BACKGROUND TO PROJECT: The Butterfly Garden project began in May, 2012 with Ms. Harrington's second class after their First Communion. They had prepared really well for their communion and Ms. Downes thought they should be the ones to design a garden from scratch. All their ideas were put together and the result is what we have today. In October, 2012, Ryan Tubridy officially opened the Butterfly Garden for us and in May, 2013 we were awarded a 'Schools Garden Competition' prize of €500 by Cork County Council for the project. In June 2014 we won the overall County prize for our school gardens from Cork County Council and another cheque for €500, plus a plaque! In May/June 2015, Ms. Downes, with help from Ms. Eva Ryan, set up a garden club after school, focusing on the Butterfly Garden, in preparation for entering the Sherkin Island competition on 'Our Favourite Place'. Girls from 1st class worked hard on the project, and both 1st and 2nd class girls joined the Gardening Club, sowing seeds, planting shrubs and flowers, measuring their plants as they grow etc. In September 2015 the girls heard that they had been awarded 1st Prize in their category (Class project) and received a fabulous selection of books for their class library. These have been located in Mrs. McCarthy's 2nd class and are in daily use during our 'DEAR' (Drop Everything and Read) time. Thank you to Mr. Matt Murphy of Sherkin Island for such a beautiful prize.
