‘Most of all, I will miss the children’ – Sé McCarthy

Síofra Grant

Sé McCarthy was principal of St Joseph’s national school in Rathwire for 22 years, till the end of the school term, and on Thursday 18 June he said goodbye to the school and teaching at a retirement party.

Mr McCarthy stood at the top of the school hall and addressed the students, staff, board of management members, parents, and members of his family. “A lot of you have asked, Mr McCarthy, why are you retiring?

“You all know I love martial arts don’t you?” That received a resounding “Yes,” from the young crowd.

“Does anyone know who the greatest boxer of all time is?” They replied: “Muhammad Ali.”

“Correct and right, now Muhammad Ali said when they asked him why he was retiring, and I’m not comparing myself to him because he was fantastic,” he clarified… “I can still see the punches coming, I just can’t get out of the way.

“So when it comes to this job, it’s like any job with a certain amount of energy. And when that energy starts to run out, it’s time to move on and I’m thrilled that Mr Moloney is taking over in September.”

It’s appropriate that Sé has chosen this year to retire, because when he first came to St Joseph’s, Westmeath had just won the Leinster SFC and now as his time comes to a close, they are Leinster champions again.

“It’s been a great pleasure to lead you as the staff numbers have grown. There were only four teachers and a part-time secretary when I started. Now we have 36 dedicated people.

“When anybody walks into this building, they notice a friendly atmosphere and as they always say, you can’t fake an atmosphere.”

There is clearly great love and respect for Mr McCarthy from students and the staff, and as he speaks, the room is silent.

“They threw me out of the building twice yesterday when they were preparing,” he said, regarding the retirement party.

“But I’d like to thank you all because I know you’ve all been working hard. The children have been sneaking around making cards.

“I’m humbled by the generosity of spirit of the staff here, and staff I will miss you so much. I’ll miss chatting with the parents, but, boys and girls, I want you to listen carefully – most of all, I will miss the children.

“This is not my favourite job in the world; my favourite job in the world is being a dad. Some of my children are here and one is away in Australia, and for all the parents here, you know that time goes too quickly when you’re watching your children grow up.

“But one of the fantastic things about teaching is we always get to see the wonder.”

Mr McCarthy then entertained the audience with some funny anecdotes from his time as principal. “That is the life of a young child, every single day we come in we find out who has a wobbly tooth, and who’s got new shoes. And yesterday someone at junior school showed me biscuits and said ‘Mr McCarthy we’ve got biscuits for your surprise party’.” That sent the crowd into a fit of giggles.

“And there is a Junior here who in September said to me, ‘Mr McCarthy can I pet your baldy head?’. “So, my final word to you boys and girls, is I am very, very proud of you all.”

Following Sé’s speech, the school choir serenaded the principal with a song written in his honour to the tune of Killeagh. Then there was a short reception in the staff room where staff, members of the board of management and others involved in the school bid goodbye to Sé. He was also surprised with a video from his daughter living in Australia, congratulating her father on 22 years as principal.

Following the reception, Sé reflected on his time as principal, citing a major inspiration in his life: his mother. “A number of years ago my mam was presented with a 70-year service medal in the Red Cross, it was the only one ever to be specially commissioned, and they did a function for her in the mansion house.

“She was the last surviving member of Operation Shamrock.”

That operation saw Ireland welcome German refugees following World War II, the only country to do so.

“My mam said, ‘I didn’t do it for awards, I did it because it was the right thing to do’.”

It’s clear that is a principle that has guided Sé in his career.

“When it comes to children, I think it brings out the best in people because we’re parents and we all want what’s best for children.”

The past 22 years have seen many changes at St Joseph’s, including a new school building.

The coming years will bring further developments under the guidance of Shane Moloney, the new principal.

He said: “I look forward to working with everybody to continue the great work Sé started, and many people look forward to it as well. Sé has always said that his priority is teachers and staff, and one thing he appreciates more than anything is kindness.

“That would be the hope for me, that I can provide that kindness to all who need it, remove obstacles and support everyone in the school community,” said Shane.

Sé is shortly be heading off to Spain for kickboxing. “I’m a four time black belt, I’m an international instructor,” he said. “I’ll be going over to Spain, we have a team going to the World Kickboxing Championships.

“And two of the children here are U11 world champions, a boy and girl for their weight class. So we’re bringing a team of eight in October.”