St Cecilia’s College, Lisneal College and Oakgrove Integrated College all held a series of joint Remembrance Day services in their schools to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of World War 1 as part of their Sharing Education Programme project.

The series of events developed out of a strand of their project in which 10 pupils from each of the schools visited Messines in Belgium, the site of famous battle in World War 1 where the 16 Irish Division and the 36 Ulster Division fought alongside each other against the German troops from the Fourth Army.

The purpose of the trip was to give the students firsthand experience of the history, and the horrors, of the First World War. It also gave them a chance to reflect upon the shared history between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, and how this is relevant to their lives today.

All of the students involved found it to be a life changing experience, and they decided to hold the three Remembrance Day services in recognition of the impact their journey has had on them.
The first service was at 9 am in St Cecilia’s College, which was followed by a second one at Lisneal College at 11 am, and finally a third service was held at Oakgrove Integrated College at 2 pm.

All three services followed the same format, and were attended by pupils and staff from all three schools.

The programme involved firsthand accounts of the trip from the pupils, a reading of the poem To My Daughter Betty by Tom Kettle, a rendition of the song John Cordon, and a reading of the poem In Flanders Field by John McCrae.

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