Ken Dunphy former pupil of Kilrossanty N.S. has won a special commendation for his poem “War Terror” based on the theme of World War 1 in the “Never Such Innocence” poetry, art and song competition to commemorate the Centenary of the First World War. This was an international competition with over 11,000 entries from young people from 47 countries and 5 continents. All pupils from 5th and 6th classes 2017/2018 in Kilrossanty N.S. entered the competition, giving their response to the First World War through either poetry or art. Ken’s poem was chosen for inclusion in an anthology book of poetry and artwork that children from all over the world have produced over the past 4 years for the competition. He was then invited to attend the “Never Such Innocence” Centenary Finale at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday 7th November where Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, President of the competition addressed the participants, saying how impressed he was with the calibre of the entries received and how fascinated he was by how quickly they picked up the emotions and currents which ran through the Great War. This was followed by presentations of artwork, poetry and song from the competition followed by refreshments in the Ballroom, which is the largest of the state rooms in Buckingham Palace. It was a wonderful occasion for Ken and his family and we are extremely proud of him at Kilrossanty National School and of all his classmates who entered the competition. We will be travelling to Glasnevin Cemetery in December for an awards ceremony at which classmate Kate Dwane will also be honoured for her art work “Between the Crosses”. Well done also to class teacher Mrs. Kavanagh for her efforts in entering the competition with the whole class.
Ken is no doubt following in the footsteps of his great grandfather Michael Walsh of Ballingown who in his day was a poet, patriot and folklorist. He wrote numerous poems about local events which were widely published at the time, including “The Old School Days” , “Kilrossanty” and probably his best known one in current times “The stuff is still in Comeragh” which is now written on a mural in Lemybrien.
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