Willis Memorial Prize for Shakespeare 2020

Congratulations to Eliza Somerville, winner of this year's Willis Memorial Prize for Shakespeare, and to Sinead Cleary and Shannon Dent, who were awarded Commendations for their entries. In addition, Fourth Formers Marcus O'Connor and Oscar Sternberg gained Distinctions with fine entries from Fourth Form.

The paper asked candidates to consider the tricky complex Sonnet 71 ('No longer mourn for me when I am dead') and then the 'memorability' of the plays. Candidates ranged widely across Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice and Julius Caesar. Thanks and well done to all who entered, especially in these 'distanced' days. But Shakespeare draws us together...

Senior Poetry Prize 2019

Last night at Voices of Poetry (a report comes shortly), Tania Stokes was named as the winner of this year's Peter Dix Memorial Prize for Poetry, and she read out 'Seeing Tunnels', a sonnet. Also here are two other poems in her winning portfolio, 'Friend in Waiting' and 'The Edge of the Woods'.


Seeing Tunnels
I hear it whispered love can make you soar
On ruby wings or diamonds of delight.
What I have found must be the rough-hewn ore –
It glitters crudely, underground – at night.
And should I toil away within the mines,
With instruments in stubborn mettle bound?
I pry my gems from rock in these confines,
No surface trace of slaving to be found.
But just how fine a cut can I perfect
When tunnels, low and dim, are all I see?
Will he, when I present the jewels, reject
My imitation of identity?
  So maybe love’s not solely in the mined.
  It shines with Sun and grit of hearts combined.



The Edge of the Woods

We stretched ourselves upon the grass,
Backs dappled with cautious shadows;
Beech and horse chestnut trees restless
And snickering, wind winnowing
Soft through the blades of forest glades.
The stand seemed to bow and recede –
The recoiling of a snail’s eye.
Stalks of wild rye murmured below.

Right then, at the edge of the woods,
The gate lodge of the wilderness,
Time stopped. We both waited, bodies
Against the earth, the warmth and weight
Of soil beneath us as we breathed.
We may never have been worthy.
But nature offered us a glimpse,
A fleeting glimmer of forgiveness:

A rabbit, winking in the grass.
The sun sparkled between two clouds
And golden light licked the whiskers
On the twitching head. A white tail
Arced silently over the ground,
Ears swivelled, catching heaven’s glow
And blushing like fugitive gems.
We were close enough to see veins.



Friend in Waiting

A daily face, pale and interesting –
Introspective when its gaze is resting.
His features, white and frail,
Are veiled, celestial:

There's a delicate wisdom – about
The downturned corners of his frozen mouth –
And downy wisps of hair
Fall roundabout.

I've never seen him whisper or confide.
He has a depth that silence kept provides;
Whatever rests unsaid
Matures inside.

Yet when I spy him drifting on his way
I wonder if appearances betray
The person underneath
This soft array.

Like those who yearn on Keats’s Grecian Urn,
I hope his ghostly image is eternal.
We can't be friends
For fear of what I'd learn.

English Prizes

Congratulations to the winners of the English Prizes this year: Catherine Butt (Senior) and Marcus O'Connor (Junior).


Distinctions for good entries also went to

VI - Helen Crampton, Laetitia Schoenburg and Isabelle Townshend.
V - Shannon Dent.
IV - Eile Ni Chianain and Sinead Cleary.
III - Iona Chavasse, Avi Johnston and Donald Thomson.
II - Emily McCarth.
I - Lorne Walsh.

There are three other prizes awarded by the Department in the coming months: Junior and Senior Poetry, and Shakespeare.

English Prizes 2018

Congratulations to the following, and thanks to the many pupils who entered for the prize. Papers will be returned by your English teacher, with brief comments.

Senior English Prize

Winner
André Stokes

Form Distinctions go to:
VI: Nyla Jamieson, Adaeze Mbafeno
V: Catherine Butt, Caoimbhe Cleary, Isabelle Townshend
IV: Shannon Dent


Junior English Prize

Winner
Eile Ni Chianáin

Form Distinctions go to:
III: Imogen Casey, Aurora Higgins Jennings, Charlotte Moffitt
I: Tadgh Rane O Cianáin
P: Elizabeth Hart

Junior Poetry Prize
Details of the Junior Prize will be posted soon.

Senior Poetry Prize
This will take place next term.

Willis Memorial Shakespeare Prize
This will be held early next term.

National Poetry Competition

Many congratulations to Tania Stokes, who has been awarded second place in the junior section of National Poetry competition from  PDST/WellRead for her poem ‘Resonance’. The awards ceremony is on November 7th at the CityWest Hotel.


'Resonance'

I balanced on the strings.
Light as a tightrope walk:
Tentative, timid.
The first sound crept
At the draw of the bow
Like some small creature
From the dark.

I missed my mark.
The tone not true,
My arrow flew into
Nothing. The music played
Itself in my head. Pure,
Featherweight. Nimble.
Lacking.

I composed myself;
I could see it, crystalline,
The filigree lines.
I fixed my aim.
No stray note would escape.
I would catch it
And carve it to perfection.

