Adrigole’s school wing honours the late Garda Cremin

A NEW extension at Trafrask National School in Adrigole has been named ‘Aidan’s Wing’ in  memory of the late Garda Aidan Cremin who passed away in 2019. Garda Cremin was a member of the School’s board of management, and had, before his death, worked continuously to support the school.

The new extension, which houses a classroom and a resource room, was officially opened in January by parish priest Fr Martin Sheehan, just days after Garda Cremin’s second anniversary.  

School principal Louisa O’Donoghue said Garda Cremin had been part of the process to have a new wing built at the school, which has 29 pupils and two teachers.  

‘We applied for a grant in 2015, and we were granted the summer works money in 2017,’ said Ms O’Donoghue. ‘However, on further inspection on what needed to be done, and having spoken to the Department of Education, we decided to apply for the additional accommodation grant and were lucky to secure this funding.’

 Principal O’Donoghue said Garda Cremin was a valued member of Trafrask NS board of management and worked tirelessly with the rest of the board on the project. ‘Unfortunately Aidan is not around to see the fantastic new extension but I’m sure he would be very proud for it to be named in his honour,’ she said. ‘Aidan always looked out for the children and they looked up to him, therefore, the board, with the approval of Aidan’s family decided to call the new building Aidan’s Wing.’

Fr Martin Sheehan with Jamie Lynch and Fionn O’Donoghue, and Hannah and Michaela O’Sullivan with Orla Blake at back.  (Photo: Anne Marie Cronin)

Garda Cremin, a native of Beaufort, Co Kerry, had been stationed in the Beara peninsula since 2007 and was hugely popular in the local area through his support to local clubs and organisations. 

The school also opened a new playground last year. The principal explained how she had been looking at playground equipment online and was wondering how they would be in a position to fund it, when she received a phone call from a past pupil in America who wanted to donate €5,000 to the school. 

‘I think Aidan was definitely looking down on us, the way it all came together for us to buy the playground equipment. I’ve never seen the children so eager to get back to school after their holidays to try out the new playground.’

The school extended their thanks to all involved in the new extension, engineer Declan O’Shea, building contractor Tim O’Shea and all of the board of management.  

With its new playground, and the Aidan Cremin Wing, Ms O’Donoghue said the school  is looking forward to continuing to educate children and building them holistically for a bright future.