Some of our 6th Years outside the Natural History Museum in London

6th Year Trip to London September 2018…read article here.

TY’s at the Reichstag, February 2019

TY Trip to Berlin February 2019…Read Article here.

6th Year Trip to London September 2017

Thursday 14th September (Katie Daly)Collage

Driving to Kerry airport the atmosphere was electric. Fifty Mercy Mounthawk students crammed into the small waiting area in Farranfore airport, then bustled onto the Ryanair plane and flew silently over the Irish sea to Gatwick airport: our sixth year school tour to London had begun! Miss Thornton had begun planning our sixth year school tour to London last January and it was finally happening.

Friday 15th September (Sally O’Mahony)

Early Friday morning, we awoke, bleary-eyed to the bright London sunlight peeping through the curtains. The sluggishness didn’t linger too long however, as we were all very excited for the day’s itinerary.

Buckingham Palace was the most elaborate, exquisite place I had ever been in in my life. The ceilings dripped with crystal chandeliers, most of the rooms were carpeted in rich crimson velvet, and almost everything seemed to be filigreed with gold. At 12:30pm we went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to attend a performance of King Lear.

Saturday, 16th September (Rachel Deasy)

It was an early morning: 6.30am. Alarms were ringing. Showers firing. Clothes flying. Toothpaste foaming. And most importantly for some; make-up applying!

By 8.45 we were all on the bus making our way back to the Globe Theatre where we received a guided tour from jovial Londoner. We got a chance to experience watching a play from a groundling’s perspective; teachers and students alike were squashed together like sardines. After a very entertaining tour, we visited the Globe gift shop. Ms. Buckley made great use of ‘Shakespeare’s Insults’ – on students! The teachers left at home weren’t completely forgotten. Mark McDonnell purchased a ‘Nothing Will Come of Nothing’ magnet for Ms. Bunce. Before we bid farewell to the Bard’s Globe, Mr. O’Roarke presented Ms. Thornton with a small gift as a thank you from all of us, which was followed by a thunderous applause.

Read Full London Article 2017 – Katie, Sally, Rachel and Ciara (1)

TY Trip to Berlin February 2018

103 Students and 11 teachers spent 5 days in Berlin in February 2018, where we visited the Reichstag,many museums, did loads of walking and generally had a great time. Probably the most poignant visit was to the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen just outside the city. Sachesenhausen was the central administration point for the entire Third reich cencentration Camp system.

The students also had a guided tour of the city , the highlight of which was the visit to the remains of the Berlin Wall. The Students visited the Zoological Gardens and Checkpoint charlie where west met east in that divided city.

The Berlin Bunker , where life in those monolithic concrete creationduring the months before the fall of Berlin and indeed the collapse of the Third Reich could be imagined close at hand. thousands of German citizens packed so tightly so that everyone had to stand. If someone died on their feet they were unable to fall due to the crush.

Other highlights included a night time trip up the TV tower, a visit to the Deutches Historic Museum and a night walk through the city and into the Holocaust Memorial.

Holocaust Memorial Berlin – Sinead Foran

2nd Year Trips

The second years have travelled to many parts of Europe over the past few years including France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the UK. In recent years the 2nd year trip has focused on Spain and provides students with the opportunity to practice their language skills.

TY Trips

Transition year students have the opportunity for at least one foreign trip during the year. Transition Year students have been in Paris, the UK and Strasbourg and most recently Italy and Berlin. Read an account of the TY trip in Italy.

Other: Many subjects such as Geography, History, English and Biology also organise field trips during the school year. These have included theatre trips to Cork, ecology outings to Killarney National Park and Ballybunion and historical locations such as the Bridewell in Tarbert.

It is no surprise that amongst the memories students carry from school, very often the highlights are associated with school trips: life on the bus, the sharing of rooms, a chance to get to know teachers in another environment and of course the educational experience!

Read a student account of the Madrid trip – 2nd year 2011 Madrid trip 2011.