Volume 1 (1999/2000)
Issue
1 (March 1999)
Issue
2 (Nov. 1999)
Issue 3 (Dec. 1999)
Issue 4 (Feb. 2000)
Issue 5 (March 2000)
Issue 6 (April 2000)
Issue
7 (May 2000)
Volume 2 (2000/2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2000)
Issue 2 (Oct. 2000)
Issue 3 (Jan. 2001)
Issue 4 (March 2001)
Issue 5 (April 2001)
Issue 6 (May 2001)
Volume 3 (2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2001)
Issue 2 (Nov. 2001)
Categories
Sport: 1
2 3
Lifestyles: 1 2
3
Commentary: 1 2
3
Review: 1 2
3
Writing: 1 2
3
Event: 1 2
3
Educator Extraordinaire
Daisy Corrigan, Founder of Regina Mundi College, is remembered
Catherine Howard
Regina Mundi, Cork
The
memory of an outstanding woman was forever immortalised on 22 November
last when Daisy Corrigan - Educator Extraordinaire and Founder
of Regina Mundi College - was launched in the school by Education and
Science Minister, Micheal Martin (right). The book chronicles the
life of Miss Corrigan and the history of the school on the Douglas Rd.,
Cork. It was originally a thesis, written by Ann Marie Desmond - currently
a teacher of History and Religion in Regina Mundi - for her Masters degree
in Education.
Daisy Corrigan was born in 1913. As a child, she was educated at home
until she and her sister were sent to Our Lady's Bower Secondary School
in Athlone. Miss Corrigan went on to earn an Arts Degree and a Higher
Diploma in Education. In 1961, she returned home from the States, having
completed a Masters degree and founded Regina Mundi College in Endsleigh
House, Douglas Rd.. School in a Victorian house must have been quite a
homely, enjoyable experience and it was also the first time Miss Corrigan's
educational ideals were put into practice. She believed that education
began in the cradle and ended only in the grave and that after their years
at Regina Mundi College, her girls should be fully prepared for life in
the real world. She didn't favour dividing pupils up according to their
academic ability. Miss Corrigan even went so far as to name classes after
letters of the Greek alphabet - Pi, Theta and Zeta - to ensure that all
class groups were seen as equals. It wasn't only education that Miss Corrigan
had strong opinions about. When asked why she didn't wear a seatbelt,
she would say that she was waiting to be caught without it, so she could
declare that she would refuse to wear a seatbelt until such time as one
was designed with the female anatomy in mind.
Eventually the land around Endsleigh House was purchased by housing developers
and is, today, Endsleigh estate. In the early eighties, the house itself
was knocked down and a new, modern building was erected in its place.
Regina Mundi College now has over 500 students and is managed by Miss
Corrigan's nephew. Its principal is Mr Michael O'Mahony.
During the book launch, Michael Martin spoke very highly of both the school
and Miss Corrigan. He said the students of Regina Mundi received an education
that was 'warm, caring, passionate and comprehensive'. Also in attendance
was Professor Highland, whose honours include Vice-President of University
College Cork, Chairperson of the Points Commission and Director of the
Multiple Intelligence Research Programme. She said the book was 'an important
piece of work' and praised its author, Miss Desmond, for doing such an
'excellent job'.
The following morning, Tuesday 23 November, Sister Christopher and Sister Angela from Our Lady's Bower in Athlone - where Miss Corrigan's sister, Mother Hilda (86) still resides - spoke of Daisy during a special assembly, held in their honour in the school itself.
Thanks to Miss Sheila Kelly for her help, to the fifth year girls for their participation and thanks and congratulations to Miss Desmond on the publication of her book.
Interview with Miss Anne-Marie
Desmond
(author of Daisy Corrigan)
Why did you decide to write this book?
I was studying for my Masters degree in Education and I was looking for
someone interesting to study from an educational point of view. I thought
Miss Corrigan was a fascinating person and a brilliant educationist and
had a great philosophy so I felt she deserved to be researched and later
on then I decided to put it into book form.
How did you research this book?
Well, there wasn't an awful lot of written sources on Miss Corrigan, but
I went around to people closest to her - her family. I went to the original
caretaker who was in the school. I went to the staff here, went to past
pupils, past teachers. I visited her grave and where she lived - the places
in her life. Basically, I sent out vibes and I tried to contact anyone
who knew Daisy so that I could find out about her. [Our Lady's Bower in
Athlone is] where she went to school and her sister Mother Hilda is still
there, a nun, at 86. I went to see her during the summer - which would
have been part of the research as well.
How do you think her ideas are being implemented in the school today?
I don't know if they're all being fully implemented [but] the relaxed
atmosphere of Regina Mundi would certainly be a factor. There's a nice
relationship between pupils and staff, which Miss Corrigan wanted. She
was into a democratic form of education, which I think we have as much
as is possible. [As for] a broad-based education, we have that, as in
pupils are introduced to as many subjects as possible up to Junior Cert
before specialising for their Leaving Cert, and I think we try and stress
the individual as much as possible. How it would be different to Miss
Corrigan's time [is that] her school was smaller, more compact, it was
more like a home, in an old house and it was easier to be more personal
with the pupils.
Positive Student Reaction to book
"I think Miss Corrigan would have been pleased
with the book and I think more schools should do the same, as it would
give posterity an insight into our educational system in the latter half
of the twentieth century."
Aoife O'Flynn, Class Captain, 5th year
"I think it's important that this book should
be written so that her memory won't be forgotten. [Miss Corrigan] had
a very high status in Cork. People knew of her even when they didn't go
to her school. She really hastened the evolution of the education system
in Cork and she'll always be remembered for that."
Lynsey McCarthy, 5th year
"I think the book is very good for the school.
A lot of students don't know that much about Miss Corrigan, except for
maybe some of the fifth and sixth years. I think considering that she's
the founder of the school that's very sad. Without her we wouldn't be
here. So I think its good and I can only see the outcome being very positive."
Michelle Kelly, 5th year
"In the school we're all seen as equals; we're
all given an equal opportunity. We have no entrance exam which takes a
lot of pressure off a twelve year old child in sixth class competing and
studying just to get into a good class in school. In Regina everyone is
seen as an equal coming in, it's open minded and good for the students.
Through this book her ideas are being carried into the new millennium.
It gives the present students an idea of the history of the school and
the founding of it."
Denise Duggan, 5th year