Huge occasion in North Longford as Moyne Community School host Golden Jubilee celebration

Moyne Community School celebrates its Goden Jubilee on Friday, May 3 and Saturday May, 4.

A Mass of Thanksgiving and Remembrance will be celebrated in the gym by Dr Paul Connell, Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois on Friday, May 3 at 7.30pm and past pupils, parents, relatives, and friends are all invited.

The Mass will be followed by a wreath laying ceremony to remember deceased staff and pupils.

Refreshments will be served in the school and all the displays and exhibitions will be available to view. Saturday will see the school open from 12 noon to 6pm for anyone to have a walk around and view all the exhibitions and displays looking back over the last fifty years.

Once again, everyone is welcome to stroll among the memories, meet old friends and bump into past classmates, teammates or people that shared part of the journey.

While the current building is fifty years old, the roots of Moyne Community School can be traced deep into the historic fabric of the area.

Education in the North Longford area began in the 18th century where hedge schools led by a ‘master’ moved from place to place ensuring that young men received a basic education which often included the study of Latin.

In 1897, Fr Philip Duffy secured a site and built a school which became known as the Latin School.

After the introduction of free education in 1966 by Minister Donogh O Malley, the demand for education grew and it was decided to amalgamate the Latin School with the Vocational School in Ballinamuck to form the new Moyne Community School which opened its doors in 1974.

Down Memory Lane | Recognise anyone? Longford students having a ball at 2013 Moyne CS Graduation

The concept of the ‘community school’ was new and radical in structure. Moyne Community School was the first to be built in rural Ireland.

It is a tribute to the open mindedness of the people of the Moyne catchment area, that such a modern concept would be so warmly embraced and that the side of a desolate hill could be transformed into a thriving educational community. From the beginning, Moyne was more than a secondary school and became a school for the whole community.

Night classes in everything from fitness classes for the local ladies, vehicle maintenance, flower arranging, typing skills and an array of other classes were offered to the local community.

At one time there were almost as many enrolled in night classes as there were pupils in the secondary school. Local women, many of them stay at home mothers, were given a new social outlet to meet other women and learn new skills which enhanced their lives at a difficult time for rural Ireland.

Down Memory Lane | Recognise anyone in this gallery of photos from a Longford school graduation in 2014?

That new found value of learning was embedded in the local community and today, Moyne Community School caters for over 620 pupils whose horizons have expended and where every university and third level college in Ireland and abroad is now a realistic aspiration.

Pupils, who wish to pursue an apprenticeship are also encouraged and many of the tradespeople on whom we all depend, learned their initial skills in the workshops of Moyne.

Also read: Longford School Reunion: Joy at Moyne CS Class of 1998 get together

Many visitors comment on the ‘atmosphere’ in the school. It’s elusive to define but it derives to an extent from the school’s tranquil rural setting; surrounded by forest and wide open space which creates a calmness and serenity in itself.

It also derives from the culture of respect, decency, and support that is found in rural Ireland, and it’s a culture that has been practiced and protected throughout the past fifty years by staff, pupils and parents.

PICTURES | Great Longford support at Moyne CS for Gemma McGee Memorial Bursary Fund All Vehicle Run

Fifty years after it opened, Moyne continues to offer the widest possible curriculum and extracurricular opportunities to pupils from surrounding parishes in Cavan, Leitrim and Longford.

There are over twenty ethnic groups represented in the school, creating a vibrant, inclusive and thriving community. The Moyne campus, with a 1.7km Slí na Sláinte, pitches, astroturf, Gym and Eco Park provide both the pupils and the local community with an array of facilities absent in many rural areas.

Also read: Students of Longford's old Moyne Latin School class of sixty years ago to meet again

Moyne grew from the vision of a few and the work of many. It has launched almost five thousand past pupils on many successful routes in medicine, law, business, education, construction, engineering, the creative arts and sport.

Dreams have been kindled, ambitions realised, and memories made. Come along and help us celebrate all that was good, is good and will be good in Moyne in another fifty years.

PICTURES | Big night of celebration for Longford students at Moyne Community School graduation dance