St Joseph's N.S.

A large crowd gathered in the Church of the Assumption, Ballingarry last night to pay tribute to Mrs Rosanne Corcoran who is retiring on September 1st after 41 years of teaching. Rosanne who spent 34 of those years teaching in Ballingarry was accompanied on her special night by her daughter Áine and two of her three sons Padraig and Martin (her third son Liam was unavoidably absent).
Family, friends, colleagues and pupils past and present received souvenir Mass booklets as they entered the Church to the pleasant strains of Ms. Martina Bowe's tin whistle group. Ballingarry Parish Priest, the Rev Fr Thomas Breen celebrated the special Mass dedicated to the Sacred Heart in Rosanne's honour. He delivered a sensitive and thoughtful homily in which he outlined Rosanne's many talents as a teacher and thanked her for all her hard work down through the years. Music was provided by the St. Joseph's School Choir, smartly bedecked in their new school uniforms and led by Mrs. Deirdre Egan and accompanied by Ms. Una Crowe on keyboard and Mr Liam Noonan on guitar. Readings and Prayers of the Faithful were read by various people whose lives benefitted from knowing Rosanne as either mother, colleague, friend or teacher.
There was one last treat for Rosanne before the congregation decamped to the school for refreshments as Ms Una Crowe led a motley group of teachers through a spirited rendition of 'Cill Aodáin'. This seemed to set the tone for the rest of the evening. People queued up to shake Rosanne's hand and wish her well. Laughter rang out as anecdotes were swopped and memories shared.
Everyone was delighted to find that the short journey up the hill through the mist was well worth it when they saw the feast that awaited them in the school. The Parents' Council might just have to go into the catering business after this one! They didn't rest until everyone had a cup of tea in their hand and a selection of cake within easy reach. Then came the speeches, the plaudits and the presentations as Rosanne was made very much aware of the high esteem in which she is held by the Ballingarry community. There was time then for quite a few songs and a dance or two as Una and Liam struck up the music once more. Then with the strains of 'For She's A Jolly Good Fellow' still ringing in the ears and lingering in the brain final tributes were paid to lady who gave so much to the people of Ballingarry.
On behalf of everyone at St. Joseph's we would like to sincerely thank Rosanne for devoting herself to the pupils of our school for so long and for her expertise, help and advice, freely dispensed whenever it was needed. May her retirement be a long and happy one.

A special word of thanks goes out to Fr Breen and Mrs Mally Noonan for organising such a touching and enjoyable night and to Mrs. Peggy Maher and Ms. Rose Gahan for all their unheralded work behind the scenes.

For an assortment of photographs of the evening click on the arrow to activate the slideshow.