St Brigid’s National School opens multi-million euro extension

St Brigid’s National School opens multi-million euro extension. Pictured are representatives of VisionBuilt, Quinn Architects, Limerick and Clare ETB, DEY, Chairperson and Principal of St Brigid’s NS

St Brigid’s National School hosted an official opening ceremony for their new multi-million Euro extension on Wednesday, June 3

St Brigid’s National School welcomed back members of the public and faculty as they celebrated the launch of a new multi-million Euro extension on Wednesday, June 3.

The school proudly welcomed back many pivotal people to this momentous occasion: past Board of Management members; past staff members; members of the local community, and members of the Deptartment of Education & Youth, together with members of the Limerick & Clare Education Board that made the project possible.

Guests were welcomed amid rolling presentations of drawings and reflections from current pupils about what they love most about their “New School” now that the extension has been opened for use.

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There were heartwarming photos on repeat of the pupils enjoying the many, amazing spaces and facilities that they have now that this extension has been completed. It was abundantly clear that St Brigid’s are fiercely proud of their campus. Situated off the Childer’s Road, it is, essentially, a city school However, it has a huge campus that sees their pupils enjoying a host of amenities that a rural school wouldn’t even be blessed with: mature trees; a huge, new polytunnel that was propagating a variety of fruits, vegetables and flowers; apple trees galore; a wild flower meadow and even a pond!!  

St Brigid’s has always worked hard to ensure that their pupils have the best that they can provide for them and, a number of years ago, Sarah Ryan, current Principal, secured funding through a partnership with Limerick Sports Partnership to deliver an Astro pitch for the school. Further facilities that have now been added to the school site since the development of the new extension are sand and water playgrounds and a soft-surface playground complete with slides, swings, climbing frames for the pupils to use.

The new building extension itself was developed to include 4 mainstream classrooms, 2 special classrooms for their autism classes, a sensory room, central activity room, several rooms for special education teachers, a parents’ room and room for their Home School Liaison teacher as well as an administration block.

The Opening Ceremony commenced with the 2nd & 3rd classes choir, who sang St Brigid’s version of the popular Kingfishr “Killeagh” song with their own lyrics, as penned by teacher Tracy Hartigan.

Several students presented symbols of Life at St Brigid’s: A Book to represent the learning at St Brigid’s; a gardening kit to represent the work that happens across their amazing campus; the importance of music was acknowledged with a ukulele and tin whistle; a circle of hands represented inclusion, belonging and friendship that is at St Brigid’s; a tree sapling represented that growth that happens during a pupil’s time at St Brigid’s; the St Brigid’s cross represented the place of faith in the school and  5th & 6th class pupils that will play at the Aviva Stadium in the All-Ireland final of girls soccer were represented on stage too.

Principal, Sarah Ryan, spoke of how long this project has been “in the making”. She described St Brigid’s as being a tapestry that has been woven; a tapestry that has been added to by the many people over the years.

She stated that each person has added their own thread and the result is far greater than any one person could have ever achieved on their own. She spoke of how the school has evolved and grown over the years since it opened in the late 70’s, while always remaining rooted in the community. She acknowledged that the extension that has been delivered now has, in fact, been decades in the making: she acknowledged that previous Principals, Boards on Management, Staff, Parent’s Associations all laid the way for the growth and expansion that has now happened.

She noted her appreciation for “those who led, who served, who thought, who supported and cared for St Brigid’s school over the past 46 yrs.” She believes that their new extension is merely the “latest chapter in a much longer story”.

Looking at the modern, state-of-the-art building extension, it was almost impossible to imagine that “school continued as normal during the build process”. Mrs Ryan outlined how “pupils continued learning and teachers continued teaching every day” while VisionBuilt worked on-site as the major construction project unfolded. She praised the staff of the school as well as VisionBuilt for this amazing feat. The build is of an exceptionally high standard. Mrs Ryan named Eamonn Murphy and  Ger Fannon from the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB) for helping her during the process.

The build process that was used to deliver this extension was ground-breaking in being used in a school project. The extension is a steel-framed modular construction: the groundworks happened simultaneously with steel fabrication for the building happening in Sligo with VisionBuilt. In one day, the project moved from being “a hole in the ground” to 50 truckloads of panels being delivered for assembly to the building as it is today. Mrs Ryan commended VisionBuilt, Quinn Architects; the DEY and LCETB for delivering an “exceptional building”.

Chairperson of the Board of Management, Br. James Dormer, spoke highly of all that is achieved at St. Brigid’s. He praised the dedication and hard work that all who work in St Brigid’s input into their pupils of the school. The beautiful choir, led by teacher, Louise Cashman treated guests to more beautiful performances, ending with a gorgeous rendition of “Go the Distance” which echoed Sarah Ryan’s wishes that the courage and ambition and opportunity that she sees in the new building will be realised by all that attend St Brigid’s.

After the official ceremony was finished, guests were treated to a tour of the new school building, as well as the wider school campus. These tours were led by pupils of the school. These pupils were confident and capable, for sure. But more than that, these pupils were bursting with pride to show-off their amazing school and all the opportunities that are brought to them in their school.

St Brigid’s is a phenomenal school and, perhaps, therefore, it is fitting that they got such a superb extension to their building. The joy and celebration in their Opening Ceremony was something special to be part of.