But I was mistaken
In my reflection.
A cello’s purpose
Is not to take away –
Music grows. Its source?
A spark. Music throws flames
To the dark, illuminates hearts.

I reached deep, my arrow
Steeped in power. The melody,
I let it fly and it soared high –
It felt alive. I dived
Into the rising tide, and once inside,
I let it carry me to shore.
Music is more than perfection.

Shakespeare Prize

Congratulations to Harry Oke-Osanyintolu, winner of this year's Willis Memorial Prize for Shakespeare. The exam for this was held last term, and Harry wrote very well on the unseen sonnet, as well as in the general question, using mostly his knowledge from studying Julius Caesar earlier in Transition Year.

Willis Memorial Prize for the Knowledge of Shakespeare 2016

Congratulations to Hollie Canning, who has won this year's Shakespeare Prize, after sitting an examination on the plays and a sonnet.

Saturday is the 400th anniversary of  Shakespeare's death (and also his 452nd birthday), and on Monday all Sixth and Fifth Form will receive a Shakespeare400 supplement from the Irish Independent.

Willis Prize for the Knowledge of Shakespeare

The Willis Memorial Shakespeare Prize 2016 will be held on Monday 18th April (the week of Shakespeare’s birthday and deathday) at 7.15pm to 8.45pm in Adare or 4 to 5.30pm in the Library

 (other times are possible if you find these difficult: see JMG).

All pupils in these forms have studied at least one play by Shakespeare, which you can use in the general question (60 minutes) about his plays.  Questions will be very open, allowing you to show your knowledge of and insights into the play(s) you choose.  

In addition, you can/should use knowledge of any other plays you have studied, read, or seen on stage / film.

The second question (30 minutes) will be an unseen poetry question on a sonnet by Shakespeare.

Senior English Prize 2015-16

Congratulations to Louvisa Karlsson-Smythe on winning this year's Senior English Prize with an outstanding essay. The prize itself will be presented at the St Columba's Day prize-giving in June.

Also, congratulations to the following, who receive a Distinction and a book token each for their fine entries: Melissa Halpenny, Callum Pery-Knox-Gore, Courtney McKee.

Essay Success

Many congratulations to Nyla Jamieson of Transition Year on being one of the winners of the UCC School of Law essay competition for 2015-16, with her essay on water charges. On Thursday, Nyla will attend the prize presentation and lecture evening at UCC. Well done to Nyla for her initiative in taking part; her essay will be an impressive part of her school Work Portfolio, too. More on this in due course.

Shakespeare Prize 2015

Congratulations to the winner of the Willis Memorial Prize for Shakespeare 2015, Iyobosa Bello-Asemota, and to John Clarke, who was awarded a Commendation for his entry. 

One of the tasks the candidates had to complete was an analysis of the tricky and interesting Sonnet 71:


No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Then you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it; for I love you so
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O, if, I say, you look upon this verse
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse.
But let your love even with my life decay,
   Lest the wise world should look into your moan
   And mock you with me after I am gone.

Junior Poetry Prize, 2014

The theme of this year's Junior Poetry Prize is Movement (sport, dance, moving house, changing places, planets spinning, flexibility, little flutters, enormous earthquakes, the sea, first steps, spinning, a bullet moving, a ballerina, slow steps, quick jumps...).

Any interpretation of the above theme is welcome.  Poems should be twelve lines or more, and each entrant may enter as many poems as they wish. You should e-mail your poem(s) to Ms Smith or hand your poem to your English teacher or Ms Smith no later than Thursday 3rd of April 2014.

Senior Poetry Prize 2013-14

Entries are invited to our annual Senior Poetry Prize, in memory of Old Columban Peter Dix (above, the sculpture by Joe Sloan which is displayed in the Library). 

This year the themes are Freedom and/or Friendship and/or Family. Entries should contain a portfolio of two to five poems of 40 lines at most, and at least 10 lines. The winning entry will be chosen on the overall standard of the entrant's collection. As usual, the best entries will be posted here.

Poems are to be emailed to Mr Canning by Friday 24th May.

English Prizes 2013

Congratulations to the winners of the 2014 English Prizes – Siobhán Brady (senior) and Callum Pery-Knox-Gore (junior). There were large fields in both prizes, of a pleasingly high standard, and the following have been awarded Distinctions for excellent entries:

Sadhbh Sheeran (VI), Brendan Dickerson (VI), Ally Boyd Crotty, Eliza Hancock, Sofia McConnell, Iyobosa Bello-Asemoto, John Clarke (all V), Louvisa Karlsson-Smythe (IV), Phoebe Otway-Norwood (III), Helena Gromotka (II), Nyla Jamieson (II) and Catherine Butt (I).

Junior Poetry Prize, 2013

Congratulations to the winner of this year's Junior Poetry Prize, Lucia Masding (Primary) for her poem 'A New Day Dawns' and also to Hollie Canning and Catherine Butt for their commended poems, which will also be posted here in the coming days.  The theme given to candidates was 'Old and New'.


