon, Alabama – December 1980 2:09:56: John Treacy, Los Angeles Olympics – August 1984 2:09:49: Stephen Scullion, London Marathon – October 2020 2:09:42: Hiko Tonosa, Dublin Marathon – October 2024 2:09:36: Peter Lynch, Düsseldorf Marathon – April 2025
