The warm tone of a Harp rang out as parents, pupils, teachers and principals packed the newly refurbished entrance rooms of Armagh Parochial Hall on Tuesday, November 25.
The occasion was the award ceremony of the Monsignor Raymond Murray Memorial Poetry Competition run by the Cathedral Parish of Armagh.
The aim of the competition was to remember the amazing legacy of the late Monsignor Raymond Murray who passed away earlier this year.
Pupils heard how through his faith and by following the teachings of Jesus, Fr Murray was able to make a remarkable difference and impact on the lives of the people he served in Armagh and further afield.
As well as loving the people he served, he loved the place he was from, writing many historical books as well as poem books in both English and Irish.
The competition required pupils in Primary six or Ranga Sé to carry out research into a building, person or place in their local area and then pen a poem about it.
The adjudication panel was amazed by both the amount and quality of entries received.
There were prizes for both Bunscoil and English Medium entries.
Pupils who wrote winning poems in the English Medium Competition were; Liesel from Mount St Catherine’s Armagh, Lucy from Our Lady’s Tullysarran, Molly from St Joseph’s Madden, Aurora from St Patrick’s Armagh, Alix from Our Lady’s and Saint Mochua’s Derrynoose and the winner of the Monsignor Murray Memorial Cup for the first year was Charlie from St Patrick’s Primary School Armagh, with his poem ‘Emain Macha’.
In the Bunscoil competition, the winning poems were written by; Grace, St Francis’ Lurgan and Ben, Emily, Alfie from Armagh CBS and first place taking the Bunscoil Cup back to Armagh CBS was James with his poem ‘An Móinsíneoir Ó Muiri’.
Armagh Parish would like to congratulate all pupils and schools that took part and thank all involved in what has been a wonderful inaugural year of the Monsignor Raymond Murray Memorial Competition.
