On Thursday, 6 October 2022, St. Kilian’s German School Dublin celebrated its 70th anniversary with a reception attended by distinguished guests, former pupils (including some of the ‘Shamrock children’, who were among the first pupils to attend the the German Sunday School), current and former staff members, parents and friends. Also present were the Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion, Josepha Madigan, the German Ambassador H.E. Cord Meier-Klodt, the French Ambassador H.E. Vincent Guérend and the Austrian Ambassador Dr Thomas Nader, accompanied by Cultural Officer Mariam Diallo and Cultural Attaché Robert Henneberg. It was a wonderful and entertaining evening with speeches, music and refreshments. As always on such occasions, our pupils did the school proud. Our primary school choir and the Junior Orff pupils, under the direction of Ms Thielemans, performed a musical interlude on the theme of peace; Dylan McGowan and Thomas O’Grady from Year 12 delighted us with pieces by Haydn, Beethoven and Kreisler; and numerous pupils also helped with the organisation and looking after the guests.
We were also treated to a wonderful song, written and performed especially for the occasion by Ms Barbara Davitt-Lange, a former teacher, and, in the Irish tradition, the evening concluded with a Ceol Agus Caint. Many thanks to all the pupils who acted as ambassadors for the school on the evening, and to everyone who took part in the 70th anniversary celebrations and helped to make the evening so special. Happy 70th Anniversary, St. Kilian’s!
In 1952, St. Kilian’s school was initially founded as a Sunday school offering German lessons to children who had fled post-war Germany and come to Ireland with the help of the Operation Shamrock initiative. Operation Shamrock was a relief effort organised by the Irish Red Cross, through which almost 500 children were brought from Germany to Ireland after the Second World War. These German language courses were initially offered by the Irish-German Society at 44 Leeson Park and marked the beginnings of St. Kilian’s German School Dublin. Today, seventy years later, St. Kilian’s occupies a unique place in the Irish educational landscape – it stands for a special partnership between the Irish and German educational systems and cultures.
St. Kilian’s German School Dublin is also a school that fosters connections. Together with the Lycée Français International Samuel Beckett (LFI), it forms the Eurocampus Dublin, which was officially established in 2001 following the relocation of the Lycée Français International Samuel Beckett (LFI)’s secondary school to the St. Kilian’s Clonskeagh Campus. The Eurocampus is an exciting and innovative educational project in Ireland, offering a truly European education in Dublin. The pupils learn and play together, form friendships and develop a deep understanding of each other’s language and culture.
