Holy Family School for the Deaf Cabra

Summer camp Week 2!

Our students were spoiled for choice with an incredible range of activities throughout the week.

They enjoyed a boxing session with European Champion Eric Donovan, dance workshops with Favour Ofusta and the fabulous Bernie O’Rourke, a Bubble Art Workshop with Jamina, and stained glass painting with Melanie Dunne.

One particularly special highlight was an art workshop with the incredibly talented Jamia Gago. Jamia is a Deaf artist and a past pupil of St Mary’s School for Deaf Girls. She is a fantastic role model and an inspiration to our students. Last week, she worked with our younger children and tweens, and this week she led a wonderful collage workshop with our teens. The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Another favourite was our Build a Kite, Make a Kite, Fly a Kite! workshop with the amazing Glenn Heasley from Go Fly Your Kite. The children loved designing, creating, and flying their own kites. A fantastic workshop!!

Our Marine Touchpool experience was also a huge success. The children had a fantastic time learning about marine life through this fun, hands-on workshop. They had the opportunity to touch and explore a variety of sea creatures, including real fish, while discovering more about the amazing wildlife found in our oceans.

It was wonderful to see their excitement, curiosity, and confidence grow as they asked questions and interacted with the different marine animals. It was a fun and educational experience that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. 🐚🦀

A huge thank you to Eimear from Marine Touchpool for such a fascinating workshop, and to Rebecca for providing Irish Sign Language interpretation. It was also lovely to learn that Eimear has some ISL herself, having recently completed QQI Level 5 with the Irish Deaf Society. It’s wonderful to see more people learning ISL!

Students also had great fun riding Segways, giving them the chance to cruise around the school hall and grounds—an activity that proved very popular.

The kids got to enjoy dancing with Bernie, dancing freestyle and having lots of fun!

To round off another exciting week, the students enjoyed swimming at Inspire Swimming Pool and took part in a coaching session with Gemma Whelan and Jack Glennon, who have proudly represented Ireland at the Deaflympics. We were delighted that Deaf Sports Ireland organised this fantastic opportunity for our students, and for organising representatives from Swim Ireland Katelyn People to come and visit.

What an incredible week making memories filled with learning, creativity, fun, and unforgettable experiences.

Summer Camp – Day 5 2026

A Fantastic Final Day at Football Camp

We wrapped up an amazing week at Football Camp with Deaf Sports Ireland and were delighted to welcome inspirational Deaf athlete Lolo Clarke on our final day. Throughout the week, students enjoyed a wide range of activities, including football, swimming, and judo, and had a fantastic time taking part. A huge thank you to Ben O’Looney and Deaf Sports Ireland for their incredible support, as well as the wonderful zipped tops, bottles, and bags provided for all students.

In the afternoon, students took part in two creative workshops:

• Art Workshop with Jamia Gago – a past pupil of St Mary’s School for Deaf Girls and talented artist, who helped our 8–12-year-olds create beautiful pop-up butterfly cards.
• Creative Makeup Workshop with Noleen Cunningham – another past pupil from St Mary’s, where students explored special effects makeup and produced some fantastic designs.

Other highlights from the week included baking, making milkshakes and hot chocolate, visiting a local car showroom, trips to playgrounds, and outdoor chalk art. It has been a brilliant week filled with fun, learning, and opportunities to meet inspirational Deaf role models. Thank you to all the staff who helped make the camp such a success. Most importantly, thank you to our wonderful students, who were polite, enthusiastic, and a joy to work with all week.

Summer Camp Day 4 (9th July 2026)

Summer Camp Update – Another Fantastic Day of Activities

What another glorious sunny day at camp!

The morning began with coached football sessions for most of our members. We were delighted to welcome Shauna Hamilton back once again. As an Irish Deaflympian, Shauna continues to be an inspiring role model for our young people, and it is always a pleasure to have her share her experience and enthusiasm with the group.

A special thank you to Ben O’Looney from Deaf Sports Ireland for helping to organise these sessions.

In the afternoon, many of our primary-aged participants attended the Avista Family Day at St Vincent’s, which proved to be a huge success. The children enjoyed a wide range of activities, including teacup rides, meeting farm animals, face painting, and exploring the sensory area. We would like to extend our thanks to Klarise VanDyk, Occupational Therapist, for helping to arrange this wonderful experience.

Meanwhile, other groups took part in a variety of activities including baking, a pizza outing, and a visit to Deaf Village Ireland. It has been fantastic to see students actively contributing ideas and helping to shape the activities they enjoy during summer camp. Ensuring that student voices are heard remains an important part of our programme.

Our senior group spent the afternoon participating in a coding workshop led by Greg Oxley from Microsoft. Greg, who is Deaf, delivered the workshop through Irish Sign Language (ISL), providing an accessible and engaging learning experience. Students learned basic programming skills and coded LED lights to perform different functions and display designs, including directional arrows, a beating heart, and a countdown sequence.

