A great buzz of anticipation and excitement was felt in our local primary schools last week, as Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Tyrone organised a series of quiz heats across the county. Having already had very successful tournaments in Camogie, Hurling and Indoor Gaelic Football, these heats were designed to find Tyrone’s top brain boxes.
This year we had almost 50 schools competing against each other.
The format of the quiz saw 60 points up for grabs over 10 rounds. The pupils faced questions on an array of subjects – predominantly Irish based – including: Geography; History; Sport; Music and Famous Irish Faces.
A number of questions based on the school curriculum were also asked. Five of our local schools kindly agreed to act as host for the quiz competition, and they were as follows:
Annaghmore PS, St Conor’s PS Omagh, Carrickmore PS, Edendork PS and Ballygawley PS.
In order to qualify from the Tyrone heats to the Ulster Final, schools had to secure scores that would rank amongst the top four in the county (from all five heats). The level of scoring across the county was extremely high this year. The pupils showed a tremendous knowledge about Ireland and all things Irish. Indeed, such was the extraordinary standard of correct answering; it soon became apparent that scores beyond 50 out of 60 were required for teams to be successful.
As things transpired, three schools managed to produce teams who each scored 51/60. The three teams who recorded this terrific total were:
Ardboe PS; Aughadarragh PS and Roan PS, Eglish. Another school managed to surpass this total when Edendork PS scored 52/60. Therefore, we had our four Tyrone qualifiers. Taking their schools to the Ulster Final in Irvinestown 25th March are Master Joe Canavan (Ardboe), Master Seamus McCreesh (Eglish), Mrs Gemma Quinn (Aughadarragh) and Mrs Anne McAlinden (Edendork).
Everyone associated with Allianz Cumann na mBunscol wishes these four Tyrone schools all the very best in their dual quest for the Tyrone Shield (currently held by Sacred Heart PS, Rock) and, of course, the Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Ulster Primary School Quiz title 2014.
Ádh mór oraibh!
