Cross Border Initiative - Creative Connections

Our Transition Year students represented Coláiste Cholmcille visited Derry this week as part of the cross-border project ‘Creative Connections’. We have been collaborating with Errigal College Letterkenny, St Ronan’s Lurgan and the Boys Model School Belfast. Our students, alongside 2 staff members first met up with each school before taking an historic tour of the walls of Derry.

The walls themselves are approximately 1.5 km in length. Derry is the only remaining completely walled city in Ireland and one of the best examples of a walled city in Europe. They are over 400 years old and were initially a defence for the early English and Scottish settlers. The walls vary in width between 12 and 35 feet and had 4 original gates as points of entry but three more were added over the years. It was a fascinating insight into the history and cultural relevance of the city.

From there students then went to the Nerve Centre where they presented their poster on ‘Identity Ballyshannon’, listing the unique historical and cultural aspects of the town. Our students highly impressed the videographers that were documenting the day and they highlighted that the students represented their schools to a very high standard.

It was a great experience for all students who learned about the history and culture of not only Derry but the towns where the other schools were based. They also built relationships with cohorts of students from different cultural backgrounds through the medium of creativity.