Dromantine Retreat
On the 7th and 8th of September, Transition Year set off on our retreat to Domantine in Newry. We got to the school at around 8:40 and had left at 9 for the 2 hour commute down to Dromantine. When we arrived in Dromantine we were in awe of the beautiful grounds and the area surrounding it. When we got off the bus, we dropped our bags into the conference room and swiftly made our way over to our first round of tea and biscuits. After that, we met with Fr.Joe, a kind and funny man who led our year bonding activities and spiritual gatherings. Our first activity of many was outside where we played games such as ship, sea, shore, this or that and mafia. After we came back inside, we went for more tea and biscuits. We then went into the conference room where Fr.Joe spoke about his experiences which taught us a lot of valuable lessons about our lives. During our time with Fr. Joe, we also made friendship bracelets for one another and wrote anonymous cards to someone in our year, in these cards we wrote words of encouragement to each other and gave our support. We were fed so well throughout our retreat in Dromantine, for lunch we had roasts which was delicious and for dinner we had lasagna and chips and not to forget dessert which was brownies. We finished our night doing Just Dance as a year group which was our highlight of the retreat. We were then assigned our rooms and got settled in. We were given some time at the end of the night to play games and chat with each other.
We were awoken bright and early the next morning at 7:30 for breakfast in the main dining hall, followed by some more activities where we made God’s eye crosses, as well as watching some inspiring clips of people demonstrating kindness and compassion. As we neared the end of our retreat, Fr.Joe led us in a mass outside which was very peaceful and calming. Following that, we had our last lunch, a roast and it was finally time to leave Dromantine. At around 12, we got on the bus and said our goodbyes to Fr.Joe.
Reflecting on our time in Dromantine, we all had such an great time and it was a really good opportunity for our year to bond. We’re all very excited to come back next year!
by Kate Macdevitt, Evelyn Kenny and Julie Regan
