1916 Flag Ceremony

Last Tuesday (Oct 20th) the boys and girls of Lisnagry experienced a little piece of history. Two members of the Defence Forces came to the school to present us with our national flag and a copy of the 1916 Proclamation. They were Sergeant Barry Sheehan and Private Katie Twohig.

They explained to all the classes in a packed hall that they had come to present the flag, and that it was a part of the government’s commemoration of the 100^th anniversary of 1916, and that next year every school in Ireland will raise the flag on March 15^th. This day will be known as Proclamation Day. He also invited the children to write their own version of the proclamation which will be read out on that day also.

Sergeant Sheehan proceeded to read the proclamation, and he stopped after the 3^rd paragraph, so Eoin from 6th class could read the next paragraph. This paragraph mentions equal rights and opportunities for all Irish citizens and contains the phrase “cherishing all the children of the nation equally”. Eoin read this very clearly and confidently.

When Sergeant Sheehan finished reading the proclamation the flag was presented to Rory from 6th class(the eldest pupil in the school) and a copy of the proclamation was presented to Jake from Junior Infants (the youngest pupil in the school).

He also explained that we must show respect to our national flag, and that there were some simple rules we must follow; the flag should never touch the ground, when it’s flying with other flags it must be the highest and that it must be taken down at night time.

The ceremony finished with everybody standing to attention and singing our national anthem, “Amhrán na bhFiann” . Sergeant Sheehan and Private Twohig saluted while we sang the anthem.

You can check out some highlights from the ceremony below.