Pupils of a County Armagh primary school unwrapped a real ‘golden ticket’ when their Irish language version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory scooped them an All-Ireland award.
And the principal of St Francis of Assisi Primary and entire school community are beyond proud of the children’s achievements.
Now, a special celebration is being lined up at the Keady school so that family can come along and share in their collective delight.
A 42-strong group of children, aged between seven and 10, took Searlaí agus an Mhonarcha Seacláide – their Irish language offering of the drama based on the classic Roald Dahl book – to three different venues en route to national success.
The local competition was held at the Market Place Theatre in Armagh, open to schools from around Newry and Armagh. From there, they qualified for the regional stage of the competition, which was held in Letterkenny in County Donegal.
There was no stopping the Keady contingent then as they progressed to the National School Drama Festival finals in Mullingar, County Westmeath, marching on to glory in a mere matter of months.
Searlaí agus an Mhonarcha Seacláide on stage.
Searlaí agus an Mhonarcha Seacláide, directed by Róise Ní Aodha, scored an All-Ireland award for St Francis of Assisi, while they also took another prize for Choral Singing and Choreography.
The hugely successful festival, held at the Arts Centre in Mullingar over the last two weeks of April, featured more than 40 plays. These included a mix of musicals, newly written plays and well-known productions performed by primary schools, post-primary schools, and youth groups from across the country during this national celebration of drama.
A plaque in recognition of the hard work, creativity and dedication of the students was presented to every school and youth group that took part in the festival.
The accomplishment for the locals is all the more special, given that this is the Keady school’s National Irish School Drama Festival debut.
Searlaí agus an Mhonarcha Seacláide has been scooping awards for St Francis of Assisi Primary School in Keady.
But that certainly was not through choice – and this certainly will not be the last.
Principal Feena Hughes told Armagh I : “This is our first time. We actually are up as far as Rang a seacht (Primary 7) in the school. We only got our development proposal passed by the Department of Education last May, so we’ve only been a recognised Gaelscoil from May past, and we’re now moving into Rang a seacht next September.
“So it’s our first time entering the drama because this is the first time we’ve had children old enough to enter.
“The competition is run for Irish medium drama. Our script was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They worked on that play for the locals and then improved upon it time after time and plenty of practice went in at the local Parochial Hall then for us to proceed to Letterkenny before we were nominated to go through to the All-Ireland.”
With such success so early on, Mrs Hughes believes it is a firm indication of the love of the Irish language and the children’s willingness and passion to learn.
Two pupils gladly accept the All-Ireland drama awards at a presentation in Clontarf.
“It’s a massive achievement for the school,” she added. “The school community is immensely proud of each and every child who participated in and performed Searlaí agus an Mhonarcha Seacláide at the National Drama Festival – Féile Scoildramaíochta.
“The Irish-medium unit, now successfully operating for over six years, is a shining example of what can be achieved in embedding Irish-medium education within the local community. We commend the children’s everyday use of Irish language through their immersive educational experience, and appreciate how the festival has provided a wonderful opportunity to showcase their confidence and linguistic ability, both within the community and further afield.
“The standard of Irish language that the children have actually been able to acquire over the last six years in the Irish medium, in the Gaelscoil – and the richness of the Irish language that has been acquired through participation in the Féile Scoildrámaíochta – has been just absolutely outstanding.
“It’s amazing how much Irish the children actually acquire through speech and drama.”
With 2026 done and dusted, as far as the drama festival goes, what of 2027?
“We would hope to take part again next year,” Mrs Hughes confirmed. “For the children at such a young age to be able to have a stage to showcase their Irish is absolutely fabulous and that’s all in appreciation of the Féile Scoildrámaíochta committee, who run the competition from local right through to national level.
“It’s very difficult for us in Irish medium to find quality performances that we could take the children to, where the Irish language is of a high standard. We took our younger class into Armagh to see a couple of the dramas from the other schools as well, so it’s a real celebration of the Irish language throughout the Irish medium schools.”
St Francis of Assisi PS won best overall production in Armagh, followed by best choreography and production at national level.
Two pupils travelled to the Clasac Centre in Clontarf, County Dublin, for the national presentations last week, when they were presented with the overall Féile Scoildrámaíochta Award.
The children have all received individual medals awarded at each section, from Armagh to Letterkenny then Mullingar.
But there’s no point winning all of these awards if you can’t, pardon the expression, make a real song dance of it!
To that end, St Francis of Assisi will mark the occasion on Friday week.
“We’re doing a celebration presentation for our parents and our grandparents in the school,” said the principal. “We had quite a lot of very excited family members who attended at all of the competitions and we’re just doing a wee celebratory event in the school here to showcase the awards.”
