News
National award for language loving students

By Michelle Crean
Transition Year students from Killorglin Community College have won a national award.
They were announced as the winners of the Think Languages 2022 social media competition which is in conjunction with Languages Connect, an annual celebration of languages and culture.
The fifth annual #ThinkLanguages event was the biggest yet with over 15,000 TY students taking part from 180 schools nationwide.
This year’s theme once again focused on 'Think Global, Act Local'. Students were encouraged to look at the diversity of languages spoken within their school, community and beyond as inspiration for their activities and events.
Two Transition Year classes together with their teachers, Ms Saoirse Riordan and Ms Karen Fitzgerald, organised a variety of events over a two-week period in November.
These activities included a language class, whereby students of different nationalities taught the Second Years French, German, Ukrainian, Afrikaans and Tamil. There were also language workshops, including a whole school Irish Sign Language workshop along with Polish and Chinese, an exhibition, ‘Le Petit Déjeuner’ and a primary school lesson in which the TY groups taught Spanish to the Fourth Class pupils of Scoil Mhuire, Killorglin. On top of all this, they created a video using greetings in different languages.
The Transition Year students also took part in a 30-minute opening ceremony with inspirational speakers including Olympic Council of Ireland CEO, Peter Sherrard, Comedian Killian Sundermann and Content Creator Mandy Cherie who provided an insight into their relationships with modern foreign languages and the immense value their skills have brought to their lives. This was followed by a virtual quiz where one of their teams came 12th out of over 800 teams.
All events were actively promoted and shared on the group’s social media.
“We are extremely proud of all the Transition Year students who hosted the event," Saoirse Riordan, Spanish Teacher, said. "The creativity, leadership and teamwork skills the students displayed are a testament to them. They fully embraced the initiative which was evident in the variety of languages and cultures represented. As a school that prides itself on being innovative and diverse, this accolade undoubtedly represents what we as a school are about; inclusion, equality and learning.”
News
Killarney twinned with Italian town
By Sean Moriarty It has taken 10 years but the Italian town of Casperia is now an official twin town with Killarney. The idea to twin the picturesque town near […]

By Sean Moriarty
It has taken 10 years but the Italian town of Casperia is now an official twin town with Killarney.
The idea to twin the picturesque town near Rome was first mooted by the old Killarney Town Council.
However, when town councils were discontinued in 2014 the task was handed over to Killarney Town Twining Association and was supported by the elected Killarney Municipal District members of Kerry County Council.
A delegation from the association and the council visited Casperia in 2019 to sign the Italian side of the twining agreement.
The pandemic further delayed the process but on Thursday last Killarney Mayor Niall Kelleher and Casperia Mayor Marco Cusso met to formally sign the charter in Killarney.
“This was honouring a commitment made by the former town council to establish a twinning under European guidelines back in 2014,” said association chairman Sean Counihan.
“Unfortunately the town councils were abolished and Killarney Town Twinning Association pursued the matter.
“We are delighted that the municipal authority saw fit to move the beautiful town of Casperia near Rome from association status to full twinning with Killarney.
“We deeply appreciate the members’ positivity in honouring the former Town Council’s decision.”
The signing between the two mayors took place over the St Patrick’s Festival weekend when Killarney Town Twining Association also welcomed groups from other towns like Pleindfeld in Germany and Concord, North Carolina, USA.
News
Music and fun at Fossa Rambling House
By Sean Moriarty The Fossa Two Mile branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann held its first Rambling House night of music and dance on Saturday night. Their return to the stage […]

By Sean Moriarty
The Fossa Two Mile branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann held its first Rambling House night of music and dance on Saturday night.
Their return to the stage was timed to coincide with the St Patrick’s weekend celebration and also marked the first big event at the Castlerosse Park Resort since it re-opened on Thursday night following its winter break.
As well as a feat of Irish music, dance and poetry, Fossa-based Ukrainians gave performances in their native language too.
“What a great night we had at our CCÉ Rambling House last Saturday night,” Chairman Tim Kissane said.
“There are so many people to thank that we apologise in advance if we miss anybody out. Firstly, to the management and staff Castlerosse Park Resort for hosting our event and the wonderful service they provided.
“To our very talented stalwart musicians Mike Jack, Noreen and Maura who entertained us all so well from start to finish.
“To all our guest performers, from The Racing Pigeons to the Biddy Group and all the singers, musicians and storytellers in between go raibh mile maith agaibh. Special mention to our Ukrainian singers who performed two songs in their native language for us on the night. Thank you to all our members and supporters and to Fear an Tí, Mick Myers agus Bean an Tí, Theresa Kissane who kept the night flowing. Our fireplace display was kindly lent to us by the Beaufort Pioneers and adorned with ‘things of old’ from Brendan O’Sullivan.”
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