New Club: St. Finian's Astronomy Society (Mullingar)

On Friday night last, I had the pleasure of being invited by John Nooney of Clonkill Observatory (north of Mullingar) to meet some of the members of St. Finian's Astronomy Society, based in St. Finian's College in Mullingar. Bob Campbell, another member of MAC and long time friend of John Nooney's also made the trip over.



We were all graciously welcomed by John and his very entertaining and enlightening surroundings at Clonkill, built up over the past 20 years with exhibits, photographs, models and demos, plus his 3 (that's THREE) Observatories (2 of which are in full working order).

St. Finian's Chairperson, Ben, said how the group have only formed almost a year ago, but are eager to plough ahead and expand the club. A key thing he mentioned was that lots of students in the college have a passing interest in Astronomy, which is probably a given, but just not tapped properly just yet. A bond between SFAS and MAC has now formed and I hope it continues long into the future.

As with Deirdre Kelleghan's group in St. Cronan's in Bray, many schools I think are really looking at forming their own astronomy club in Ireland, and I think it is something that should be encouraged. If anyone here is ever approached in being asked to help start a (school) club, take the request with both hands - it's not hard, and can be very rewarding! Don't forget that www.irishastronomy.org is also here to help!


Clear Skies,

Seanie.