Wardens

For the past 50 years, Scoil na mBuachaillí has run a School Warden programme. This involves helping the pupils safely cross the road at 3 o'clock which is a very busy time outside our school. We are very thankful to have the support of Chris Hinchy who will train the boys in this important skill.

Thank You to Cionnaith O'Suilleabháin for this trip down memory lane,

"A bit of useless information but someone might be interested! I was in 6th Class in 1978-‘79 in “The Big Boys’ School”, now The Parish Centre. The school warden scheme had started a few years previously but only 6th class could be part of it. We were trained by the late Sgt. Henry Ward, RIP. In 1979, the PMPA, a national insurance company announced they’d sponsor a National School Warden Competition whereby all primary schools could select and enter their best school warden team of six plus two subs. Make a long story short, the team I was in (you’d be on the same one for the whole school year and do your duty on the road in rotation every 5-6 weeks), was selected as the best and put forward to represent our school. Sgt. Ward started training is in earnest and I think the Regional Finals (all Munster), were held in early May in Limerick. We all travelled together, subs included and our teacher, in the McMahon family white Peugeot estate car, driven by Gárda Dave, father of our captain John. We were stuffed into it like sardines with the two subs in the boot! We came out best in Munster and in June - after a lot more intense training with Sgt. Ward, we headed for the All Ireland which I think were held in the RTÉ grounds in Donnybrook (I’m open to correction on that). Anyway, we won and were deemed the first ever All Ireland Junior School Warden Team in Ireland! As well as trophies, each team member got a prize of a new bike. But these weren’t presented on the day of our glorious and historic victory against the cream of school wardens from around the country! No these would be transported from Dublin in a couple of weeks to Clonakilty, where a formal presentation would be made to each of us. That much-anticipated day arrived and we were invited to the Town Hall (demolished a few years ago, beside the present day library. The Mayor/Cathaoirleach Clonakilty UDC, Cllr. James P. O’ Regan, made a speech. Sgt. Ward was there, justifiably proud of his achievement, our 6th class teacher, Mr. Con Ó Ruairí, RIP and others such as PMPA reps, etc. The six shiny bikes were presented to each of us. I think they were three speed Raleigh’s? Red in colour, a working bell on the handlebar. BUT, they were girls bikes, and included a tartan basket attached to the carrier behind the saddle for “getting messages from the shop”!! Us lads posed for the press cameras smiling as best we could! It was big news on the papers, etc. - being All Ireland champs not that we got girls bikes! A couple of weeks later, the then new radio station “RTÉ Radio 2” sent their new outside broadcast unit to Clon for a few days. A huge vehicle almost size of a bus, it was parked for a few days at Emmet Square, and programme’s were broadcast live to the nation during that time. One major news item was of course us All Ireland Champs, and we were interviewed by DJ Ruth Buchanan along with Sgt. Ward. The song that was played after our slot was, “36 Trombones” by the Gárda Band! A nod to Sgt. Ward. 45 years on, where or what happened to that great team of ‘79? Our captain, (John McMahon), became a professional golfer and was living in Bulgaria or some nearby country last I heard of him. (His sister Aoife sis a Special Olympics World Gold Medalist). Michael Collins, went on and became an All Ireland GAA Referee, and had a son at the school a couple of years ago. Alan Bluett, whose family had the chemist shop and whose late father took all those great photos in the 60’s and 70’s we enjoy on the website every week. Kieran O’ Regan, (son of the Mayor the day we got the bikes), manages his family business Shannonvale Foods. John O’ Mahony, became a painter/decorator but was one of the thousands who emigrated to the USA a couple of years after secondary school. He’s a big Trump supporter over there. Mise - not much to say. I’ve always been shy, reserved and am rarely seen or heard. Our two subs - Michael Clancy became a horticulturist but sadly died about 5-6 years ago after a battle with cancer. Martin Barry, known to many locally as “Basil”, is a busy painter/decorator in Clon. “STOP THE TRAFFIC. TRAFFIC STOP. CROSS THE ROAD”. Happy days. Great to see the school wardens still going. By the way, the two subs didn’t get bikes - just the “main” team members. They were spared that embarrassment!!!"