The Communions in St Colmcilles are over for another year. They were held over three weekends. As always each weekend was full of laughter, tears of joy and absolute fabulousness. The Communicants looked gorgeous as they always do, the dresses were magnificent and the boys, some wore suits, others chinos and shirt, they were all so handsome. I have to give a special mention to the mothers because they looked like they had stepped out of a fashion shoot the style was fantastic, even though so many of them were up late preparing for the next day, stressing all week trying to get everything organised. To look at them on the day you wouldn’t have a clue the amount of stress they had been under, they all looked fabulous and relaxed.
Everyone had high praise for the ceremonies it all went beautifully from start to finish. The junior school choirs and recorder players were fantastic. One tip for all the women wear waterproof mascara and bring plenty of tissues because no matter how hard you try, you are not going to be able to keep the tears from your eyes especially when you see the whole class up on the Altar in all their finery singing their little hearts out. It is a real tear jerker!
I would like to acknowledge the staff because they do so much for this event. They really put in a trojan amount of work into these preparations. This is obvious by how smoothly the Communions run. There are of course the seven second class teachers Ms Johnston, Ms Price, Mr Cassidy, Ms Neary, Ms Hannon, Mr Curtin & Ms O’ Monaghan. They were all fantastic as always. Then there is Mr Boyle & Ms Corduff they attended every ceremony and they both do a lot of work for the communions which we don’t realise as their work is all behind the scenes, so sometimes we forget to thank them too. Ms Gallagher decorated the candy
cart every week with Communion Memorabilia. This was in the doorway of the hall and a lot of people took photos beside it. It was really lovely and received a lot of praise. Trudagh and Joan (who has been with the school for over 20 years) created the beautiful floral arrangements on each table for the reception after the mass each week. The flowers were absolutely amazing and everyone commented on how beautiful they were and how the flowers really lifted the hall.
Then of course there were the receptions in the school halls after the Masses. Here everyone could relax a bit, get a cuppa and a sandwich, take class photos and just breath again. The receptions are run by the P.A. Committee along with parent volunteers. We had a huge amount of volunteers this year which was fantastic. Events like this wouldn’t be able to take place without the volunteers, so thank you to all, we really appreciated your help. 
I want to say a special thank you to the committee also they really put a huge amount of time and work into it. People who volunteer for the first time are shocked at how much preparation goes into the receptions, it is like a military operation but it really pays off. The feedback we received was brilliant, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and at the end of the day that is what it is all about.
It is really lovely to be able to do things for other parents and families of the school. It is a big occasion and a really joyous one, and I along with the committee and volunteers really enjoyed being able to play a small part in making the Communicants day a special one.