Diocesan News27 Apr 16

Centenary of the Easter Rising 1916 – Proclamation Day in Schools in Cork, Cloyne and Ross

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.