Coláiste Éamann Rís compiling book on school history before it merges with St Brigid’s College in Callan

If you or somebody close to you attended Coláiste Éamann Rís in Callan, your stories and successes are being sought.

The school’s in the process of amalgamating with St Brigid’s College to become Coláiste Abhainn Rí from September 2022. (More on that here and here).

As they move forward, the current boys secondary in Callan is looking back and putting together a book to celebrate its own history.

Martina Griffin teaches there and she explains why, telling KCLR News “It’s really important that we have something nice that is a book that’s going to compose all the various, wonderful achievements that we’ve had in the school over the years and to remember our past pupils and the wins they’ve had on and off the pitch, academically, in sport, just the whole holistic side of the school, we would be just thrilled if anybody had any photographs, articles or stories that they would like to see included from their own time or their loved ones time at our school we would just love them to get in touch”.

She adds they want to ensure everything’s included, noting “I would hate for people to say you know my son or my brother or myself that I did this or that in the school and it’s not in it at all, there’ no mention of it, it’s hard if we don’t get the information in you know so the more, anything anybody has at home old photographs, a story they want to share with us or an article we can put together we’d be just thrilled to get that in”.

Ms Griffin also says “We’ll be back in school from next Wednesday the 25th so people are welcome to drop in in person at the school and if they have old photographs we can scan them and give them straight back to them or they can send on any information they have digitally to [email protected] or just get in touch with any of the staff, any of us over the ‘phone”.

Meanwhile, that return will also see something historic take place with some students starting in the next school uniform of Colaiste Abhainn Rí.

Ms Griffin says “Big changes around Callan to see a different uniform on the boys and girls that are starting into first year, so there’s always been cooperation between the two schools over the last number of years with subject choice, senior cycle, but now for these incoming first years they will actually be sharing some of the choice classes this yeara and then September 2022 is the proposed amalgamation for both sides, the schools will be together then from September 2022”.