Summer Camp Day 3 8th July

Everyone enjoyed coached football sessions during the camp. A special thank you to Ben O’Looney (Deaf Sports Ireland), Mark Kenny (Mark Kenny Coaching), and Christy McElligott (FAI) for their support. Despite the hot, sunny weather requiring regular shade breaks, spirits remained high. We were also delighted to welcome past pupil Shauna Hamilton, who has proudly represented Ireland on the Ladies Futsal team.

In the afternoon, Ray travelled from Manchester to present his spectacular Paris Bubbles show. The highly visual and interactive performance was enjoyed by all children, from the smallies to the tweens and teens, as well as staff. Ice-pops provided a welcome way to cool down afterwards.

A special thank you also to our ISL interpreter, Shannon Clarke, for supporting the day and to all our leaders for making it extra special!

Summer Camp Day 2 July 2026

Another Fantastic Day at Summer Camp!

We had another amazing day filled with fun, learning, and new experiences for all our students.

Our younger campers enjoyed an immersive session with Keith from Gymboree, followed by time at the playground and park, where they had great fun playing together.

Some of our senior students took part in an exciting visit to Awesome Walls in Finglas. This activity was available to students aged 15 and over. A special thank you to Tess Daly from Dublin City Inclusion for making this opportunity possible.

Students also enjoyed a pottery workshop, where they created beautiful bespoke bowls. The potters, Jayne and Amanda, have taken the bowls back to their studio for firing, and we are looking forward to seeing the finished creations.

Meanwhile, another group participated in a Judo session, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Special thanks to Ben O’Looney from Deaf Sports Ireland for organising the workshop with Paul Cummins (Walkinstown Judo), Nina Rudd, and Shona Maguire, who represented Ireland at the Deaflympics. Our students were delighted to meet such talented deaf athletes and were inspired to learn more about the sport.

A big thank you also to our ISL interpreters, Shannon Clarke and Aoife Harrington, for their support throughout the day.

Summer Camp 2026

Summer Camp – Fantastic First Day!

We had a fantastic first day at summer camp, with lots of happy faces, chatting, signing and reconnecting with friends. We were delighted to kick off the week with a swimming session at Deaf Village Ireland, supported by Swim Ireland coaches – Nicole Turner (Paralympian) & Swim Ireland, Mick McCormack Deaflympics coach, Gemma Whelan & Sean Glennon Deaflympians. A special thank you to Ben O’Looney and Deaf Sports Ireland for helping to make this possible.

The children also had the opportunity to meet inspiring Deaf role models Sean Glennan and Gemma Whelan, who have proudly represented Ireland at the Deaflympics. The session was fantastic! The children’s feedback was that they wished it could have lasted longer!

We are also very grateful to Deaf Sports Ireland for generously sponsoring zipped tops, water bottles and bags for all participants. It was a wonderful start to camp and a fantastic opportunity for the children to learn from and connect with members of the Deaf community.

Thank you to Shannon Clarke for interpreting today. Special thanks to all our leaders for making this camp a fantastic camp for everyone.

Art workshop with ARK.ie

As part of our summer camp some of our junior students had an amazing opportunity to participate in an online art workshop with artist Duffy with Ark.ie. They even provided an ISL Interpreter. The students used their imagination to create mystical characters. This was a wonderful creative workshop. Special thanks to Duffy Shannon and Renn from Ark.ie.

Reptile Queen Visit

Summer Camp 2025

Some senior students got to go to AWESOME WALLS with our summer camp. They loved this activity and most of them climbed to the very top and back down twice! Special thanks to Tess Daly and Mark Hughes from Dublin City inclusion for helping to make this possible!

The kids had an exciting boxing workshop with European Boxer Eric Donovan. They learned about hand-eye coordination, strength, and conditioning — and had a lot of fun along the way! Thank you Eric

We had a fantastic second day of Summer Camp! The children enjoyed an art workshop with art teacher John Canning, where they created artwork inspired by Kandinsky. The shapes, colours and artwork are beautiful! It’s wonderful to see everyone’s engagement in this creative activity. A big thank you to John! Well done all!

The children enjoyed exploring physics with David Keenhan and Eamonn from the IOP (Institute of Physics). There was something for everyone, and it was wonderful to see all the kids fascinated by science and the marvel of how things work. A big thank you to David and Eamonn for their fascinating sessions!

2025 FAI Primary Schools National Finals

We enjoyed a fantastic evening at the 2025 FAI Primary Schools National Finals in the Aviva stadium yesterday!

We are rightly proud of our young team – their focus, passion and determination was a joy to see. It was wonderful experience for them to compete in a national arena- I am sure they will remember this for the rest of their lives!

The passion & commitment of our team managers/coaches was also so evident for all to see. Joe and Kevin on behalf of Holy Family thank you so much for giving this wonderful opportunity to our boys and girls and showcasing Holy Family in such a positive way.
Lovely to see former teacher Michael return for the event to see the team he also helped to coach, do so well.

My thanks to Liz, Sean and the primary staff team for all the preparations and their support home and away & especially Andy who drove the team and supporters to and from the Aviva.

Lovely to see staff from post-primary, parents, and friends from the wider Deaf community lend their support.
We very much appreciate support and funding from Ben Looney and DSI Deaf Sports Ireland.