June 2023 marked the end of an era where we celebrated the retirement of our outgoing principal, Mr. Peter Carney after thirty-four years of dedicated service. This also unveiled the official opening of our new Astro-Pitch.
There were deserved, significant celebrations underway to commend our wonderful retiree. Our hard-working Parents Association and Board of Management did much to enhance the celebrations of this day. Live music, speeches, food and a huge-turnout added significantly to this special day.
Former Carrowholly N.S. students Lee Keegan (retired Mayo footballer) and Shannon Sweeney (champion boxer) were in attendance and cut the ribbon for the occasion.
We wish to thank everyone who joined us on the day; staff, parents, students, Board of Management members past and present, members of the Parents Association, former students and parents, former staff, members of our wider community, colleagues of Mr. Carney from local schools, local councillors, neighbours and of course Fr. Jim Walsh who blessed our new Astro-pitch.
Thanks to all who donated towards our new Astro-Turf i.e., families, individuals, businesses and members of our wider community.
Mr. Carney achieved so much in his career, always with a ‘can do’ attitude. It is impossible to list all of his extensive achievements so a number are noted below:
2001: All-Ireland Cumann na mBunscol winners (Carrowholly N.S.)
2002, 2003, 2004: Roadstone Awards at which Carrowholly came within the top three
2022: All-Ireland Club Final where Peter and past pupils were heavily involved. Well done to Kilmeena!
He always displayed a love of sport and music and instilled the same love in his students.
The Clew Bay Pipe Band has been a more recent success story, rising to fame in a short time including our Carrowholly N.S. students. Invaluable opportunities were provided to our students to display their musical talents.
Mr. Carney spearheaded the extension of our school from a small two-roomed building to our current expanded building that is a resource to the whole community.
Christmas has always been a great time of celebration in Carrowholly N.S. It took days and sometimes weeks to decorate the school with florescent lights, giant Santas, Christmas gnomes, and a blast of Christmas music always coming from the speaker. It's hard to know who benefitted most from this sense of yuletide – Mr. Carney or the children. Visiting teachers often commented that Carrowholly was the best decorated school in the county.Mr. Carney always wrote his own plays – you might remember performances like ‘Tommy Turkey’ one of his favourites, 'The K Factor’,' Elves on strike' to name but a few. All classics as you can well imagine! They were classics to the children too.
In Carrowholly N.S. it was always about the children- what was best for them. In a climate where schools could get caught up in paper work, red tape and bureaucracy Mr. Carney always prioritized contentment, happiness and making it a child-centered environment.
Looking ahead, Peter, we offer you our very best wishes from the staff, the children, the parents and the wider community.
We don’t expect you’ll be idle, we don’t expect you’ll let life pass you by. We hope everything you touch will turn to gold and that you will keep a place in your heart for all of us in Carrowholly N.S. and I trust you will.
From: the Staff and Students of Carrowholly N.S.
