Seir Kieran NS, Clareen, Birr, Co. Offaly

1983 Extension

In 1973 Mr. Damien White, the then Principal, applied for an extension and improved accommodation for the school. Canon Collier, Damien White, Principal, and members of the Board of Management, Mrs. Bernie Dooley, Mrs. Tim Mulrooney, Mrs. K. Oakley and Mr. Jackie Ryan were responsible for bringing this project to its fruition.
On 5 March 1983 a £60,000 programme of work at Seir Kieran’s NS., which included a complete refurnishing of the building and a new classroom extension was blessed by Most Rev. Dr. Lawrence Forristal, Bishop of Ossory and officially opened by Mr. Paddy Lalor, MEP.
That morning the traditional mass and pilgrimage to St. Kieran’s Holy Well and the unique St. Kieran’s Bush took place with the newly created parish priest, Fr. Sean Collier assisting the Bishop throughout.
The official opening of the school took place in the afternoon when Bishop Forristal was received by the school principal, Mr . Damien White and his assistant, Mrs. Majella Gibbons.

“An act of faith in the future of the Seir Kieran Parish community” was how Bishop Forristal described the event. Congratulating everyone concerned with providing such excellent facilities for the children of the parish, he said that these days we were all inclined to think of larger schools and amalgamations of schools. He was particularly pleased that the school had been retained and extended, as Seir Kieran was a small parish isolated from the rest of the Diocese. He was happy that the local people had expressed their desire to retain their Diocesan identity within the school. The children, he said, had now available in their school, the best opportunities and facilities and that was as it should be. There was no reason why people in the country should not enjoy facilities of the same standards as those made available to students in cities and larger towns.

Bishop Forristal paid tribute to the work of Fr. Collier, Damien White and the Board of Management as well as the fundraisers and the people of the parish who had raised their share of the cost of the work.
Mr. Paddy Lalor was asked to officially open the extension because he was very active and helpful, along with other public representatives, in getting sanction for the work. He said he was pleased to be present for the culmination of the work done by their parish priest, teachers and Board of Management, all of whom had pressed hard to ensure that the children of the parish had the facilities they were entitled to. He said the parishioners had displayed the “spirit of the old four walls”. The school was built in 1874 and the original debt for the work had been cleared off by the excellent local committee.