'A New Day Dawns'
by Lucia Masding

The sun beams down on the glass windows,
A new day dawns.
Exhaustion for the old man,
Excitement for the young boy.

The young boy energetically bursts out of bed,
While the old man, with great effort, rolls out of bed.
The young boy leaps down the stairs two by two,
His face blooming with eagerness.
The old man descends down on the stair lift,
His face glowering with weariness.

The young boy guzzles down his cereal bar and toast
As the old man gradually consumes his porridge.
The young boy waits impatiently for his orange juice,
The old man tightly clasps the warmth of his tea.

Soon the young boy bounds out of the front door to play football,
Meanwhile the old man wonders what to do.

Later the young boy explodes through the door,
Sweat trickling down his rosy cheeks,
Eager to play on his bike.
The old man thumps down on the couch
Sighing with sheer boredom.

The young boy groans about going to bed
Although he is worn out.
But the old man gladly retires to the warmth
Of his electric blanket.

The young boy eagerly awaits tomorrow, and next year.
The old man wonders if he will live to see another day.

Shakespeare Prize, 2013

Congratulations to Hamish Law, winner of the 2013 Willis Prize for Knowledge of Shakespeare and to Kezia Wright, who is awarded a Distinction and book token as runner-up. Shakespeare remains at the heart of our Department's work, and this annual prize recognises the importance we continue to give him, with his plays studied in the final five years of schooling here.

The candidates had to write an essay on what makes the plays memorable, and also address as an unseen poem Sonnet 57 to the 'fair youth'. The best entries dealt with the underlying anxiety of this memorable work:

Being your slave what should I do but tend
Upon the hours, and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend;
Nor services to do, till you require.
Nor dare I chide the world without end hour,
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour,
When you have bid your servant once adieu;
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought
Save, where you are, how happy you make those.
So true a fool is love, that in your will,
Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.

English Prizes 2012

Congratulations to the winners of the 2012-13 English Prizes - Catie McGonagle (Senior) and Harvey McCone (Junior).  Thanks to all other candidates who put themselves forwards for the prizes, too.

There are three more prizes to be awarded by the English Department - the Senior and Junior Poetry Prizes (more details here shortly) and the Willis Memorial Prize for the Knowledge of Shakespeare (next term).

2012 Drama Prizes

Many congratulations to the winners of the annual College drama prizes:-

• Senior Drama Prize: Robin Fitzpatrick, for his work in the Shakespeare Society production of The Comedy of Errors in November (playing Antipholus of Ephesus).
• Fry Prize for Stagecraft: Opeline Kellett, for her contributions to College drama.
• Junior Drama Prize: Lydia Johnson and Mark McAuley, for their work in the Junior Play, The Field, in March.

Junior Poetry Prize, 2012

Congratulations to Samuel Clarke, who has won this year's Junior Poetry Prize for the poem below, 'It is Time', which is seen through the eyes of Padraig Pearse, leader of the 1916 Rising (and headmaster of St Enda's School just down the road from the College).

It is Time

Sunrise,

The soft, threaded light of morning                                                                                                   
seeps through the window’s rusty bars,
trickling down into the dampened darkness,                                                                     
and envelops its pale folds into the cell in which I lie.

The time I have so dreaded is approaching.

The cry of a twisting key,                                                                                                       
sounds from the cell’s door handle lock,                                                                                
and a screech shatters the peaceful silence,                                                                                   
as solemn faces pull back the whining door and beckon my exit.

Precious little time is rapidly slipping my grasp.

My hands now clasped in metal cuffs,                                                      
I trudge slowly down the sorrowful corridors,
and out into the dawn’s prevailing dazzle                                                                            
that casts shadows from Kilmainham’s high prison walls.

The ticking clock draws me closer still to the fate I am bound to face.

At the Courtyard’s far end,                                                                                                              
six green uniforms stand, with gleaming guns,                                                              
awaiting to part my lifeless body from my fearful soul,
that now shakes me viciously in agonising despair.

I have few seconds left.

Wrists wrapped to a wooden pole,                                                                                                     
my eyes turn to the crimson-lit sky,                                                                                    
and to the veils of light which spread their fan-like rays.
I witness the sunrise that has signalled my end.

It is time.

They concentrate their sombre gazes,
and point their rifles with steady stares.
"Lord Jesus Christ receive my soul",                                                                                                 
And a thunderous crack splits the air…

Time comes to a sudden halt.

Yet lifeless as I may be,                                                                                                            
though I will lie cold in a lonely grave,                                                                          
A pulse of pride still strongly beats,                                                                                                       
Through the man condemned in Ireland’s name.

2012 Shakespeare Prize

Congratulations to Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi, winner of the 2012 Willis Memorial Prize for Knowledge of Shakespeare, and to Opeline Kellett, who receives a Commendation for her entry. Candidates wrote about Sonnet 71 (see below), and also an essay on 'the creation of memorable characters' in the plays.

No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it, for I love you so,
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot,
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O! if, I say, you look upon this verse,
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse;
But let your love even with my life decay;
   Lest the wise world should look into your moan,
   And mock you with me after I am gone.